That is a complicated question and one that seems to be constantly in a state of flux.
In fact, I don’t really know who he is. I’m not sure I ever will. He’s intangible, complicated, and usually on the edge of existing. I think a better question to ask is why is Ben Rhymely?
Well, I moved to Toronto in the fall of 2012 for school. Somewhere in the winter semester, in 2013, I stumbled upon Applefrog’s viral video Whur Muh Boats At? More importantly, I stumbled up the remix which had a verse rapped over it by a legend I had never heard of before: Adam Warrock.
Now, for those not in the know, Adam Warrock was/is a nerdcore rapper who quit his career in law to make raps about everything nerdy you can imagine. And a ton of it was free.
I started listening to all his music and downloading every free track I could. Nerdcore rap was an entire new world for me, and is one I’m still slowly exploring. It blew my mind.
Something about the concept about rap music meeting pop culture/video games/anime/movies/comics was life changing. It didn’t happen for a long time after, but after not being able to get the idea of out my head, I eventually took a shot at writing my own nerdy rap song.
I had a beat tape from some guy who went by Nazzy, whose brother uploaded his awesome video game beats to an internet forum. It had a Zelda track on it, so I wrote a quick rap over it and dubbed it “The Hero of Rhyme”. This was before Starbomb made their song with the same name, mind you. Way before.
With a slew of clever lines, a hilarious track name, and an admittedly subpar rap voice (to say nothing of the recording quality), I created something that made me feel like I never had before.
I still don’t know how to describe it properly, but rap music makes you feel powerful. You know how rappers are always full of bravado and talking about how they’re the best? Well, I think that’s the greatest thing about rap. It can get boring hearing that, but when you’re the one rapping it? You believe it.
Now, I could write a whole series of blog posts about musical appropriation and the idea of being a white rapper, but that’s all been said before. I appreciate rap music and I understand the implications of it’s creation and everything it stands for. But I think that’s why nerdcore rap makes so much sense.
What’s more true to rap than nerdy kids who got bullied, taking back their self-esteem with quick quips that dole out encyclopedic knowledge about Star Wars races or video game references? It’s empowering. And it’s also addicting.
So, I don’t consider myself a rapper, but I created Ben Rhymely to help me work through some stuff, creatively and emotionally. I really hope there’s a place for him somewhere in my life, but as a student, he’s had to take a bit of a backseat.
One day there’ll be another mixtape and some more free music, I’m just not sure how long you’ll have to wait. I guess the question isn’t really why is Ben Rhymely then, but when is Ben Rhymely. Soon I hope, but for now I’ve put together this site to celebrate what there is of him.
Thanks for reading.
P.S. If you clicked on this from the homepage, my parents had the entire Rednex album, and Cotton Eyed Joe was a smash hit from a terrible band that had other equally bad bangers. That’s why I hate that song.