It’s been a while since we’ve heard new Waka Flocka Flame on the radio, but the 31-year-old rapper is always good for a sound byte. Whether roasting grumpy old heads for badmouthing new rappers or tabbing Ric Flair as his pick for Presidential candidate, Waka rarely holds back, keeping the same energy in his commentary as he brought to proto-trap banger “Hard In Da Paint.” Now, he’s set his sights on a new target: Up-and-coming Floridian teen rapper, Lil Pump.
“Lil Pump raps about the shit I’ve been rapping about on my last 30-plus old CDs,” he told celebrity publicist Domenick Nati when he appeared on Nati’s iHeartRadio show. Nati had asked Flocka how he felt about collaborating with the fast-rising Pump, whose “Gucci Gang” became so ubiquitous, Saturday Night Live did a sketch lampooning it. Flocka was not only dismissive, he was outright contemptuous, saying, “Lil Pump is like a white Waka Flocka. Excuse me, not white, an albino Waka Flocka.”
There are some aesthetic similarities between the two. Both bring insane levels of energy to ridiculously bass-heavy tracks and both have a penchant for rapping about the grimier aspects of life down South, but then again, so do most of the new rappers who’ve gained attention recently. Trap music is just in right now, and Waka Flocka definitely played his part in sparking the trend. However, anyone thinking Waka would take a card from his one-time mentor Gucci Mane’s deck and take on a mentoring role for today’s youth has to be pretty disappointed right now.
