Spotify Wrapped Top Song of 2020
Tags: Spotify Playlist, Rap, Riff Raff, 2020, Music

Spotify Wrapped Top Song of 2020

Riff Raff — Lil Mama I’m Sorry from The Golden Alien [2012]

Out of all the songs I listened to this year, it is somewhat comical to me that this one emerged at the top. Released 8 years ago on a mixtape by a rapper who was widely regarded as a gimmick, there is still a lot of debate as to whether Riff Raff is in fact a joke rapper. He is best known for his 2013 single “Dolce & Gabbana”, a song that pokes fun at famous rap cliches like excessive brand name clothing promotion and bikini clad curvy women in the video. His songs are not known for getting radio play and has never been nominated for a grammy. The songs on his albums are often out of sync with each other, with sloppy production or lazy hooks, almost as if they are bad on purpose. A message from him clearly stating, “I do not take this too seriously”.

Yet in the 8 years since this song has come out, Riff Raff has consistently been putting out music for that entire time, including two full length projects in the last 14 months. He has a cult following if the comments on his social media are anything to go by, by devoted fans that clearly love him and appear to “get” him. He has gotten a lot richer as well, if the production value of his videos are anything to go by. His muscles are much more swoll and his jewelry has more diamonds than ever.

Maybe he takes this thing more seriously than he was letting on. Maybe that’s why this 8 year old song of his resonates with me this year more than anything else of his I have been listening to (and I have been scouring a lot of his stuff, looking for the hidden gems). In the video for “Lil Mama I’m Sorry" he looks about half the weight he is now, with very little muscle tone. The long hair swaying in the back of him is drastically different than the well groomed “million dollar mullet" that has become his signature look this year. As someone who is an aspiring artist himself, I have to say how encouraging it is to see the dedication he has put into his craft pay off. He has experienced real growth not just as an artist but as a person. This is evident. He is someone that I actually look up to, despite my initial skepticism upon discovering him.

Those opening lines though, when he is apologizing to all of the girls “whose hearts he purposefully and not purposefully broke their hearts", these are what set Riff Raff apart from the rest for me. This heartfelt acknowledgment of having girls, of putting them aside, in the pursuit of his career in rap music. An industry known for a lifestyle that rarely allows for stable relationships to exist with the accessibility of drugs and women willing to sleep with you. For a guy known for his joke raps, Riff sounds pretty sincere when he melodically sings “lil mama I’m sorry I never meant to ball like this" on the hook. How could he ever explain that he had to put them aside for so long to chase a dream that so rarely works out for anyone, especially a white guy. How could he explain that the drugs and the women were actually a part of playing the game, of making moves in the industry, that would be essential to his success. And that a relationship with her simply was not.

The rapping is even somewhat decent in this song as well. At least on a technical level. The song is full of internal rhymes like “I’m a ball at the mall shutting down the sea wall" and “mc hammer can’t touch me your freestyle is disgusting “. There is only one verse but that’s okay. This song has melody. It ends with almost a full minute of some kind of pan flute that I like to imagine riff himself playing.

Despite his lack of mainstream recognition, there is no denying that Riff Raff has accomplished what he set out to do. Money, fame, women, jewelry, designer clothes, beautiful husky puppies. In recent years he has branched out, exploring everything such as ska, funk, pop, r&b, trap. Nicknames like the neon icon, jody highroller, Dale Dan Tony. Dozens of videos including several this year. You have to wonder though, with Riff being single as he is, does he ever think about any of those lil mamas he left behind. Perhaps he wishes he took one of them along with him on the ride to the top. He almost admits as much on “Find Love", a song from his 2020 Vanilla Gorilla album that is farther down on my Spotify wrapped, singing “is she in my future or the one that got away". It’s nice to know that underneath the goofy Riff Raff persona, that there is a man with a good heart there.