Rucka Rucka Ali

Rucka Rucka Ali
Also known as "Itsrucka", DJ Not Nice, Seymour Schwartz, Toby Queef, TR-8R, Boris Anatasha
Born January 27, 1987 (1987-01-27) (age 29)
Origin Troy, Michigan
Genres Parody, comedy, satire, comedy hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, satirist, parodist, comedian, Singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2006–present
Labels Straightsavage Records (current) Serchlite Records (former)
Associated acts MC Serch, EdWords
Website Official website

Rucka Rucka Ali (born January 27, 1987) is an American rapper, radio personality, singer, comedian, satirist and internet celebrity most noted for his song parodies on YouTube. He has been labeled one of the most successful artists to come out of social media, where he has received over 100 million hits on YouTube.[1] with parodies such as "Ching Chang Chong", "Ima Korean", "Justin's Beaver" and "Ebola (La La)". He has released seven independent studio albums, four of which charted in the Billboard Top Comedy Albums.[2]

Musical career

Rucka Rucka Ali's music career started on MySpace in 2006, when he released his first single "I Heart Crack".[3][4] On MySpace Rucka developed one of his alter-egos, "DJ Not Nice". Rucka received traffic from writing controversial comments on popular videos on MySpace, boosting his popularity, until his account was deleted in February 2008 for breaking their anti-spam policy. On the 11th of September 2008 (the anniversary of the September 11 attacks), Rucka Rucka Ali released his debut album, "Straight Outta West B",[5] which contained songs previously published on his MySpace account. When not working on his music, Rucka was an intern on Hot 102.7 WHTD's "Serchlite Saturdays", which was hosted by MC Serch.[6] This partnership lead to Rucka playing his parody music on-air and promoting his music videos on their YouTube account. After his video resulted in SerchliteTV's channel to be suspended, Rucka decided to publish his videos independently. All of his albums bar Black Man of Steal have been published on Pinegrove Records.

Most of Rucka Rucka Ali's musical content pertains to parodies containing lyrics for shock value, often including ethnic stereotypes. Celebrities and politicians whom he has imitated on more than one occasion include Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump, One Direction and Kim Jong-il (also his son, Kim Jong-un). He often auto-tunes his vocals. He also makes use of satirical alter egos, like fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, but more satirical. He has multiple alter egos, such as DJ Not Nice (Asian), Seymour Schwartz (Jewish) and Toby Queef (white American redneck).

Some of his songs include "Ching Chang Chong", a parody of The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" full of Asian stereotypes, and "Justin's Beaver", a parody of B.o.B's "Magic" ridiculing Justin Bieber.[7] One of his most infamous parodies was "Ima Korean", which was a parody of The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" which makes fun of Kim Jong-il and North Koreans. He later released a sequel called "My Korea's Over" which is a parody of "International Love", taking place after Kim Jong-il's death in 2011, when his son Kim Jong-un took over as the leader of North Korea. In 2013, he released a third song in the series called "Kim Jong-Un Song" which is a parody of Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" featuring Nelly, which is about the 2013 North Korean missile crisis.

During the weeks July 31, 2010 through August 7, 2010, Rucka held 5 of the top 10 spots on the Billboard Comedy Digital Tracks chart.[8][9] This feat had only been accomplished by comedy band The Lonely Island before Rucka.

Rucka Rucka Ali has released six albums, three of which charted in the Billboard Top Comedy Albums, I'm Black, You're White & These Are Clearly Parodies which peaked at No. 6[10] and Probably Racist which peaked at No. 11.[11] In September 2012, he released his sixth studio album, Rucka's World, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard Top Comedy Albums.[12]

Rucka Rucka Ali used to have a podcast named "Ruckas Late Night Power Hour" that ran from 2011 to 2012. He now has a new podcast called "The Rucka Nucka Podcast" and continues to release songs regularly.

In December 2014, alongside Andy Dick, he announced that his new album Black Man of Steal would be released in January 2015.[13]

Controversy

Some critics have labeled Ali as a racist as a reaction to his songs, although his humor seems heavily influenced by mainstream comedy television shows such as South Park, Family Guy, and Chappelle's Show.[1] His videos and YouTube channels are frequently removed (since he started creating music videos he has had 17[14] YouTube channels deleted for terms of service violations), but are reuploaded by his fans, who call themselves "Rucka's Nuckas".

In 2010, three British students were suspended from school when a Korean child was offended as they showed one of Rucka's videos "Ima Korean" to their class while studying culture. The school's headmaster said the song was "probably racist", which was used as the title for Rucka Rucka Ali's next album.[15]

On July 24, 2013, Rucka Rucka Ali released the song "Zayn Did 9/11" (a parody of Selena Gomez's "Come & Get It") to YouTube which mocked Muslim One Direction member Zayn Malik, jokingly saying he committed the September 11 terrorist attacks. The single cover features a silhouette of Malik in front of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as they were attacked.[16] The song, along with an accompanying music video released several days later, angered One Direction fans and others.[17] Business Standard called the song "offensive" and a "racist attack" on Malik.[18]

In late November 2013, Rucka Rucka Ali was involved in another controversy after his song "Only 17", a parody of "Just A Dream" by Nelly, was accidentally played uncensored over the speakers at a McDonalds in Wales.[19][20] Subsequently, McDonalds issued an apology to the offended customers.[21] That same week, Rucka Rucka Ali responded to the controversy on his YouTube channel by jokingly demanding a personal apology from the restaurant.[22]

Discography

Studio Albums[23]

Title Year Peak chart positions
US Comedy[24]
Straight Outta West B 2009 —
I'm Black, You're White & These Are Clearly Parodies 2010 6
A Very Rucka Christmas 2010 —
Probably Racist 2011 11
A Very Rucka Christmas: The 2nd Cumming 2011 —
Rucka's World 2012 8
Black Man of Steal 2015 7
Everything is Racist 2017 -
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Charted Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions
US Comedy[24]
"I Can Do Whatever, I'm White" 2010 19
"Go Cops" 2010 4
"Ching Chang Chong" 2010 7
"Ima Korean" 2010 2
"Emo (Like a Nazi)" 2010 25
"I Love Minorities" 2010 8
"Let's Go Jesus!" 2010 12
"Justin's Beaver" 2010 3
"Osama Bin Found" 2011 18
"I'm Obama" 2013 19
"Only 17" 2014 17
"Ebola (La La)" 2014 6
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Comedy year-end chart

Song Position Year
"Ima Korean" 5 2010[25]
"Go Cops" 7
"Ching Chang Chong" 12
"Don't Be a Playa, Haiti" 15
"Go Cops" 16 2011[26]
"Justin's Beaver" 18
Released Singles (per Discogs & iTunes)[27][28]

Music videos

Year Video Director
2008 "I Can Do Whatever I'm White" MC Serch
2013 "Justin's Beaver" Pinegrove Collective
2015 "Kim Jong Un Song" Dave Farese
2015 "Shake Ur Tush" Unknown

References

  1. 1 2 Rucka Rucka Ali Loves Minorities Current.com (June 21, 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06-05.
  2. ↑ "Rucka Rucka Ali : Billboard". billboard.com. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ "iAMA Rucka Rucka Ali". Reddit. 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  4. ↑ "The History Of RuckaRucka". 2012-04-28. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  5. ↑ "Straight Outta West B by Rucka Rucka Ali on Apple Music". Apple. 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  6. ↑ "iAMA Rucka Rucka Ali". Reddit. 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  7. ↑ "Rucka Rucka Ali : Rhapesody". rhapsody.com. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Comedy Digital Tracks : Jul 31, 2010 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard.com. 2010-07-31. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  9. ↑ "Comedy Digital Tracks : Aug 07, 2010 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard.com. 2010-08-07. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  10. ↑ "Comedy Albums". Billboard.com. March 5, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  11. ↑ Rucka Rucka Ali at AllMusic
  12. ↑ "Rucka Rucka Ali | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  13. ↑ Ali, Rucka Rucka (December 9, 2014). "NEW ALBUM!!!!". Facebook.
  14. ↑ http://ruckasworld.com/
  15. ↑ "Bournemouth school pupils told off over 'racist' video". BBC News. June 17, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  16. ↑ James Robertson (August 5, 2013). "Racist song accusing Muslim singer Zayn Malik for 9/11 terrorist attacks sparks outrage". Daily Mirror. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  17. ↑ Zicarelli, Gabriella (August 6, 2013). "ANDPOP Directioner's Start Petition To Have Racist Song Aimed At Zayn Malik Removed From iTunes". Andpop.com. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Zayn Malik faces racist attack". Business Standard. August 6, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  19. ↑ "McDonalds apologises for playing explicit rap track at 9:30am in Wales". Gigwise. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  20. ↑ "McDonald's Apologizes for Playing a Rucka Rucka Ali Song in Wales". Businessweek. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  21. ↑ Stone, Anthony (November 21, 2013). "McDonald's sorry over rap lyrics". Yahoo News.
  22. ↑ McCoppin, Suzy (November 26, 2013). "Controversial Rapper Rucka Rucka Ali Seeks Apology from McDonald's". Popdust.
  23. ↑ "Rucka Rucka Ali : Albums : Rhapsody". rhapsody.com. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  24. 1 2 "Comedy Album Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
  25. ↑ "Comedy 2010 Year End".
  26. ↑ "Comedy 2011 Year End".
  27. ↑ "Rucka Rucka Ali - Singles and EPs". Discogs. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Rucka Rucka Ali". iTunes. Retrieved December 13, 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.