The best rapper from all 50 states

Idaho

Artist – Bret Johnson (?)

Years Active – 2013?

Notable Track – “The 208”

Sample Rhyme:

“I’m from Idaho, sound the alarms

Get in your cars

We’s about to party at the local Walmart”

—

Any discussion about rap in America would not be complete without acknowledging the rise of parody rap.

The genre’s low entry level cost — turning on your laptop’s microphone, searching Google for free mixing software — means that any (white) person with a vaguely funny joke can turn it into a career.

Sometimes the results border on great. The Lonely Island produces some well made and hilarious stuff.

Most times, though, parody rap inspires more eye rolls than laughs. Take the song above. It’s a rap about Idaho’s telephone area code, 208. It is among the first hits when you type “Idaho rappers” into Google, just above a link for a service that allows your to “hire rappers,” whatever that means.

“The 208” jabs at a lot of stuff many in rural America might recognize, and throws in some more specific Idaho stuff for good measure. It is a carbon copy of just about every other rap on YouTube that is about a specific place, made exclusively for people in that specific place. And, somehow, it’s the only example of homegrown rap in Idaho.

Next: Illinois