The best rapper from all 50 states

New Mexico

Artist – Wake Self

Years Active – 2014?

Notable Track – “New Mexico”

Sample Rhyme:

“We got the best chile

That’s the truth really

I’m from Albuquerque, por que Duke City?

It’s more than a show about cooking meth

that you know from television”

—

The nearly 69,000 views Wake Self has on his video for the single “New Mexico” might represent the entire population of the state for all we know. Who else but overly ambitious writers would be searching for this video and then actually watching it?

Wake Self delivers yet another song for this list that seems like it could have been written by the state government’s in-house travel agency.

To his credit, the production levels are actually good here, and the photography really sells the state’s beauty.

A particular line in the song actually cuts to the heart of what raps like this are all about. To paraphrase: New Mexico doesn’t have any professional sports teams. Those of us who grew up in or near even a modest metropolis will find this an entirely alien concept. What does it mean to grow up in a place where thousands of your neighbors and fellow citizens don’t weekly — or even daily — convene in an arena and all shout for the same cause?

Wake Self and so many others on this list don’t have that type of community to feed off of. It’s no wonder they turn to rap, and in particular rap songs about their states.

Next: New York