The Flawed Kreayshawn (Creation)

Rappers’ government names are usually pretty amusing when compared against their stage names.

For example…

Natassia Gail Zolot is the given name of Oakland rapper Kreayshawn. If I were being honest with you, I actually like Kreayshawn. I cannot say I’m the biggest fan of her controversies (we’ll get to those later) but we all have our moments. Such is the way of life since none of us are perfect.

But why do I like Kreayshawn? There a few reasons I want to share with you if you’ll permit me.

1.I LOVE how she got started with her career. She didn’t immediately start making music. She hung back in the background and made music videos. She got her first camera at ten and started documenting her raps. This led to not only her doing videos for local rappers like Lil’ B but caught the attention of Dean Patrick Kriwanekhe, allowing her to attend Berkeley Digital Film Institute with a full scholarship for two semesters. Not too shabby.

2.Her heritage makes her rap career that much more intriguing to me. Kreayshawn is a third-generation Russian-American, and the daughter of Elka Zolot, a former member of the San Francisco garage punk band The Trashwomen.

3.I honestly like her style and her delivery. Ever since the first time I heard “Gucci Gucci”, I was hooked on her. I can’t wait for her first studio album.

The controversies don’t really overshadow things for me.

Critics of Kreayshawn's music cite cultural appropriation and "exploitation of black culture".West coast rapper Game released a diss track entitled, "Uncle Otis", containing lyrics criticizing her for her alleged use of the word 'nigga' when paraphrasing a DMX quote. That’s interesting to me that we seem to come to that sort of conversation every time a Caucasian or anyone other than an African-American enters a genre or borrows a certain style. I’m not justifying her saying nigga but…remember Elvis? Remember Eminem? Exactly my point.

Then there’s her comments about Rick Ross in a freestyle. During a televised freestyle she insulted rapper Rick Ross by calling him "fake". She later retracted her statements and described it as a misunderstanding; however, a few days following her statement, Kreayshawn continued making negative remarks about Ross' body weight, once again calling him "fake" and stating that "he can't rap." That’s pretty much opinion. Maybe saying it publicly is a bit tasteless. But I can see how that could be a problem. Still I love how the First Amendment dies in hip-hop.

And of course, nude pictures are a given. They leaked via Twitter.

As with anything, you must take the good with the bad. Granted there are bad points but I am curious to see her curtail her good points into a dope debut album this year.

(Her debut Life With Loopy is set for release this year.)