Viper (rapper)

Viper
Birth name Lee Carter
Also known as Rapper Viper, Viper the Rapper, Viper Rapper
Born El Dorado, Arkansas, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments
Years active 1997–present
Labels Rhyme Tyme
Associated acts
  • Nmesh
  • White Cube

Lee Carter, professionally known by his stage name Viper, is an American rapper and producer.[1] Viper has been producing music since childhood, but received widespread attention online for his 2008 mixtape You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack. The prolific nature of Viper's work and his commitment to self-production have gained him a cult following as an outsider artist, with comparisons drawn to fellow rapper Lil B and musician Wesley Willis.[2][3]

Biography

Early life

Viper was born in El Dorado, Arkansas. He began playing the piano at the age of five. At the age of six, he relocated to the Hiram Clarke neighborhood of Houston, Texas and started rapping at the age of nine. In 1998 he was an actor in the film Fifth Ward.[3][4] After graduating from the University of Houston in 2000, he became a real estate broker.[3] He also became a member of 5-9 Piru, a sub-group of the Bloods, which is mostly a street gang.[3][5]

Music career

While Viper was releasing mixtapes as early as 2006, he first gained attention for the record You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack, which was self-released in 2008. It is his most popular album, and the only one that has been released commercially on a indie record label. University of Notre Dame newspaper The Observer noted that the album became an "internet meme due to its shockingly upfront title and unique album cover".[6]

Despite the independent nature of the album, it received mixed to positive coverage in the music press. Sputnik Music wrote that the album fuses "a nostalgic and ethereal blend of cloud rap and vaporwave".[7] The Chicago Reader wrote that the album is "outsider-artist genius. People on the Internet are initially drawn to Viper because of his blatant disregard for grammar, outrageously violent and drugcentric lyrics, and how sonically bizarre he is in general."[2] Viper remains active, having produced almost an album per day on average in 2014, making his music available on Spotify and iTunes and giving interviews to the local music press.[1][6][8]

Style

Viper is prolific, having released 347 albums in the year 2014 alone,[8] and the low-budget, DIY aesthetic present not only in his music but also its accompanying videos and album art, which frequently consist of simple self-portraits, clip art and his name and the album title superimposed in plain text.[9]

Musically, he is recognized for his deep voice, occasional use of autotune, and slowed-down, glitchy and ethereal production typical of cloud rap or the chopped and screwed subgenre native to Viper's Houston scene.[3] Many of his albums and singles are the same material as what he has already released, but are slowed down or stylistically reworked, as well as having a slightly changed name.

Partial discography

During his career, Viper has released over 900 albums. However, most of these just have previous songs that have been duped with slight remixes and edits under different names. Therefore only a partial part of his discography has been listed below.

Commercial albums

Studio albums/mixtapes

  • Hustlin' Thick (2006)
  • Ready and...Willing (2006)
  • Heartless Hoodlum (2006)
  • The Paper Man (2008)
  • These Rappers Claim They Hard When Them Fags Never Even Seen the Pen (2010)
  • Concrete Jungle (2010)
  • Gleam (2010)
  • The Hiram Clarke Hustler (2010)
  • Things Thugs Do (2010)
  • A Hustler's Life (2010)
  • Grind to Shine (2010)
  • I Have The Best Piece and Chain Ever Made! (2013)
  • Kill Urself My Man (2013)
  • 5-9 Piru Music: The Gang, The Album, The Label (2013)
  • Rich and Not Famous (2013)
  • Cops Can't Read (2014)
  • Evrythang I Do Is... (2014)
  • Tell the Rapper (2015)
  • Tha Top Malla (2015)
  • What Nightmare? Ur Awake 5 (2017)
  • Split with Fentanyl Surprise (2017)
  • World Rap Star (2017)
  • Tha Top-Choice Assassin (2018)
  • Death from Infront (Sleep in Pieces) (TBA)
  • Tha Jamminest Album of All Time (TBA)
  • Cops are Jealous Losers (2018)[10]

Collaborative albums

  • Death 2 Snitches (with Nmesh) (2015)
  • 'Bout tha Money (with Broken Machine Films) (2018)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "An Interview with Viper". KRLX January 24, 2015 Jackson Hudgins. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "12 O'Clock Track: "You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack" is outsider-hip-hop brilliance". Chicago Reader July 5, 2013 Luca Cimarusti. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Meet Viper, The Genius Rapper Behind "You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack"". Noisey July 15, 2013 Jeremy Gordon. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Fifth Ward (1998) – Full Cast & Crew – IMDb". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ "I'm 5-9 Piru Blood (Now You Know My Set) by Viper (Compilation): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list – Rate Your Music". Rate Your Music. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Meet Viper, rap's Renaissance man". The Observer January 21, 2015 Jimmy Kemper. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Viper – You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack Review". Sputnik Music December 2, 2014 Robert Lowe. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "This Rapper Has Released 347 Albums in 2014… So Far". Vocativ December 31, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Viper is a Struggle Rapper who Released 333 Albums This Year". Pigeons & Planes December 12, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  10. ↑ Viper, "Twitter", Viper The Rapper, 4-9-2018
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