Viper (rapper)
Lee Arthur Carter (born October 7, 1971), known professionally by his stage name Viper, is an American rapper, producer and actor.[1] Viper has been producing music since childhood, but he received widespread attention online for his 2008 album, You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack. The prolific nature of his work, together with his commitment to self production, has garnered him a cult following as an outsider artist, with comparisons drawn to rapper Lil B and musician Wesley Willis. He is also regarded as one of the originators of cloud rap.[2][3]
Viper | |
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Viper in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lee Arthur Carter |
| Also known as | Lee Dogg, Rapper Viper, Viper the Rapper, Cobra, Diemondback, Vipes |
| Born | October 7, 1971 El Dorado, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Origin | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Instrument(s) |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels |
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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 1997, he was an actor in the film Fifth Ward, directed by his brother, Greg Carter.[3][4]
Music career
While Viper reportedly started rapping as a child, his first musical appearance was on the soundtrack for Fifth Ward, under the name "J-Ride."[5]
Originally under the artist name Lee Dogg, Viper released his first album, Lee Dogg, on October 7, 2003, which would later be renamed Hustlin' Thick.[6] The album was created mostly in collaboration with various artists signed to local music label Dope House Records at the time, whom Viper thanks multiple times in the liner notes. Viper planned to continue releasing albums under the Lee Dogg name and had numerous plans for collaborations, but for unknown reasons this never happened, and he retroactively changed both the name of his album to Hustlin' Thick and his artist name to Viper.
Viper continued to release mixtapes regularly throughout the early 2000s under his Rhyme Time Records label through the CD Baby website,[7] becoming one of the first cloud rap artists.[8] Throughout this period he showed frustration at his obscurity and limited exposure, as detailed on one of his early songs, "9900 Haters On The Wall", where he claimed out of ten thousand people who heard his albums on the site, only a hundred had bought them.[7]
His obscurity would continue until early 2013, when the title track of his album You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack, released in 2008, was posted onto YouTube. Since then it has garnered over three million views,[9] and news outlets started reporting on him shortly after.[3][2][10] You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack is by far Viper's most popular album. 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".[11]
Despite the heavily independent and lo-fi nature of the album, it received positive coverage in the music press. Sputnik Music wrote that the album fuses "a nostalgic and ethereal blend of cloud rap and vaporwave".[10] 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 drug-centric lyrics, and how sonically bizarre he is in general."[2]
Since then, Viper has remained active, releasing almost an album per day on average in 2014, often consisting of recycled or chopped and screwed material, while making his music available on Spotify and iTunes and giving interviews to the local music press.[1][11][12] As of 2020, he has released more than 1,500 albums, although only approximately 15 or so consist of solely original material. In early 2019, he created a new YouTube channel, RapperViper VEVO, as a collaborative project with his new video editor.
Personal life
Carter has four children; one born in 2002, two with his ex-wife, and the most recent being born in October 2020. He claims to believe he is the second Christ, and refers to himself as "Black Jesus"[13][14] and is a devout Christian. In June 2016, Carter suffered pneumonia.[15] In 2021, Betty Carter, Lee Carter's mother, died at the age of 79.[16]
Style
His low-budget, DIY aesthetic is 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.[17]
Musically, he is recognized for his deep voice, occasional use of autotune, and slowed-down, low-fidelity and glitchy and ethereal production predating cloud rap or the chopped and screwed subgenre native to Viper's Houston scene.[3]
Partial discography
Viper has released hundreds of albums. (249, albums from 2015- present on spotify)[18][19] However, a vast majority of these releases contain songs that have been chopped and screwed, slowed down, or simply recycled and put under different names with no change to their content. Therefore, only releases which contain original material have been listed here.
Studio albums/mixtapes
- Hustlin' Thick (2003, originally under the name Lee Dogg)
- Ready and...Willing (2006)
- Heartless Hoodlum (2006)
- The Southwest Hooligan (2006)
- You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack (2008)
- The Paper Man (2008)
- The Hiram Clarke Hustler (2009)
- These Rappers Claim They Hard When Them Fags Never Even Seen the Pen (2010)
- 5-9 Piru Music: The Gang, the Album, the Label (2013)
- Kill Urself My Man and I Have The Best Piece and Chain Ever Made! (partially) (2013)
- Rich and NOT Famous (2013)
- Tha Top Malla (2015)
- Death from in Front (2016)
- Shed Skin: Tha Hidden Treasures, Vol. 1 (1997-2017) (2022)
- Thug's Renditions: Tha Hidden Treasures, Vol. 2 (2017-2018) (2022)
- Pussy Boy Ill Kill Ya (All I Need Is Tha Money): Tha Hidden Treasures, Vol. 3 (2018-2022) (2022)
- Ya'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack (You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack II) (2022)
Collaborative albums/EPs
Filmography
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fifth Ward | 1997 | Rip[4] | |
| Hustletown Mobbin | 2003 | Arms Dealer | Uncredited role |
See also
References
- ^ a b c Hudgins, Jackson (January 24, 2015). . KRLX. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ a b c Cimarusti, Luca (July 5, 2013). "12 O'Clock Track: "You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack" is outsider-hip-hop brilliance". Chicago Reader. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Gordon, Jeremy (July 15, 2013). "Meet Viper, The Genius Rapper Behind "You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack"". Noisey. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
- ^ a b "Fifth Ward (1997) – Full Cast & Crew – IMDb". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
- ^ "J-Ride (Viper the Rapper) - Choppers". YouTube. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ . Archived from the original on July 15, 2004. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ a b "9900 Haters On The Wall". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "Chamber 38 releases You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack by Viper". Sunbleach. January 1, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "viper - you'll cowards don't even smoke crack". YouTube. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ a b Lowe, Robert (December 2, 2014). "Viper – You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack Review". Sputnik Music. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
- ^ a b Kemper, Jimmy. "Meet Viper, rap's Renaissance man". The Observer. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
- ^ "This Rapper Has Released 347 Albums in 2014… So Far". Vocativ. December 31, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ^ Viper (June 29, 2019). "307-T3 I'm blessed that I've found my calling,to teach men to live a #FLAWLESSLIFE by leaving a #FLAWLESSLEGACY,then in heaven the only men they will be have to see is my father JESUS & his Father GOD & no other men + all other women of this life & more women,as I'm in LT3 as...pic.twitter.com/mtrLL8WDhL". @RapperViper. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ Viper - Viper Interview 2019 (Evil's Always by My Side), retrieved August 19, 2019
- ^ Viper (June 15, 2016). "D2 J2 Ihave a badcase of pneumonia I feel like darthvador when hislimbs were disembowel.Myresolve has never been greater. Longlive thesith". @RapperViper. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the : "R.I.P Betty Carter 1941-2021". YouTube.
- ^ Walaszek, John (December 13, 2014). "Viper is a Struggle Rapper Who Released 333 Albums This Year". Complex. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
- ^ "Viper The Rapper Has Released 262 Albums in 2015 (So Far)". Complex. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
- ^ "Rapper Viper has Released 262 Albums this Year, or About 3930 Songs — Nerdist". archive.nerdist.com. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
- ^ Death 2 Snitches (EP) | Nmesh, Bandcamp, retrieved May 12, 2020
- ^ BOUT THA MONEY | Illuminated Paths, Bandcamp, retrieved May 12, 2020
External links
- Rhyme Tyme Records official website