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Riff Raff : Rap Game Andy Kaufman

The 2010s are shaping up to be strange times for pop culture. The social protocols of post-post-post-irony hipsters are reaching Inception-esque layers. Meanwhile, zombie children from The Church of Lamestream continue to worship whatever gets put on checkout aisle magazines. These two factions exist at opposing ends of a bizarre and protracted spectrum. There is one artist, however, that is simultaneously an anomaly and the center of this spectrum. His name is Riff Raff, and the ambiguity of his wild musical persona makes him an incredibly listenable enigma.

So where do we start with trying to comprehend suburban, Texas-born Horst Simco and his flamboyant alter ego, Riff Raff? Do we examine his music to better understand his persona? Do we start at the gold-and-ink surface and dig deeper? Asking “how” and “why” questions about Riff Raff will only cause the rational and inquisitive to lose their minds...so let’s start asking. First, we should get the questions regarding his physical appearance out of the way. If you’re wondering why Simco is channelling James Franco in Spring Breakers, you’ll be shocked to find it’s actually the other way around. Riff Raff has been around longer, and Simco claims that director Harmony Korine offered him the part before Franco. What can’t be imitated are the tattoos that have turned Simco body into a crazed middle schooler’s binder cover. The logos for BET, MTV, and Seagram’s 7 are the most conspicuous of his ink. Bart Simpson mixes chemicals below chickenscratch that reads “The Freestyle Scientist.” But why? Is it dedication to brands? Is it out of irony? Is it a statement about consumerism?

Riff Raff’s fashion poses just as many questions. He’s never wearing any colors that occur in nature, opting instead to rock a Lisa Frank color palette of pastel and neon. Simco’s ensembles are perpetually caught between a Vanilla Ice garage sale, Cancun ‘08, and Sunday church in Atlanta. The wardrobe for the music video “Dolce & Gabbana” includes but is not limited to a college letterman sweater, a zebra shirt with silkscreened gold ship wheels, a bro tank, an animal print bandana, all-lavender formal wear, and, of course, a live python. But why? Does he actually think his clothes look good? Is it a joke? Is it an exercise in maximalism? Will examining his music explicate anything? Probably not.

Riff Raff’s lyrical persona hazily stumbles the line between multi-million dollar rap moguls and the doodoo style of acts like Odd Future and Beastie Boys. Sure, he raps about money and cars, but he knocks a few zeroes off the end of his dollar amounts and his car is more likely an Olds than a Rolls. When he does talk about more orthodox lifestyles of the rich and famous, it resembles what children might say if asked what they would do with a million dollars. He makes surreal claims, like that his house takes a week to clean, that he’s “Julius Caesar in a Versace wife beater,” and that he has a panther for a home security system. Every one of his songs has more gems than even Riff Raff himself could fit on grill, but one of the best examples of his scatterbrained lyrical eclecticism is, “Diamonds on my cross, swear to God I'm a God though / I don't mean no blasphemy, Jesus eat at Applebee's / I'm with my bitch in the bed watching Game of Thrones / Waiting 'til Khaleesi's dragon's big enough to take control.” Riff Raff’s words are more sly and elusive than that guard panther.

But so much of what makes Horst Simco “Riff Raff” occurs outside of his songs. Of course, there are his Tim-and-Eric-meets-MTV music videos, but you don’t know Riff Raff until you’re following his presence in ancillary media. Back in 2008, he proliferated himself of Myspace and WorldStarHipHop. Today, he dominates social media as Jody HighRoller, because only someone like Simco could need a pseudonym for his pseudonym. He has 76 million views on YouTube. He has 51K tweets, 100% of which are in caps lock. On Vine, he’s making it rain over a shoebox of new kicks with a fat stack of two dollar bills and eating the receipt to his new Porsche. And if you’re wondering why this guy doesn’t have his own reality show (or TV station), you can catch him on reruns of MTV’s From Gs to Gents Season Two, where his rap career first took off. Oh, and remember that story about Spring Breakers ripping him off? Simco had a cameo on One Life to Live in 2013 as the character “Jamie Franko,” a completely obvious jab at James Franco’s arbitrary stint on General Hospital in 2009. Clearly, Simco is living life in the limelight on his terms and his terms only, whereas other rappers and rockstars boast a cookiecutter excess, at least by comparison. Still, people ask, “Why, Riff Raff? Why?!”

Perhaps the best answer to all of these questions is, in fact, a question. That question is “Why does it matter?” Listening to and thinking about Riff Raff is not an issue of discerning his authenticity or exposing any potential ulterior motives for his behavior. Of the articles written about the artist, far too many ask, “Is Riff Raff real?” It seems that half of the population wants to know if a human being can actually lack that amount of sense and tact, while the other half questions a person’s capacity for irony and humor. In the media’s eyes, he has to be absolutely insane or a committed jokester. There is no middle ground. Does it matter if there is a clear cut explanation? No. Far too often do musicians shatter their mysterious, larger-than-life facades by overexposing themselves to the public. Simco has managed to create art with genuine mass appeal, free from the pandering of lowest common denominator, focus-group-driven pop culture. But even more than just maintaining an illusion (or the illusion of illusion) is the importance of remembering that all music means something different to its individual listeners. That’s the simple beauty of it. Any artist could have the same myriad of meanings to their listeners as Riff Raff, and not necessarily with the same puzzling persona.

However, this doesn’t mean Riff Raff is just any artist. He is something more. He deserves the same attention that he gives to crafting a poised and versatile image, and one that is infallibly, simultaneously sincere and ambiguous. He is our generation’s musical Batman. He will be whatever we need him to be. When we want to get drunk on our friend’s couch. When we want to cruise the Hills. When we need a laugh. When we need someone to identify with. When we need an artist that rap purists, Adult Swim stoners, and bookworms can listen to and discuss ad infinitum. He will be there. No matter what you decide Riff Raff means to you, you can’t ignore him.