The congregation was standing up before he even stepped up to the podium, a hail of iPhone camera flashes and cries of “Based God” showering the stage in Ackerman Grand Ballroom.
Brandon McCartney, better known by his professional nickname Lil B, defies most efforts for categorization. His Twitter bio alternately lists film score composer, rapper, director and historical online figure among his many pursuits.
His speech in front of the crowd Thursday mirrored this motley group of interests jumping from his career in the entertainment industry to his perception of the media and his thoughts on the various shadowy organizations that conspiracy theorists say control the government.
Organized by the Campus Events Commission, the multi-talented performer came to UCLA on one stop of a speaking tour that has taken him to universities across the country like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University.
In a style that was part motivational speaker and part random preacher on BruinWalk, Lil B started out the the event with what he called an “exclusive quote.”
“It’s a honor to be you, so make sure you care,” he said.
That quote kicked off a poem filled with the kind of non sequiturs that pervade the rhymes in his music, referencing karate along with Jay Z’s new music service Tidal.
Lil B radiated with the wide-eyed positivity that comes across in his tracks, lavishing the audience with messages of love and respect for the environment.
The musician mainly strayed away from the topics that have kept him in the headlines recently, namely his cursing of Houston Rockets guard James Harden for allegedly taking his pot cooking celebration.
Most of the anecdotes Lil B recounted with the audience came with a good dose of the irony that has won him a multitude of fans among a college crowd that feels as though they’re in on the joke.
His statements came out in a rapid-fire stream of consciousness that was reminiscent of his wildly popular twitter account.
After a rant about how the mainstream media spoon-feeds the general public, he launched into a sprawling epic about two wild turkeys that he met. In between these stories, Lil B wedged in quotes detailing his life philosophy along with countless interjections of “Ya feel me.”
“The most important thing is to have a conscience – knowing what is right and what is wrong,” he said before detailing his recently discovered cat allergy.
His philosophy, “Based,” was a topic in his speech, but seems to have a fluid definition depending on who you talk to.
The top result on Urban Dictionary lists “Based” as “when you don’t care what people think, it’s a way of life. Doing what you want. How (you) want. Wearing what (you) want.”
Audience members had their own ideas on the word. One person thought it “was something that keeps stuff grounded.” Another said “it was living in the ideal version of a person in Lil B’s reality.”
The performer himself implored people to stay “Based” to the universal values of honesty and love.
As the night wore on, the rapper delved into his personal life and his musings on death as well as corporate malfeasance and corruption.
Lil B worked the crowd for participation, getting them to share their insecurities or their answer to the vital question of whether there is water on Mars.
The most salient question asked by the rapper, though, spoke to the thematic confusion that has dogged him throughout his career.
“Is this even real?” he asked rhetorically.
But the question echoed the thoughts of many laughing out in the audience.
Compiled by Kevin Truong, Bruin senior staff.