Why Rawcus Wants You to Snapchat Him ‘Dem Titties’ and ‘Dat Ass’

Update: On January 28th, Rawcus released the official documentary/music video for ‘Snap Chat Me Dem Titties’ which has replaced the lyric video that was previously featured in this article.

Rawcus, the most prescient musical artist of 2014, kicked off the new year with a track about tits and ass.

One year after the release “White People Crazy,” which was called the first viral hit of 2014, Rawcus is in Los Angeles self-promoting his new singles “Snapchat Me Dem Titties” and “Snapchat Me Dat Ass.”

“I’m doing incredible,” Rawcus says over the phone. After speaking to The Daily Beast, the rapper is headed to various L.A. locales with a “Snapchat Me Dem Titties” sign and a heart full of hustle.

“Let me put it down like this for you,” he says. “I’m going to go to Venice Beach. I’m going to go to the Hollywood Strip. I’m going to go to Ellen DeGeneres. I’m going to go to Jimmy Kimmel. I’m going to go to Cartoon Network. I’m going to stand outside with signs that say ‘Hi’ to all them people, like when I’m outside Conan I’m gonna hold a sign that say ‘Hi, Conan. Snapchat Me Dem Titties.’”

But it’s not all about breasts. Ever the frugal artist, Rawcus produced two versions of the same song. “The reason I made both versions was originally I had the idea for titties, cause who doesn’t like some titties,” he says. “But then I went ahead and I was like, ‘Not everyone is a titty person. Not everyone is a boob person.’ So I was like, ‘I need to get the booty in there.’ So I made both versions so that people could choose, like, the guy that represents the booty or the boobs, they’ll play that version of the song. You have a choice there.”

But Rawcus’s new tracks aren’t some dirty Beatles song about George Harrison trying to “dance” with all the 16-year-old girls in Liverpool. The song requests pictures of breasts and butts, gives out the rapper’s Snapchat handle, and sets the terms and conditions for any image submitted. While the rapper contributes to a masculine culture that fetishizes female nudity, he clearly establishes the terms of consent and gives illustrative examples to demonstrate how he retains the right to share any submitted images. The Snapchat user terms and conditions are far more nebulous, and even where the company has made explicit promises to protect its users’ data, it has failed to either do so or provide adequate compensation for those whose privacy was violated.

And it’s a highly customizable track, almost any fetish could fit the lyrics. “We were going to do ‘coochie,’” Rawcus says, “But you can’t say that, though. Nobody is gonna play that. A reproductive organ, and something that feed a baby is a completely different ballgame.”

While 2014 was considered the year of the booty, Rawcus sees his new tracks as separate from the broader social trend.

“I didn’t really think about it like that, but I guess it really was the year of the booty,” he says. “I’m just making really good songs that make sense in my day to day life. So other people can relate to them. I’m trying to make this a trend. This needs to be a trend. We can do this. I can hear everybody hashtagging ‘Snap Chat Me Dem Titties.’ This is really going to stick to society. When the music video comes out, everybody’s going to be saying this. There’s going to be two [music videos] one on the streets, and one real music video.”

(The lyric videos embedded in this article are just teasers, the real music videos should be out in the next month.)

America is a country both fascinated and terrified at the thought of breasts and butts. There are currently no states where showing a butt in public is legal. In most states, it’s illegal for topless women to walk through art museums full of naked lady statues and paintings. And while a man might be asked to leave a public space for uncovering his breasts, there’s little chance he would be arrested.

“Sex runs the world,” Rawcus says. “You don’t see fully clothed pictures [on magazine covers]. But it’s tricky. It really depends on how the woman sees herself. There’s so many perspectives. It’s OK for women to do that, and to have fun. To do what makes you happy. When it’s a woman, [men] notice it. Look at Nick Jonas’s photoshoot. That just happened. He went from Disney star to bad boy, ‘Let me take my clothes off, ladies.’ It’s the same thing, it goes both ways. Justin Bieber, look at him.”

Rawcus senses a revolution. “In the next ten years, it’s going to be OK to show titties in public,” he says. “It’s just where our world’s headed. But showing some vajuna, I don’t know. I’m not going to lie to you, I actually went to go see that movie [Lina Esco’s Free the Nipple] because when I was going to release this, one of my guys was like ‘Yo, have you heard of this.’ I like the message. They’re right. And they can feel free to Snapchat me them titties anytime they want. They’re doing what they feel is right and if enough women will stand up for it, it probably is the right thing.”

That double standard has re-asserted itself on the internet and mobile devices. While Snapchat is valued at $10 billion running ad campaigns from some of the world’s largest brands, they were among the lowest rated web companies when it came to protecting their users privacy and doubly quick to distance themselves from any legal liability when an October hack leaked its users’ photos.

In a number of cases, teachers who have had their phones stolen and nude pictures distributed have lost employment or been threatened with legal penalties while the students who perpetrated the thefts and distribution are rarely punished. This past summer, a teacher in Rawcus’s home state of Georgia was dismissed from her job as a middle school educator after students hacked her phone and found non-nude, personal photos on it. When the school district failed to discipline the students, the teacher attempted to press charges against the children herself.

“I don’t necessarily see the song as political,” Rawcus says. “But if it’s applied to certain movements, if you want to take it around with you, then it becomes political.”

Rawcus’s songs arguably address the issue of trust between the sender and the receiver of a nude Snapchat. Because the app alerts senders when recipients screenshot the self-deleting photos, the song’s lyrics allude to friends taking pictures on other phones to save the image without triggering the alert. “You have to send it to someone you trust. You can trust me, though,” Rawcus says. He laughs. The rapper doesn’t see a moral conflict between asking for a picture on a service that seeks to protect its user’s privacy and sharing it with others. “I’m actually willing to show off the lady, she would probably be like ‘Oh, OK.’ If someone sends it to me personally, at least I can talk to them.”

But Rawcus is not interested in reciprocity. When asked if he has ever sent a dick pic, he says, “It’s a secret. I don’t care if anyone else does it. Just don’t send them to me.” And he’s not interested in seeing a “Snap Chat Me Dat Dick” remix. “This song is mostly for males who want to tell females ‘Snap Chat Me Dem Titties’ and then when enough guys like it, girls think it’s funny.”

Avoiding dicks on a social network that does not restrict nudity is a tall order. While millions of women (and some men like Rawcus) might appreciate a “no pricks” option, that feature has not been offered, even where the technology to create such a cock-free environment is potentially available. While there is no scientific data documenting the phenomenon of unsolicited dick pics, the anecdotal consensus is that no one likes receiving an unexpected wang.

As much as Rawcus is asking for others to uncover themselves, he retains the anonymity of his masked persona. He plans to show his face eventually although the preconditions necessary for such a reveal have a steep price. “Well, (As I put my pinkie to my face) one million dollars,” he jokes. “Nah, I’m just playing. It’s got to be the right time. When this is all over, it will probably be a good time to do. There’s a lot more to it than people see. This is something that’s going to be bigger than what it seems. There’s not really much I can say. But just know that when I take the mask off, the reason for it all is going to prove a point.”

In addition to the Fake It Till You Make It EP that introduced the world to “White People Crazy,” this past fall, Rawcus released the “Plan G” mixtape, as well as another single for his song “Ain’t Ratchet Enough.”

“I wasn’t lying. It’s not like I was saying stuff that wasn’t true,” Rawcus says about his monster 2014. “White people are always gonna be crazy.” The rapper says anyone who doubts that indisputable truth should just “watch the video, man. Stupidity is a choice.”