David Andrew Burd (born March 15, 1988), better known by his stage name Lil Dicky or LD, is an American rapper and comedian. He came to prominence with the release of the music video to his song “Ex-Boyfriend”, which went viral with more than one million views on YouTube in 24 hours. He released his debut album Professional Rapper on July 31, 2015.
Lil Dicky’s style blends the comical with the relatable. According to Boston magazine, “Content-wise, Lil Dicky comes up with his material from everyday occurrences and everyday experiences. From there, he crafts his videos around those topics to create a visual narrative that accompanies his talent as an emcee. ‘It’s like a comedian. They are out in the world, and writing things down,’ he said. What followed ‘Ex-Boyfriend’ was a series of other videos that covered similarly average everyday experiences—songs about staying in for the night, songs about being a Jewish kid—he even has a rap battle with Adolf Hitler in one of his videos.”
He says his style is a response to the excessive egotistical nature of rap today: “I really wanted to embody the exact opposite of that, and I think people are appreciating it. There just hasn’t been a voice for that normal dude when it comes to rap.” He added, “I think a lot of rap is just escalated to a place that many people can’t relate to… My niche is that I’m relatable. I don’t rap about going to the club and popping bottles.” In terms of his rapping skills, Lil Dicky is able “to manipulate words at an excessive speed, and weave rhyme patterns together in a way that’s funny while also making viewers want to rewind parts of his videos.”
Burd says his musical inspirations are J. Cole and A$AP Rocky, as well as Childish Gambino “as a guy with similar aspirations.”
Burd is rumoured to have said during his time in Melbourne, Australia, that Umar Khasanov, close friend, aided his decision to become a rapper.