Even his artist image is self-depreciating
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.
He is known for putting out high production value videos that have continued to be successful on YouTube, and is known for having other high profile music artists feature on his songs. It could be argued that he may be One of Us due to the frequency of nerdy references in his lyrics and videos, and frequent use of humorous tropes. So far he has only released one full length album, but also has a couple mix-tapes and EPs to his name.
He's also the creator and star of FXX's Dave, which is loosely based on his life.
Discography:
- So Hard (2013)
- Professional Rapper (2015)
- I'm Brain (2017)
Lil Dicky's works contain the following tropes:
- The '90s: His song of the same name contains as many references to the 90s as humanly possible.
- All Jews Are Cheapskates: Invoked and discussed in his single "Save Dat Money".
- Animate Body Parts:
- The artist Brain featured on his "Pillow Talking" single is actually an animated version of Lil Dicky's brain, as shown by the video. It is also the main artist of the I'm Brain EP.
- This is actually a recurring trope, there was an animated anthropomorphic penis in his "Ex-Boyfriend" video as well.
- Animated Music Video: Majority of the music video for "Earth"
is rendered in 
All-CGI Cartoon. Clean edit to show to your children. - Animated Shock Comedy: The Charity Motivation Song "Earth" and its accompanying music video prominently feature crude humour like a baboon showing off his huge anus, a zebra being eaten on screen, a disgruntled skunk who sprays his foul liquid at Lil Dicky (and makes sure to mention that it comes from his butthole), multiple Double Entendres, and references to sex, marijuana and STDs.
- Black Is Bigger in Bed: Implied in "Freaky Friday" where after switching bodies with Chris Brown, Lil Dicky mentions repeatedly how big Chris's penis is, including uploading photos of it online.
- The Charmer: The song "Personality" by him and T-Pain is about how they are not conventionally extremely attractive, so they have developed this kind of personality.
- Earth Song: "Earth", naturally. Though a bit more on the comical side than other songs of this type.
- Epic Rocking: Occasionally. "Professional Rapper" is 5:53, "Would You Believe That" is 5:12, and "The Antagonist I & II" has a combined length of 9:56. His longest song is "Pillow Talking", clocking at 10:46, with "Truman" close behind at 10:15.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Crops up in "White Crime", when he establishes his bad-ass street cred by, among other things, stealing Halloween candy and attempting to travel with larger-than-allowed liquid containers. Subverted as the song goes on, however, as several things he mentions are indeed felonies.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Used as the premise of his 2017 single "Freaky Friday", between himself and Chris Brown as well as Ed Sheeran, DJ Khaled and Kendall Jenner.
- Gag Penis: Apparently the titular character of his song "Ex-Boyfriend" has one, as he then spends an entire verse rapping about it.
- Green Aesop: "Earth" is meant to be an anthem about showing love to the planet Earth and how we must care for it.
- Hidden Depths: As referenced in several of his songs, he had excellent grades in school and was starting a successful marketing career before deciding to become a rapper. His career was kickstarted through the money he received in his Bar Mitzvah - his parents wouldn't let him touch it until he successfully graduated.
- I Have Many Names: A recurring joke is for LD to intoduce a new alias in almost every song, such as "Independent Variable" in "Save Dat Money", "The Original Pancake" in "Classic Male Pregame", or most outrageously, "Mr. Leftward-Sloping Penis" in "Ex-Boyfriend".
- Ink-Suit Actor: For the "Professional Rapper" music video, also including his featured artist Snoop Dogg, which are also exaggerated versions of themselves.
- Jewish and Nerdy: Subverted in that while he does have nerdy interests and behaviors, he is also a rapper and a decent basketball player
- Man, I Feel Like a Woman: When he switches bodies with Kendall Jenner at the end of "Freaky Friday", Dicky's first reaction is to do this.I got a vagina, I’m gonna explore that right now (woo, woo)
Holy shit, I got a vagina, I'm gonna learn
I’m gonna understand the inner workings of a woman - Massive Multiplayer Crossover: "Earth" features scads of guest vocalists, musical and otherwise, in the roles of various animals and landmarks.
- No Budget: The goal for the video of "Save Dat Money", wherein he tries to create the most badass rap video possible without spending money.
- Non Sequitur: Rich Homie Quan's verse in "Save Dat Money". He appears out of nowhere to brag about his griffed, expensive belongings and typical gangster stuff. Dicky actually lampshades this and cuts his verse short.Quan, what does this have to do with saving money, though? Y'know, the full verse would've been too expensive anyways... I think.
- N-Word Privileges:
- He doesn't believe he can say the actual word "nigga", just as he believes other races don't have those privileges for the word "kike", which he uses on "Save Dat Money". He discussed this on an appearance on Sway In The Morning.
- Played with in "Freaky Friday", where Dicky switches bodies with Chris Brown and takes the opportunity to use the n-word extensively. On the other hand, while in Lil Dicky's body, Chris (in contrast to much of his music) avoids using the word. This is still consistent with Dicky's above-mentioned beliefs, however; since Voices Are Not Mental for their body switch, it's Chris's voice singing the n-word.Wonder if I can say the n-word (wait for real?)
Wait, can I really say the n-word?
What up, my nigga? What up, my nigga?
Big ups, my nigga, we up, my nigga
You pussy ass nigga, man, fuck y’all niggas
'Cause I’m that nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga
I’m that nigga
- Rapid-Fire Comedy: Thanks to his flow and use of wordplay, his songs are peppered with puns and jokes.
- Reference Overdosed: Acknowledged by Dicky in "Sports", where he uses over 40 sports references in a couple verses. It eventually escalates into a World of Pun using athlete's names.
- Self-Deprecation: A large portion of his humor is derived from this. He outright states that he wants to fill the void of "soft-hearted" rappers in the game in "Professional Rapper".Snoop Dogg: Let me put you through a couple hypotheticals: in the club and a couple niggas threaten you.Dicky: Uhhh... I wouldn't do shit, and I don't even care what that got to do with this.Snoop: Shut the fuck up! Rap's like life, if you wanna do this then you won't get far acting like a little bitch!Dicky: Nah, that's my niche! Don't get offended by this, but that's the market y'all miss. That's the target I'll hit, and that's the heart of my pitch. I wanna do this whole thing different!
- Talking in Bed: The premise behind the "Pillow Talking" single.
- Teeny Weenie: The point of his rap name, in line with the constant Self-Deprecation in his music. Chris Brown also notes this in "Freaky Friday" after switching bodies with Lil Dicky.How his dick staying perched up on his balls like that?
- Those Wacky Nazis: Featured in "Jewish Flow." Dicky, defeats a Nazi in basketball and Hitler himself in a rap battle.
- Voices Are Not Mental: When Dicky and Chris Brown swap bodies in "Freaky Friday", they're stuck with each other's voices. This is justified because it's in audio form and help us believe that Lil Dicky and Chris Brown are in each other's bodies.
- Whole-Plot Reference:
- Has an entire song that is just him rapping the plot of The Lion King (1994).
- "Freaky Friday" is, predictably, a recreation of Freaky Friday (2003) with Dicky and Chris Brown in the main roles, complete with a fortune cookie being the catalyst for the body swap.
