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<\/h5>\nOne aspiring rapper talks making music in the Midwest, pushing boundaries and dropping the hottest mixtape of 2016<\/span><\/h5>\nWords by Molly Lamoureux and Sarah Mattes<\/span><\/em>
\nVideos and photo by Lauren Baker and Brooke Haesemeyer<\/em><\/p>\nAustin Andrews died seven years ago. The then high-schooler left behind his small-town persona during a pickup game of basketball. It was shirts vs. skins. Andrews was a skin. His chest was so pale a few of the neighborhood kids started yelling at him, \u201cDamn, you pastey!\u201d And in that moment of clarity, Andrews realized his true identity. It was directly tied to his whiter-than-Wonder-Bread skin, his semi-satirical rhymes about women, sex and Star Wars, and his dream\u00a0of being a hip-hop star. He wasn\u2019t just a kid from Davenport, Iowa, anymore. He was <\/span>Young Pastey<\/span><\/a>\u2014and he never looked back.<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, maybe that\u2019s a little over the top, but so is Pastey. The Rucka Rucka Ali-like persona is full time, not a character he puts on during the day and takes off at night. \u201cI\u2019m my own entity. Young Pastey. I mean,\u201d he said while lifting up his shirt. \u201cLook at this white body. C\u2019mon.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Young Pastey\u2014self-promoting, self-aggrandizing, misogynistic, damn-near myopic\u2014is no prodigy. He’s a kid with a dream, lyrics that would light up a YouPorn forum and a flow that hints at what he could do if he aimed for something more high-minded than the gutter. Combined, the 21-year-old has started to build a fledgling rap identity for himself in eastern Iowa, and his career is running on off-color inventiveness, daydreams and small Davenport crowds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a Midwest vibe [to my music], but East Coast, Midwest, South, West Coast, you can <\/span>vibe to my music<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Pastey said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where you\u2019re from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wb-vGzC9DRc&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\nThis only holds true as long as you like tracks about booty (\u201cI Love That Ass\u201d), sex (\u201cHit that $hit\u201d), the inability to have sex (\u201cWhiskey Dick\u201d) or the sheer power of being Pastey (all of the above). \u201cBoy, I don\u2019t mess around. I\u2019m the whitest rapper in this motherfuckin\u2019 town,\u201d he said of \u201cThe Dirty D,\u201d his slow-jam ode to Davenport. Some songs sound like he\u2019s providing a play-by-play for a porno. Others are dedicated to his favorite herbal remedy. Pastey said he\u2019s just pandering to what his crowd wants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main target is young, white males, honestly,\u201d Pastey said. \u201cThat\u2019s who I see at my shows. But everyone [can listen] to my music. Parental advisory, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s the real thing about Pastey: Not everyone can relate to his lyrics\u2014but anyone can relate to his dedication.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day you gotta pursue your goal,\u201d Pastey said. Example: When he briefly attended <\/span>Grand View University<\/span><\/a> in Des Moines, he sparked his own cult following. Malcolm Smith, a student at Grand View, observed the newfound fandom.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI hung out with him [during orientation] weekend,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd he wore a tie-dye t-shirt that said \u2018YOUNG PASTEY\u2019 on it, and he gave his mixtapes to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith said their entire dorm floor dubbed themselves \u201cThe Young Pasteys\u201d in honor of Pastey\u2019s contagious spirit and charisma. \u201cHe\u2019s got the personality of a star,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hm4_A5FHDU8&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\nNow a business student at <\/span>Western Illinois University<\/span><\/a>, all Pastey has to do is translate that personality into reality. And he works it. Between giving away free albums and freestyling to acoustic guitars at college parties, Pastey is making appearances all over the Quad Cities and the surrounding areas. He\u2019ll rap for free on occasion, just to spread the love and put himself out there. \u201cEven if it\u2019s just a little bit, every day you gotta take a step forward,\u201d Pastey said.<\/span><\/p>\nWhile some Davenport locals recognize the rapper on the street, many people still don\u2019t know who Young Pastey is. In an effort to boost name recognition and brand, he has an elevator pitch ready: \u201cI\u2019ll lift up my shirt, show them <\/span>[my] SoundCloud<\/span><\/a>, and they\u2019ll be blown away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\nVideos and photo by Lauren Baker and Brooke Haesemeyer<\/em><\/p>\n
Austin Andrews died seven years ago. The then high-schooler left behind his small-town persona during a pickup game of basketball. It was shirts vs. skins. Andrews was a skin. His chest was so pale a few of the neighborhood kids started yelling at him, \u201cDamn, you pastey!\u201d And in that moment of clarity, Andrews realized his true identity. It was directly tied to his whiter-than-Wonder-Bread skin, his semi-satirical rhymes about women, sex and Star Wars, and his dream\u00a0of being a hip-hop star. He wasn\u2019t just a kid from Davenport, Iowa, anymore. He was <\/span>Young Pastey<\/span><\/a>\u2014and he never looked back.<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, maybe that\u2019s a little over the top, but so is Pastey. The Rucka Rucka Ali-like persona is full time, not a character he puts on during the day and takes off at night. \u201cI\u2019m my own entity. Young Pastey. I mean,\u201d he said while lifting up his shirt. \u201cLook at this white body. C\u2019mon.\u201d<\/p>\n But Young Pastey\u2014self-promoting, self-aggrandizing, misogynistic, damn-near myopic\u2014is no prodigy. He’s a kid with a dream, lyrics that would light up a YouPorn forum and a flow that hints at what he could do if he aimed for something more high-minded than the gutter. Combined, the 21-year-old has started to build a fledgling rap identity for himself in eastern Iowa, and his career is running on off-color inventiveness, daydreams and small Davenport crowds.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a Midwest vibe [to my music], but East Coast, Midwest, South, West Coast, you can <\/span>vibe to my music<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Pastey said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where you\u2019re from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wb-vGzC9DRc&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\n This only holds true as long as you like tracks about booty (\u201cI Love That Ass\u201d), sex (\u201cHit that $hit\u201d), the inability to have sex (\u201cWhiskey Dick\u201d) or the sheer power of being Pastey (all of the above). \u201cBoy, I don\u2019t mess around. I\u2019m the whitest rapper in this motherfuckin\u2019 town,\u201d he said of \u201cThe Dirty D,\u201d his slow-jam ode to Davenport. Some songs sound like he\u2019s providing a play-by-play for a porno. Others are dedicated to his favorite herbal remedy. Pastey said he\u2019s just pandering to what his crowd wants.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main target is young, white males, honestly,\u201d Pastey said. \u201cThat\u2019s who I see at my shows. But everyone [can listen] to my music. Parental advisory, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the real thing about Pastey: Not everyone can relate to his lyrics\u2014but anyone can relate to his dedication.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day you gotta pursue your goal,\u201d Pastey said. Example: When he briefly attended <\/span>Grand View University<\/span><\/a> in Des Moines, he sparked his own cult following. Malcolm Smith, a student at Grand View, observed the newfound fandom.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI hung out with him [during orientation] weekend,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd he wore a tie-dye t-shirt that said \u2018YOUNG PASTEY\u2019 on it, and he gave his mixtapes to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith said their entire dorm floor dubbed themselves \u201cThe Young Pasteys\u201d in honor of Pastey\u2019s contagious spirit and charisma. \u201cHe\u2019s got the personality of a star,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hm4_A5FHDU8&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\n Now a business student at <\/span>Western Illinois University<\/span><\/a>, all Pastey has to do is translate that personality into reality. And he works it. Between giving away free albums and freestyling to acoustic guitars at college parties, Pastey is making appearances all over the Quad Cities and the surrounding areas. He\u2019ll rap for free on occasion, just to spread the love and put himself out there. \u201cEven if it\u2019s just a little bit, every day you gotta take a step forward,\u201d Pastey said.<\/span><\/p>\n While some Davenport locals recognize the rapper on the street, many people still don\u2019t know who Young Pastey is. In an effort to boost name recognition and brand, he has an elevator pitch ready: \u201cI\u2019ll lift up my shirt, show them <\/span>[my] SoundCloud<\/span><\/a>, and they\u2019ll be blown away.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n