Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989),[1][2] known professionally as Lil B and as his alter ego the BasedGod, is an American rapper.

His solo work spans several genres, including hip hop, new age, jazz, indie rock and choral music.

He describes his work as "based"—a term which denotes a lifestyle of positivity and boldness—and is noted for his extensive use of social media to build an online cult following.

[6] He adopted the name Lil B, and began rapping at age 15 with San Francisco Bay Area based hip hop group The Pack.

After two locally successful mixtapes, at the peak of the Bay Area's hyphy movement, the group's song "Vans" became a surprise hit.

[10] On April 3, 2010, McCartney officially signed to fellow artist Soulja Boy's label SODMG Entertainment.

[14][15] McCartney had recorded over 1,500 tracks as of July 2010, including hits "Like A Martian", "Wonton Soup", "Pretty Bitch", "I'm God", all of which were released for free.

[16] On September 21, 2010, McCartney released his debut studio album, Rain in England, through Weird Forest Records; it was described by The Guardian as "a beatless, Beat poetry-style set where McCartney, voice a-quiver with earnestness, ponders love, beauty and all the bad things in the world over naïf new-age synth washes".

[29] On October 14, 2014, McCartney released the Ultimate Bitch mixtape, featuring the song "No Black Person Is Ugly.

Based is positive.Slate columnist Jonah Weiner labeled him as one of a "growing number of weird-o emcees", calling him a "brilliantly warped, post-Lil Wayne deconstructionist from the Bay Area".

In an interview with Staley, McCartney agrees with this analysis, saying, "I can do 'Swag OD' but then my favorite musical artist right now could be Antony and the Johnsons.

[46] On May 28, 2015, the rapper gave a lecture at UCLA, where he touched on subjects like money, the media, technology, space, awareness, and love.

[62] McCartney took offense to the lyrics in the song "Survival Tactics" by late rapper Capital STEEZ, a founding member of the group Pro Era.

[67][68][69] McCartney has claimed the "curse of the Based God" to be responsible for Durant and his Oklahoma City Thunder team's loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals of the 2016 NBA Playoffs.

[70] On July 4, 2016, following the announcement of Durant leaving the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors, McCartney rescinded the curse again.

[72][73] On May 24, 2015, McCartney announced on TMZ Sports that he has placed Harden under the "Based God curse" for the remainder of the playoffs and until further notice.

[74] On May 27, 2015, McCartney was present at Oracle Arena for Game 5 where the Warriors ultimately defeated the Rockets with the score of 104–90, becoming the Western Conference champions.

[75] Additionally, during this same game Harden set an NBA Playoff record of 13 turnovers,[76] prompting McCartney to publicly consider lifting the curse.

[78] At the 2017 Rolling Loud Bay Area festival, McCartney was forced to cancel his set due to an alleged altercation with A Boogie wit da Hoodie backstage.

[79] Upon taking the stage to announce the cancellation of his set, he told the crowd he was attacked by "A Boogie and his whole crew" and that his equipment was also stolen, attributing the event to his criticism of New York hip hop in a recent Tweet.

Schoolboy Q and Travis Scott, fellow performers at the festival, expressed their support for the rapper upon taking the stage for their respective sets.

[83] Other artists including Big Sean, Skepta, G-Eazy, 6lack, Kreayshawn, A-Trak, Alison Wonderland, SpaceGhostPurrp, Lupe Fiasco, Kaytranada, and Mike Dean also expressed their support of the rapper on social media.

[82] McCartney and A Boogie officially ended the feud two days later, through a phone call initiated by Kilo Curt of the late Mac Dre's Thizz Entertainment.