Pouya and Fat Nick, the‘Ren that is so-called and’ of rap, built their brand on being lovable knuckleheads. But year that is last one of these had been quietly accused of intimate attack.
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In October of 2013, a thin white kid called Kevin Pouya uploaded a video clip to YouTube called “How to obtain Free Donuts. ” The movie opens on Pouya, searching just like a preteen Travis Birkenstock, facing the digital camera. “Check it away, try it out, you get free donuts, from Dunkin’ Donuts” he says, “This is how. No. Money. Recommended. ” The camera follows Pouya and a friend as they order at a drive-thru window, grab a box of glazed, and speed off without paying, cackling out of the lot over a piano soundtrack straight from The Sims.
Miami rapper Pouya’s early YouTube series, Nick and Pouya Show, produced together with friend that is best and longtime collaborator, Fat Nick, ended up being filled up with pranks such as this one—silly, unscripted, low-budget, funny and then those included. But almost couple of years later on, after Pouya scored a large number of streams on SoundCloud, somewhat more body mass, and a spot that is coveted South Florida’s rap scene, he nevertheless cited their YouTube show while the begin of their profession.
“Comedy ended up being our very first thing, ” Pouya stated of fat Nick to his partnership on No Jumper, a well known hip-hop podcast whose interviews with underground rappers act as a sort of litmus test for long-lasting viability. But even yet in their 2nd thing—writing the rough, melancholy pubs now synonymous with Southern Florida rap—Pouya and Nick constantly branded by themselves as amiable goons. The set have comedy that is classic differential (Pouya plays a skeletal David Spade to Nick’s Chris Farley), fast banter, and a dark, cartoonish sensibility, leading one journalist to dub them the “Ren and Stimpy of rap. ”
When you look at the time since, the duo became regulars into the sphere of SoundCloud rap, with a title sign in this new York Times’ definitive article about them and constant success that is commercial. In 2016, Pouya featured on “Dat $tick, ” the breakout solitary from Indonesian MC deep Brian (then Rich Chigga), who now figures among the list of biggest names in rap. Round the exact same time, Pouya dropped Underground Underdogs, which climbed iTunes’ hip-hop charts for pretty much per week. Later on, their 2017 collab with Fat Nick, Drop away from class, used suit. Then Five Five, a mixtape that is well-received in March (known as for the rapper’s height), prompted Pouya to announce a month-long trip across European countries for early this autumn.
But final September, amidst their job growth and merely a fortnight before Harvey Weinstein’s misconduct that is sexual triggered a cataclysm of #MeToo moments, the rappers’ reputation took a turn when it comes to severe, whenever a 22-year-old tattoo artist filed a police report, accusing Pouya as well as 2 people of his entourage of sexual attack.
“Mr. Pouya is confident that a fundamental research associated with facts will expose why these claims are false, ” the representative composed, “and as soon as proof is evaluated these allegations are going to be determined to own been produced by a disingenuous man or woman who is searching for attention beneath the umbrella of the #MeToo movement. ” Law enforcement report had been filed on 24, 2017 september. The #MeToo movement shot to popularity after October 5, 2017.
The tale begins during the early 2015, whenever Pouya rose to SoundCloud semi-fame after releasing a number of singles, such as the track that is popular Buck” (2013), and two mixtapes, Stunna (2014) and Southern Side Slugs (2015). Though still largely unknown, Pouya’s small but rabid following attained him an area on No Jumper, speaking with the podcast’s notorious host, the BMX-blogger, hip-hop tastemaker, and recently accused sexual assailant Adam Grandmaison, better called Adam22. (Grandmaison denies the allegations. )
Into the episode, the then-20-year-old Pouya described growing up in Miami along with his grandmother, fulfilling Nick within the 7th grade, and becoming fast friends. They skated, made videos that are quick their https://speedyloan.net/installment-loans-vt YouTube channel, and soon after, after both boys dropped away from senior high school, broke into rap.
The pivot from comedy to music wasn’t random—Pouya and Fat Nick had been friends with users of Raider Klan, the hip-hop collective spearheaded by the musician known as SpaceGhostPurrp, whom helped put Southern Florida music from the map.
Pouya’s No Jumper look proved immediately popular–then among the show’s most viewed—and when you look at the after months their job gained energy, prompting Adam22 to invite the rapper returning to the podcast simply 10 months later (“His profession has exploded in great amounts, ” the host penned within the show records. ) Element of that appeal stemmed from Pouya’s silly schtick (he and Nick are laughing throughout) and from his frankness. The rapper talked freely about anxiety, despair, and intimate insecurity, but in addition about explicit sexual escapades that take for an ominous tone in light of this allegations against him.