Swiperboy unretires

Well, that was quick.

Everyone's favorite college hoops rapper -- Tennessee's Renaldo Woolridge, also known as Swiperboy -- is back with a new song off of his Zazzle mixtape. This track is called Teach Me How To Dooley which, for those that haven't had the privilege of hearing the blissful melodies of the Cali Swag District, is a remix of the song Teach Me How To Dougie.



If you remember, Swiperboy "retired" last week. But according to this blog post, he was misinterpreted. Woolridge is not retiring. He's postponing his hip-hop career until after his college hoops career is over.

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Swiperboy is retiring

Tennessee senior forward Renaldo Woolridge has developed a cult following under his alter-ego, rapper Swiperboy".

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if more people knew about his ability to spit a verse than get buckets. He has over 10,000 followers on twitter (as @Swiperboy) and has upwards of 100,000 views on a number of his 107 videos uploaded to youtube, which is quite a feat for a player that's never averaged more than 13.0 mpg and 3.4 ppg in three seasons, playing just eight injury plagued games in 2010-2011.

It makes his decision to quit rapping, which he announced on his blog today, all the more surprising:

After this release, there will be no more mixtapes from me. Now I know what you all are thinking, "Wow..did SB just give up on a dream and quit??"...No, thats not the reason. In all honesty I feel extremely under appreciated when it comes to the talent I was given for music. There are a lot of artists in mainstream america who are TERRIBLE, but have more shine than the sun reflected off a mirror in the middle of July has.... MEANING, if I have to stoop down and be "wack" to "make it", then I don't want that.

Now, if he was making this decision to focus on basketball, that would be one thing. Watch his videos. Its obvious he puts a tremendous amount of time and effort into his music. As an athletic and versatile 6'8" forward, he has the potential to be a very effective player in college.

But what is his ceiling as a basketball player?

He doesn't currently have NBA personnel fawning over him -- they don't pay attention to big men that average 3.4 ppg unless you play for John Calipari -- and playing on a Tennessee team that will be off the national radar this season is not a good way to up his exposure.

Making it in the NBA, or as a professional basketball player overseas, is incredibly difficult.

But making it in the music industry is even harder. You need a blend of talent, timing, successful promotion, and sheer luck to make it past being a youtube rapper.

Now, I listen to a lot of hip-hop, and while I wouldn't consider myself a leading scholar on the subject, I know more about rap that 99% of the population. Swiperboy is good. He is clever, he has a good flow and timing, and he uses clever punch lines. He also has a national profile as athlete at a major college and the corresponding following from a devoted and passionate fan base. Big breaks have been made out of less.

He's also a college student-athlete, with time commitments that -- hopefully -- force his music to take a back seat at times. And he's still been able to accomplish some impressive things.

The one thing I think we all can agree on is that there are some truly horrific "musicians" out there making a helluva lot of money releasing trash.

That doesn't mean that any aspiring musician should give up on their dreams. Here's to hoping Swiperboy doesn't give up on his.
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Swiperboy thanks the troops

Our favorite collegiate rapper is back at it.

Tennessee' Renaldo Woolridge, aka SwiperBoy, posted a video on youtube last night of his newest song, titled USA Troops (Thank you):


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Swiperboy's newest: "Never leave you like Kiffin"

Not quite as good as his last track in my opinion, but still a solid song nonetheless.



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