Brandon Christopher McCartney, known professionally as Lil B and Lil B The BasedGod, is an American rapper, songwriter, and media personality. He has recorded both solo and as a member of the Berkeley, California-based hip hop group the Pack. His solo work spans several genres, including hip hop, new age, jazz, indie rock and choral music. He calls his alter ego the BasedGod and describes his work as "based"—a term he coined, which denotes a lifestyle of positivity and boldness—and is noted for his extensive use of social media to build an online cult following.
McCartney was born on August 17, 1989, in Berkeley, California, and attended high school at Albany High in Albany. 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. The song was ranked as the fifth best of 2006 by Rolling Stone magazine. The strength of "Vans" led the group to release the Skateboards 2 Scrapers EP, featuring a "Vans" remix with Bay Area rappers Too $hort and Mistah F.A.B. In 2007, McCartney and The Pack released their first album, Based Boys.
On September 24, 2009, McCartney released his first digital album, I'm Thraxx, via independent label Permanent Marks. On December 22, 2009, McCartney released his second digital album, 6 Kiss, to critical reception. On March 25, 2010, McCartney released his debut mixtape Dior Paint. On April 3, 2010, McCartney officially signed to fellow artist Soulja Boy's label SODMG Entertainment. On May 7, 2010, McCartney released a mixtape entitled Base World Pt. 1. On July 5, 2010, McCartney released a collaboration mixtape with Soulja Boy entitled Pretty Boy Millionaires. 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. 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".
On December 29, 2010, it was announced and confirmed that McCartney signed an album deal with Amalgam Digital. On July 10, 2011, McCartney released the EP Paint, through his label BasedWorld Records. On January 18, 2011, McCartney released his fourth digital album entitled Angels Exodus, through Amalgam Digital. On May 17, 2012, McCartney released his first instrumental album, Choices and Flowers, under the alias "The Basedgod". On September 16, 2012, McCartney released a rock single entitled "California Boy". On December 30, 2012, McCartney released his second instrumental album entitled Tears 4 God, also under the alias "The Basedgod".
On August 17, 2017, McCartney released Black Ken, describing it as his "first official mixtape." The mixtape reached number 24 on the Top Heatseekers chart and number 44 on the Independent Albums chart for the week of September 2, 2017.
In June 2022, McCartney released Frozen and The Frozen Tape. In August, he released Thraxxx Kiss, a collaboration with producer Keyboard Kid. McCartney released Afrikantis, a jazz album, on December 22, 2022.
