Don't Just Laugh at "Breastmilk"

It's more than just funny--Shipment No. 17

2 Chainz said he drank breast milk out of a lean cup as a baby. Action Bronson, as a full-grown adult, likes his breast milk in a bowl of Crispix cereal. Asher Roth would rather siphon his breast milk straight from the teat and in large quantities, and UK rapper Infinite Livez proclaimed his affinity for breast milk in “The Adventures of the Lactating Man,” which is about exactly what it sounds like. Despite these somewhat serious efforts, no one in rap appreciates breast milk more than Koreatown Oddity. 

“Breastmilk” is the focus and title of Koreatown Oddity’s newest single that dropped in late January. He performed the song on Twitch last summer before posting the clip on his Instagram. His infatuation with the nutritional liquid is deep and hilarious. But while his commentary seems like it started as a topic for a stand-up bit (K-Town also doubles as a stand-up comedian), it’s a thoughtful acknowledgment about the strange, intriguing, and rarely discussed life of breast milk. 

“My girl’s breast milk is delicious,” the Koreatown, L.A. native shamelessly states on his opening verse. The accompanying self-produced beat sounds like it could've been used as the ending of a spaghetti western or the intro of a quirky indie movie starring teenage Michael Cera (or even today’s 32-year old Cera). But his admiration for breast milk runs deeper than just satisfying his taste buds.

Thanks to K-Town’s new human-based milk diet, his skin and mood are greatly improved. “Straight from the source, so you already known’/ what my secret is when you see my skin glowing,” he raps in a matter-of-fact tone. Ignore the conflicting opinions of specialists who are still hesitant about whether breast milk helps adults build muscle and create clearer skin. If people use breastmilk as contact solution and body soap, then K-Town should be safe using it in his eggnog on tap. He acknowledges some may think his love for drinking breastmilk is weird, but immediately flings the same sentiment back at critics who have been led astray to drinking cow's milk (“But you drinking cow’s milk, fuck is you doing?”).

But like anything good in America, there's a dark undertone in breast milk’s culture. K-Town mentions the breast milk black market, a place where “fetish freaks” can cop breast milk by the ounces. But this black market isn’t only a supplier for sexual compulsion and open-minded bodybuilders. It gives mothers who cannot produce their own breast milk an avenue to naturally feed their newborns instead of using formula. In a country currently experiencing a shortage, shady sites selling breast milk can be a necessity. The black market of breast milk is a byproduct of the issues plaguing America’s health and socioeconomic systems, yet another display of class inequality that seeps into every facet of life.

Depressing breast milk economy aside, the bulk of K-Town’s appreciation isn’t just for the milk itself. Mentioning his girl at the beginning of each verse and name-dropping colostrum—doctor-speak for the famed “liquid gold” that women create during the first days after childbirth—is praise to women and their superheroine powers of sustenance and life. Women are responsible for all of the great benefits K-Town gets from breast milk; it’s worth squashing that beef with your baby moms for and as valuable as his own rhymes.

That love also extends to his daughter, the primary beneficiary of the valuable milk. Fatherhood and the goal of being a great dad is the only thing that comes between K-Town and his milk. He’ll miss it when it evaporates (lactation can last anywhere from six months to two years), but while it’s here, he’ll always give his daughter first dibs until a new pack comes from the pump.

It’s easy to treat “Breastmilk” like a parody song, a joke meant to quench social media's thirst for shock value, memes, and debates. It’s a topic ready-made for Weird Al Yankovic or Andy Milonakis to pretend to rap seriously about. And when the song’s final statement is a comedy skit—a clip from "Chappelle Show" where Dave (dressed as Diddy) sings, “Breeeast miiiiilk, you made my dayeyay,” after downing two bottles of a Cambodian Bronx woman’s breast milk—it leans toward being taken less seriously than it actually is.

But like most jokes, there are still profound statements being made within them. The song’s Youtube comments represent all of the ethe displayed here, filled with dads, moms, prospective dads, and prospective moms relating to breast milk, jovial or seriously. “I’m salty asl my breastmilk dried up today too,” one user wrote. Another commenter summed the song up simply, “it's comedy but actually an acceptable science.”

Thankfully, breast milk as a focus isn’t solely a controversial topic K-Town is capitalizing on. The subject is weird in nature and organically funny. Still, the undertones are as highbrow as the near-death experiences he recounted with hints of comedy in his last album, “Little Dominiques Nosebleed.” At its most intellectual, “Breastmilk” is an applause of women and the power of their natural abilities, a loud critique of traditional eating habits, and an utterance of the social structures that can spoil such a beautiful bodily function. 

At its most casual, Koreatown Oddity only drinks the finest breast milks.

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