Pop music has always thrummed to the topic of working lives. Now the delivery (or "gig") economy is inspiring new viral hits
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It’s a fascinating new theme, in the annals of global pop: delivery drivers singing and rapping about their joys, travails and bad customers. Here’s a tour of the greatest hits so far.
At the top of this post is Frank AA, a delivery worker working in Lima, Peru, on his bike. Behind him is the track “Soy Rappi”:
Me levanto en la mañana / Activo con los domicilios / Prendo el GPS, a su destino me dirijo / La gente muy contenta me dice “Gracias mijo” / Mande una propina, que de eso vivo
I wake up in the morning /And I start doing deliveries / I turn the GPS on, I’m going your way / Very happy people tell me, “Thank you, son”/ Send a tip because this is how I make a living
As the excellent new tech news site Rest of World reports:
Frank is one of the many delivery workers in Spanish-speaking Latin America who’ve used songs like “Soy Rappi” as the soundtrack for the videos of their everyday life on social media. For these workers, the songs speak to their struggles with angry customers, long wait lines to pick up the food, traffic jams, and technical difficulties.
For others, the songs are just compelling stories that tap into a broader sense of frustration. But for both, the new microgenre is recognition that delivery gig work has become a vital part of culture.
Recorded in 2020 by Venezuelan delivery worker and budding rapper Julio Barrera, whose artist name at the time was El RT, “Soy Rappi” is one of the earliest examples of the microgenre. Barrera credits the popularity of his song to delivery workers like Frank who share their daily experiences online.
“There’s always plenty of delivery workers entering and leaving Rappi, so the song goes viral every once in a while,” the 27-year-old Barrera, who lives in Medellín, Colombia, told Rest of World. “I think this song will be an anthem for rappitenderos [Rappi delivery workers] for ages to come.”
With over 7 million views, the next one is KondZilla’s “Motoboy” (the term for bike workers in Brazilian Portuguese). It describes a gig worker who’s pulled up for having an out of date license:
Ó senhor o que eu posso se o documento não tá em dia. / Eu sou preto pobre favelado 11:00h eu entrego marmita. / 19:00h ponto na pizzaria, / Geladeira em casa vazia. / Ou eu pago documento da moto, ou eu levo comida pra família.
Oh Lord, what can I do if the document is not up to date / I’m a poor Black guy from a favela / At 11 a.m. I’m delivering meals/ At 7 p.m. I clock in at the pizza place / And the fridge at home is empty / Either I pay for the delayed document or I take food home to my family
Next (with 500k views) is “Entregador do iFood” [iFood delivery worker], by Brazilian comedian Maicon Küster. It’s about the troubles in the life of a bike worker:
Tem que ser do muito burro achar que atraso por querer / Quanto mais pedido atrasa mais dinheiro eu vou perder / Agora pra lembrar e parar de ser ignorante / Eu só entrego o seu pedido, quem atrasa é o restaurante / Se a comida chegou fria, por que reclamar comigo? / A minha função é andar de moto e não gelar refrigerante
You have to be very dumb to think I’m late on purpose / The more the order is delayed, the more money I’ll be losing / And now remember and stop being ignorant / I only deliver your meal, the delay is on the restaurant / If the food is cold, why complain to me? / My job is to drive the motorbike, not to ice your soda
Finally, here’s Phellipe Carvalho [MC Phellps] with Vida de Motoboy, from Aug 2021. The singer worked for two years as a delivery driver, supplementing his wages working for elite clubs in São Paulo. It’s a hard life he depicts:
No sol ou na chuva ele tá batalhando / Cliente chato vive reclamando / Cinco de taxa é o que eles vem pagando / Esquece que nois também é ser humano / Mas nessa vida eu não posso ter pressa / Porque em casa alguém me espera
In sunshine or rain, he’s battling / Annoying clients are always complaining / Five is the rate they are paying / They forget we’re also human beings / But in this life, I can’t hurry / Because at home someone waits for me
As Rest of World reports further:
The song was a hit — something Carvalho attributes to the universal experience of delivery work. “When there is a song you identify with, that has nice lyrics, everyone starts sharing, using the sound,” he told Rest of World.
IFood and Rappi, Brazil and Colombia’s largest last-mile delivery apps, have embraced the genre. In 2019, Rappi Brazil partnered with KondZilla in a heavily branded video clip of a funk song by MC Rodolfinho. In the song, Rappi is used as a metaphor for how quickly he’ll arrive when called by his lover.
Not all platforms are eager to support delivery workers on their musical endeavors. After Barrera’s hit “Soy Rappi” took off, Rappi banned him unexpectedly, stating it was due to the platform’s terms and conditions.
He now works for Chinese delivery app Didi Food, and is part of the team launching a new delivery app. “Although I didn’t receive any support from Rappi, I do have the support of the delivery workers,” he said.