'I can't count on you': Ottawa woman releases OC Transpo diss track
Claire Barasubiye turned her commuting woes into a 2-minute rap
Diss tracks are a staple of the rap world — but they don't usually target a city's mass transit network.
But Claire Barasubiye, who performs as Lil' Claire, used her woes with OC Transpo as the inspiration for her latest rap track, then recorded it and posted it online.
"Said, 'Lil' bus, I can't count on you if I wanted to,'" she raps on "Bodak Transpo," inspired by a Cardi B song of a very similar name.
"These expensive, these is always packed, and they bloody late."
Lyrics date to 2017
Barasubiye told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning that she wrote the song two years ago, and while there have been some improvements since then, her general complaints still apply.
That's why she released it earlier this month.
A second-year nursing student at the University of Ottawa, Barasubiye said the "notorious" Route 94 is often late — and when it doesn't show up, her 50-minute commute from Barrhaven to campus can take up to two hours.
"For some reason, between 8 o'clock and 8:45, they just don't come," Barasubiye said.
She said her dad has to pick her up from Tunney's Pasture station several times a week because of OC Transpo's unreliability.
App not spared
OC Transpo isn't the only lyrical target of Barasubiye's frustration, however.
She also takes jabs at the bus schedule app Bus Buddy, which uses GPS to tell users when their bus should arrive.
You know when I'm at / You know where I'll be / You in that app just for jokes / You know it's 20 minutes late- Lil' Claire rapping about the Bus Buddy app
Sometimes the app says the bus is coming, Barasubiye said, but it doesn't show up.
Now that the LRT is operating, Barasubiye acknowledged her commute is shorter by a few minutes.
Still, there are new anxieties.
"Every time I am on the train, I am self-conscious that the bus drivers or train operators have seen the song," she said.
As for her parents' reaction, Barasubiye said her mom has been playing "Bodak Transpo" on repeat — even if she wasn't exactly impressed when she explained it to her verse by verse.
"She was like, 'Oh, this is actually really negative! It portrays you as such an angry person!"
The two-minute video has about 1,100 views on YouTube so far.