New York rapper namechecks Wawa, Charcoal Pit & Capriotti's in Delaware-themed song

Ryan Cormier
The News Journal

Wilmington's Mrs. Robinos, Rehoboth Beach's Nicola Pizza and the Elsmere Wawa now have their own song.

New York rapper Matt Pierce, who performs under the name Boy Pierce, released a new song titled "Park Tour Delaware," which is jam-packed with specific Delaware references.

Pierce, 34, squeezes more than 50 Delaware references into the three-minute song, referencing everything from Grotto Pizza and Funland to Brandywine Zoo and Serpe & Sons Bakery.

Boy Pierce, a Delaware-born New York-based rapper, has released a new song dedicated to The First State.

The song is performed to the beat from DJ Snake's song "When the Lights Go Down."

So what does a hip-hop artist living in Manhattan know about the First State?

FUNLAND:At 90, Funland's Al Fasnacht still making Rehoboth Beach families smile

Plenty.

Pierce is a Wilmington native having grown up near Banning Park. He's a Salesianum School graduate who went on to the University of Delaware where he earned a degree in biological sciences in 2007.

"People have been really into it so far," Pierce says of his latest release. "People I haven't talked to since high school are sharing it and enjoying it, so it's been cool to sit back and watch."

Got his start in University of Delaware dorms

It was during his years living in the UD dorms that he began his musical pursuit, starting with mash-ups in the vein of Pittsburgh-based DJ Girl Talk, who performed twice at Dover's Firefly Music Festival. (And, yes, Pierce drops a Firefly mention in "Park Tour Delaware" as well.)

New York-based rapper Boy Pierce performs in New Castle's Battery Park in for his "Park Tour Delaware" video.

Around that time, he began freestyling for fun with buddies and has been busy with beats and rhymes ever since.

After college, Pierce moved to Philadelphia where he lived for about five years and began performing at venues across the city in 2011. Two years later, he moved to New York after a successful performance at a showcase at the East Village's Webster Hall.

No. 1? Food & Wine names Capriotti's the best fast food in Delaware

He's since performed everywhere from Brooklyn's Knitting Factory to King Fu Necktie and MilkBoy in Philadelphia. He's also been on stage three times at Wilmington's 1984, a concert venue/arcade. Those local shows are usually held during the winter holidays when he's back home visiting family and friends.

Eagles players, 'Seinfeld,' 'Office Space' get their own songs

The rapper and producer has found some success online with his music videos, which feature pop culture-themed songs focusing on everything from Philadelphia Eagles players to one purely about the cult comedy film "Office Space."

Both former Eagles quarterback Nick Foles and Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson have been song subjects with the Foles song garnering 74,000 views on YouTube since its release last fall. (Jackson shared the video about him on his Instagram Stories.)

Pierce has also released themed songs tied to musical acts, television shows and movies such as "Ultimate Phish Tribute," "Ultimate Seinfeld Tribute" and "Ultimate Home Alone Tribute" in addition to a pair of albums, 2018's "Homemade" and 2016's "Moments."

Wilmington native Matt Pierce is a New York-based rapper with a new song all about his home state.

'Suki Hana sample takers'

The Delaware song is part of a "Park Tour" series of videos that feature him with headphones in public parks in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Nashville. The Delaware video was shot in New Castle's Battery Park by fellow Wilmington native Nicholas DeMaio.

In each video, Pierce listens to the beat through headphones and performs live into a microphone from memorization and passersby can't hear the music.

Since it's sometimes just him with a tripod shooting the video early in the morning before his day job at a New York advertising agency, he gets plenty of odd looks while filming.

"It's just utter confusion," he says, adding that some people try to take a surreptitious video or photo of him on the phones as they go by. "They think, 'This guy's lost it.'"

For his part, Pierce's own favorite references in the Delaware song are the "Suki Hana sample takers" at the Christiana Mall and his Nic-o-Boli shout-out, a nod to his summertime beach visits with his family.

DELAWARE'S OWN:How Jamila Mustafa went from Miss Delaware State University to MTV host

The Wilmington-based Kalmar Nyckel tall ship and the Delaware Memorial Bridge even make an appearance in the background of the video.

"To start, I just opened a Google document and went to town and every little, minute inside Delaware reference that Ii thought people would appreciate," he says. "And I didn't even get to everything."

Not the first all-Delaware hip-hop song

Perhaps surprisingly, it's not the first rap song all about Delaware.

In 2013, "Delaware State of Mind" was released by Dover native Morgan Shank and the video for the tune has garnered more than 20,000 views on YouTube since.

That one is set to Jay-Z's “Empire State of Mind” and boasts classic lines about Delaware having more chickens than people, as well as a re-imagination of the state as a person: "If our state was a shorty, I be at the waist/Seaford got that donk and Wilmo is the face.”

Got a tip? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

PARK TOUR DELAWARE LYRICS

You said you never heard of it, I had to surface it

The latest Park Tour stop I ain’t determine it

You could kick it at the gardens up in Boston

You could rip at the Barton Springs in Austin

You could do it big in Texas with a Dallas rap

Hit the desert up in Phoenix where the cactus at

You could spit a mellow tone up at the Yellowstone

But I tell ‘em “no” and roll up to my Dela home

Zingo’s Shop N Bag, I took my garment bag

And packed a microphone alone, left my apartment, snagged

The Port Authority Greyhound that routed to K Town

And leapt in a Septa that went to Browntown

Did you leave Della, become a mean fella?

No fella, I floated and wrote a novella

Coachella, rather rep at the Firefly

Propel ya, never leaving you high and dry

Suki Hana sample takers, Union Street bakers

Bravehearts at the Newport Skate Park

Elsmere Wawa during Hoagiefest

Movies 10 with your friends is a cozy nest

Brandywine State Creek down to Main Street

Rehoboth sun tan, Gravitron at Funland

Eating up a Nic-o-Boli, Border Cafe guacamole

Hit the casino, Mrs. Robino’s ravioli ...

Funscape caught a rough break

Went the route of Zino’s Pizza, thankfully we still got a Rita’s

Blendini, Saint Matthew’s rest easy

Pink Cadillac McDonalds, Apple Mac store

Christiana Mall, Monkey House tree fall

Fun day with a Charcoal Pit sundae

YMCA racquetball livin'

Bell Buoy down in Dewey, get a biscuit up at Walt’s Chicken

Newark out of town students know nothing

Only Main Street, otherwise they go bluffing

They don’t know Brandywine Zoo goat petting

All they know is Klondike and the bro settings

Bravo, grab a pizza at the Grotto

“A place to be somebody,” that’s the motto

New Castle, I don’t know nothing bout Sussex

All i know is Blue Rocks always bring the ruckus

Lobby Casapulla’s over Capriotti’s

I be Pea Patch Island vibing, Del Park horse riding

Haunted Ride Rehoboth boardwalk

Buying Jimmy John’s “pipin hot” orders when you cross border

People lobby Christiana over Concord many

Conquered the Creek, festivals on the street

Saint Anthony’s, Serpes, Shop Rite turkeys

Illadelph jerseys, Route 1 journeys

WHERE TO WATCH

Watch the video for "Park Tour Delaware" at facebook.com/boypiercemusic or youtube.com/boypiercemusic.