'I can't count on you': Ottawa woman releases OC Transpo diss track - Action News
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Ottawa

'I can't count on you': Ottawa woman releases OC Transpo diss track

Inspired by the song "Bodak Yellow" by famous female rapper Cardi B, University of Ottawa student Claire Barasubiye turned her OC Transpo woes into her own rap track.

Claire Barasubiye turned her commuting woes into a 2-minute rap

Claire Barasubiye, who performs as Lil' Claire, says she may have written the lyrics to 'Bodak Transpo' in 2017, but unfortunately, most of her gripes still apply. (Margie Venes)

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 rapson "Bodak Transpo," inspired by a Cardi B song of a very similar name.

"These expensive, these is always packed, andthey bloody late."

Lyrics date to 2017

Barasubiye told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning thatshe wrote the songtwo years ago, and while there have been some improvements since then, her general complaints still apply.

That's why shereleased it earlier this month.

Asecond-year nursing studentat 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'clockand 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, Barasubiyesaid, 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 herparents' reaction,Barasubiyesaid 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 anangry person!"

The two-minute video has about 1,100 views on YouTube so far.