Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Video: Brooklyn Rapper Waxes Poetic About Welfare Abuse
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 24, 2011
Modified Sep 24, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 24, 2011
Modified Sep 24, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Conservatives have been up in arms all week over a rapper who seemingly glorifies the decadent lifestyle of food stamps and welfare. Stanley Lafleur, aka rapper Mr EBT (H-Man), watched as the video for his single "My EBT," which joyously depicts him using his government-issued Electronic Benefit Transfer card to pay for junk food, went viral this week after Drudge Report and other conservative bloggers held it up as The Reason This Country Is Going To Hell (not the champagne toasts). But Lafleur tells the News that conservatives just don't get his message: "I couldn't believe people are hating on me like I'm rubbing the benefit card in the face of taxpayers. They don't get it. My video is a parody."
Lafleur gives a hilarious instructional rundown of the abuses of the EBT system with poetic flourishes: "I'm never going hungry, swiping all day y'all. Sandwiches, chips, a big box of Oreos. Cereal, Kix, but I couldn't buy a 40, dog?" At one point, he laments that his dealer doesn't accept food stamps: "I wish I could buy some weed with my EBT but the drug dealer fronted me."
The Conservative TreeHouse accused Lafleur of "celebrating the pure coolness of any and all things gotten for nothing." The Conservativepost.com wrote that the "video glorifies welfare." Columnist Ben Shapiro of Town Hall described Lafleur as "the sort of leech who is bankrupting our society."
But Lafleur is having the last laugh, since conservatives missed the point entirely—the video is a reflection of the EBT abuse, not a glorification of it. "That's the whole point of my video and that's what I'm trying to stop. There's a lot of people who really need help but aren't getting it while too many are abusing the system," he told the News. His producer Jermaine Gomes agreed with his sentiment: "It's just amazing that some people don't get it. They think it's seriously some dumb guy just using his EBT card."
Tagged
conservatives
food stamps
junk food
marijuana
pot
rapper
weed
welfare
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot by ICE in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park on Monday.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 12, 2026 at 11:37 a.m. ET
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
News
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
NYC wants to move deliveries onto the waterways. It's starting with a 55-year-old boat.
By
Liam Quigley
Inside the luxury Greenpoint high-rise powered by a rumbling generator for over a month
By
David Brand
Mayor Mamdani orders review of NYPD use of force policies
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .