The actor and rapper, who famously coined the term “White Boy Summer,” can never be accused of underselling himself.
Key Takeaways
- Asked by Complex who belongs on a “White Boy Mount Rushmore,” Chet Hanks answered without hesitation: “Me, me, me, and me,” riffing on DaBand’s Dylan “top five rappers” bit from Chappelle’s Show.
- The moment ties back to Hanks’ 2021 “White Boy Summer” concept — complete with its tongue‑in‑cheek rules list and rap track — and lands amid a busy run that includes his Netflix role on Running Point and his country project Something Out West, which recently drew dad Tom Hanks to Stagecoach Festival.
Chet Hanks thinks very highly of himself, to the point that if there was a White Boy Mount Rushmore, he believes he’d be the only face on it.
Speaking to Complex’s Liberty Love at a one night-only table read of Eddie Huang’s upcoming film, Tuna Melt, the actor and rapper was asked who he felt like belonged on the hypothetical Caucasian memorial.
“That’s easy,” he said without hesitation, before asking how many people are on Mount Rushmore. After being informed it was four, he answered: “Me, me, me, and me.”
At the end of his answer, Hanks shouted out Dylan Dili of DaBand, who was famously parodied by Dave Chappelle on his Comedy Central sketch show Chappelle’s Show.
In the Making the Band sketch, Chappelle-as-Dylan rhetorically asks: “Who are the top five greatest rappers of all time?” His response, which went on to etch itself in pop culture history, was: “Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, and Dylan because I spit hot fire.”
Hanks’ exchange with Complex traces back to a concept he put into orbit in March 2021, when he took to Instagram to announce that it was going to be a “White Boy Summer.”
In that original post, he drew a clear line about what he meant: “I’m not talking about Trump, NASCAR type white. I’m talking about, you know, me, Jon B, Jack Harlow type white boy summer.” The phrase was openly riffed from Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer.”
He followed the announcement with a formal “rules and regs” list, banning things like plaid shirts and salmon-colored clothes, as well as calling women “smoke shows.” Hanks also dropped a “White Boy Summer” rap track with a video, which at time of reporting has 1.8 million views.
The Mount Rushmore clip arrives at a busy stretch for Hanks. He appears as fictional basketball player and rapper Travis Bugg on the Netflix comedy Running Point, which has been confirmed for a third season, and his country-leaning project, Something Out West — which sees him team with Drew Arthur — drew his famous father, Tom Hanks, to the crowd at Stagecoach Festival in April.
