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I Got ‘Beef’

HipHopIsDead by ONI, 6/15/07

Can’t we all just get along? Rappers have money, correct? At least they say they do, don’t they? Why are they so angry? I personally can’t imagine having a few mils stashed in the bank and then be mad cuz someone “smudged my puma.” I thought the whole Biggie and Pac misfortune was supposed to be a lesson to rappers (and any entertainer for that matter) about what can result when feuds go too far. Biggie just did a flip in his coffin, because he just realized that he died in vain. We’ve got Lil’ Wayne and Jim Jones attacking legends Jay-Z and Nas. We’ve got the entire Rawkus Records label having beef with El-P. And we even got Scott Storch and Timbaland, neither of who can rap nor sing, going at it. Who the hell handed you two mics? Get your asses back behind the boards and make me my goddamn beat. I just can’t believe it!

Don’t get me wrong I love competition. And the level of competition in this music is what separates it from other genres like R&B and Rock. Biggie left the studio and went back home to think of new verses to put on Brooklyn’s Finest as to not be upstaged by Jay-Z. That’s the kind of competition I like. I like a rivalry over who’s the illest or about the birthplace of hip hop like “the BDP conflict with MC Shan” or “around the time when Shante dissed the real Roxanne.” The KRS/Shan conflict really helped hip hop similar to how Magic and Bird resurrected the NBA in the same decade. The funny thing is though that despite the beef, you can sense that Kris and Shan had respect for each other just like Magic and Bird. In fact, two decades later Boogie Down has officially settled all differences with Juice Crew and KRS just put out an album with Marley Marl who produced the MC Shan tracks that dissed KRS. Nowadays, though, it’s like rappers are on some Thugs of Our Lives, soap opera bullshit. He’s not rapping with him because he did a song with him and he doesn’t like the fact that he is getting beats from this producer, so now they have beef. That’s not beef. That’s some veggie-burger level shit.

There’s always been feud in hip hop. In my opinion, however, it escalated to a ridiculous level when 50 Cent began to make a name for himself by calling other rappers out. This is way before he met up with Eminem and Get Rich Or Die Trying was released. 50 Cent dropped “How To Rob,” a track where he albeit amusingly describes mugging a slew of famous rappers. The streets began to take notice as people asked “who is this rapper who calls himself 50 Cent and why is he disrespecting all these artists.

“Other obscure rappers noticed how quick 50 became famous through putting others down. And like the VA Tech copy-catters who threatened their respective institutions within a week after the school shooting tragedy, others followed 50 Cent’s lead and the trend began to spread like wildfire. Curtis also taught us that the bigger the person you attack, the more spotlight you get. “No more freestyles and verses killing Sticky (of Onyx) and Ja (Rule), I’m movin’ up now, I got bigger fish to fry,” he once rapped on a track from his 2002 mixtape Guess Who’s Back. Another example of many BS copycatters that I can remember was when Jayo Felony (who?) called out Jay-Z right around the time when The Blueprint came out. Jayo Mothafuckin’ Felony who had never even seen Jay-Z in person had the gaul to diss a rap god! Admittedly, however, this is the only reason why I even know he exists. Jay-Z’s reply on the last verse of his track “Takeover” still cracks me up, especially because he’s responding to everyone who’s calling him out and he uses no names so they can’t get any attention: “You only get half a bar,” he says, “Fuck y’all niggaz.”

In the past few weeks, the ‘beefs’ I’ve had the misfortune of reading about involve 50 Cent vs. Cam’Ron and Beanie Siegel’s comments about Pharell and Kanye West. The 50 cent/Cam’Ron beef is not surprising. They’ve just been recently jabbing back and forth at each other with little comments here and there on 106 & Park, the internet and wherever else they can be heard. I think Cam’Ron is coming out with something soon, so this is even more predictable.

The Beanie Siegel story is what really raised my eyebrow. In an interview, Siegel basically accused Pharell and Kanye of being homosexuals. He criticized their choice of fashion, a style which some would describe as ‘metrosexual.’ Come on, Beanie. The only time I see your name anywhere involves you having trouble with the law. The last song I heard from you was ‘Feel It In The Air’ like two years ago. Finally I see you again and after all this time all you want to talk about is someone else because they don’t have the same taste in clothes as you. Getdahellouttahere! “Feel It In The Air” my ass. You need to go ‘feel it in the jail’ you fool. This is some ridiculous, Boca Burger-type bullshit!!! Sorry, I’m going off, now. All this talk about beef is getting me heated and now I’m doing the same thing that I am criticizing by dissing these ignorant rappers. I’m telling you. It must be contagious or something.

I guess my point is, beefs can actually be good for hip hop, but rarely is this the case. As fans, should we just try to ignore the beef and controversies and not bring attention to those so-called MCs who can’t get attention without calling someone else out? Unfortunately, the world is not ideal enough for this to work. I don’t see anything changing in the near future in terms of the constant unwarranted vendetta between rappers, but what’s important is that I’m still going to do my part. When they broadcast the latest beef through any given media outlet, I’m changing the channel, flipping the page, or closing the browser window. I’m gonna pick up my trash and recycle my cans. I’m gonna drive my hybrid through town. And even if this doesn’t lead to stopping global warming, when the world ends I can say I did my best.