Written by: Jason Taylor
“First off, fuck your bitch and the click you claim/west side when we ride come equipped with game/you claim to be a player but I fucked your wife/we bust on Bad Boys niggas fuck for life…Biggie Smalls and Junior Mafia some mark ass bitches” — Tupac Shakur “Hit ’em Up”
When these streets keep calling, heard it when I was sleep/that this Gay-Z and Cockafella Records wanted beefstarted cocking up my weapon, slowly loading up this ammo/to explode it on a camel, and his soldiers, I can handle/this for dolo and it’s manuscript, just sound stupid/when KRS already made an album called Blueprint/first, Biggie’s ya man, then you got the nerve to say that you better than Big/dick sucking lips, why not you let the late, great veteran live” — Nas “Ether”
— I’m sorry, I had to listen to some real diss songs before I wrote this. I just watched this video on Diggy discussing the beef between J Cole and himself. I understand and respect why he “returned fire” but in regards to all beef within the last 7 years — it’s more vegatarian than beef. I remember when you had Hip Hop beefs like Jay-Z vs. Nas or The Game vs. 50 Cent and G-Unit. That element of hatred and vengance is no longer existant in diss tracks. I’m not saying point to the nearest rapper, figure out why you don’t like him and record a diss track then release it. As an artist, if you aren’t going to go all in LYRICALLY, why go in at all. The idea of a diss track used to excite me. I used to drop everything and go listen to the latest diss record but now I hear or read about a brand new diss track, I feel the same way a woman does when she sleeps with a guy and he lasts a minute — unimpressed and disappointed.
The last beef that I felt was legitimate was between 50 Cent, G Unit, The Game, The Lox and Fat Joe. I loved that because there was history and motive. It could have been made into a movie and the soundtrack could be the diss tracks. It could be made like “The Streets is Watching” movie. The way the dialogue and the songs intertwined together made the collaboration smooth. I discussed this with @niccolus a while ago and he argued that if local artists were to beef with each other, it would be legitimate and I added impressive. My feelings with beef nowadays is simple — Think like Hip Hop, Act like Rythym and Blues. I’ll explain what I’m talking about.
What we have is people knowing what to do in regards to beef but won’t firmly land punches. There is nothing wrong with dissing someone, PUTTING THEIR NAME IN THE RECORD and retaliating if deemed necessary. Nobody wants another Tupac and Biggie situation but man, I am itching for some real diss records. Common vs. Drake? Garbage. Ludacris vs. Big Sean and Drake? Really?! Now Lil’ Kim vs. Nicki Minaj is decent but the value of female emcees in the game has been gone from Hip Hop for several years. Sad but true. There is NO MORE female emcees left in the game.
As a fan, I enjoyed diss records, they entertained me, they made me interested in each and every artist involved and I enjoyed the lyricism behind each bar, each verse, each chorus. You know what, I got an idea. More details coming soon. I’ll leave you with this…
thesoulmagazine 