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Life & Arts

Rappers, young and old, fail to keep peace

Hip-Hop Update

Eli Jabbe

"This beef is played out"- Notorious B.I.G.

Beef in hip-hop is almost impossible to keep up with. Here is a recap of the latest drama between rappers:

50 Cent disses The Game -- This week's main weekly hip-hop diss track comes from Curtis Jackson, who finally retaliated to The Game with a diss track titled, "Not Rich, Stop Lying," which is mocking Game's Anti-G-Unit DVD titled "Stop Snitching, Stop Lying." Of course, Game started the lyrical battle with the classic 300 Bars last summer, which G-Unit was never able to recover from. Game followed that up with 120 Bars several weeks ago, and then 240 Bars, a track aimed at G-Unit's Spiderloc, which was released last week. If anything, this diss track from 50 will only elicit a yawn from listeners, much like the material from 50 Cent and Tony Yayo's albums.

Dipset -- Movement or clowns? For those that don't know, Harlem-based group The Diplomats is composed of ringleader Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, JR Writer and others. Dipset is one of the most polarizing groups in hip-hop. They often refer to themselves as a "movement" but that's probably too strong of a word. Many look at the Diplomats as a modern version of the Wu-Tang Clan, which was one of hip-hop's most popular groups in the mid-90s. Some swear that Dipset's music is the best thing since sliced bread, while others look at them as a bunch of clowns. Cam stands out because of his goofy rhymes, his ubiquitous catchphrase "no homo" (which other rappers such as UH student Lil' Wayne have started to use), his fashion sense (purple and pink) and his recent failed attempt to start a battle with Jay-Z. Speaking of Jay, DMX recently dissed his former friend and label mate in an interview and will be allying with Cam against Jay. 

Another thing that everybody notices is that all of the Dipset members rap just like Cam, which can make their music repetitive. Cam and JR Writer are definitely good lyricists, but at the end of the day (as Cam would say), Dipset isn't taken seriously by most people because of their unintentional humor.

Mase disses Dipset -- Speaking of the Diplomats, Harlem rapper/former pastor Mase, now called "Mase Murda" and a member of G-Unit, dissed his former friend Cam'ron and Dipset. In a mix tape song over the instrumental for Beyonce's "Check On It" Mase took stabs at his former hometown friends, calling them "little monkeys" and "little chimpanzees" who were trying to be "gorillas" (the G in G-Unit stands for gorilla) and that he wouldn't let them slide, unlike Jay-Z. 

Lil' Romeo disses Lil' Bow Wow -- Lil' Romeo, yes, Lil' Romeo released a diss track titled "Hoodstar" where he is responding to Bow Wow's "Freshazimiz," which apparently was aimed at Romeo. Romeo, son of Southern legend Master P, accused Bow Wow's new image of being counterfeit, saying "kids popping in grilles and they think they're getting tougher / trying to take off their shirts and ain't getting buffer." No matter what your opinion of the Nickelodeon actor/rapper, Romeo does have a point.In non-beef related news, Nas has started recording his album, and the Grammy Awards will be airing at 7 p.m. Wednesday on CBS. Kanye West is nominated for eight Grammys, including Album of the Year (Late Registration) and Record of the Year" ("Gold Digger"). Other notable artists who were nominated include Common, for "Testify" and "The Corner" and T.I., who earned his first Grammy nomination thanks to "U Don't Know Me."
 

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