Chatterboxing: What's Beef 2009

If you clicked to read this thinking that I had done a remix to the Notorious one's classic 1997 song, I'm sorry, but that's not what you're gonna find. In honor of the Notorious one, however, I felt the need to reassess what his idea of beef was, and just examine the concept of it in our culture today, and its evolution over the years.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's NOTHING wrong with a little rivalry in the things that entertain us. Be it sports, music, or whatever, it's always an added perk when you can see two of your favorite stars "go at it" for the love of what they do. It's existed long before any of us were born, and it will be here long after we're gone.

But I mean, damn. It's one thing to put out diss records and have your fans on edge about how many punchlines you can hurl at your rival, but there are some things about current day beef that's just...well, different:

1. Musicians dissing without acrual music: For example, this whole 50 Cent/Rick Ross thing. They may have made a total of two songs combined throughout this entire "beef." What did we get after that? Cartoons...Skits...Baby Mamas getting minks! WTF? On the bright side, Rick Ross's "Deeper than Rap" is one of the best hip-hop releases to come out since last year (until next week! lol), so...Curtis better come back with a classic or he can consider this battle lost.

2. Artists using fake beef to promote their work or create publicity. I just have one thing to say: People WILL find out. Forget about it.

3. Artists using rap beef as an excuse to be real: Um...yeah...rappers be needing street credibility. So what better way to show your current and prospective fans how real you are, than to take a verbal shot at somebody, right? Well, maybe. See, let's say you kick up some verbal dust at somebody that don't play that. You may be barking up a tree with a weak trunk. You see that guy at a Summer Jam concert or something, and he AND his crew is trying to administer back-to-back beatings on your ass. Your ploy to add some "realness" to your resume as an artist has turned into a good-ol fashioned beatdown and a universal loss of respect...or even worst, it might get you killed. That's not real...that's an fail. Epic. Fail.


I enjoy rivalries just like the rest of us. But, I think they're most enjoyed when they stay within the parameters in which they started. Boxing rivalries should stay in the ring. Sports rivalries should stay on the court, and rap beef should stay within the music. The energy that you pour into the music will inevitably enhance the quality of the music, and once it's over...both parties can move on to the next project.