Wow, I might be through knocking 50 Cent. That's a funny, smart dude right there. He's not an "artist" or whatever; he makes formula music. But as he says time and time again, that's his business approach. In any event, he's still willing to throw daggers at people, which for the most part is the upside of rapper entertainment in hip hop -- rappers are celebrities who don't go the politically-correct route. So this clip here has 50 retaliating to a clip I posted a week ago or so by GZA of the Wu.
GZA's a smart guy too, so I'm sort of hoping he'll have yet another clip up by next weekend. A little flame-war with 50 would def. be good for business, and might provide a little lrical inspiration also. Stay tuned.
via: WSHH
previously:
GZA Calls out 50 and Soulja Boy
Damn....maybe 50 really is doing coke now.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, that was awesome. 50 is the man. I know it's cool to hate on him, but dude is awesome.
ReplyDelete"Souljah Boy is 16! Genius should just shut up! Just SHUT UP!"
hahahahahah
If I were GZA, I would consider leaving this alone. I understand part of this whole masculine identity mess includes standing up to people who've challenged you, but at this point you've probably said all you need to say and dragging out the dispute after you've made your point disproportionately favors 50 Cent's interests. 50 Cent is like that massive volcanic orb in The Fifth Element. There's really no talking to him, at least not in the public arena, and any criticism you might make of him, however valid, is inevitably going to be drowned out by irrelevant nonsense and converted to fuel for a promotional machine.
ReplyDeleteAs for the audio clip: With regards to the dispute itself, it's almost as though they're speaking two different languages. GZA calls out 50 Cent, saying "he don't got motherfuckin' lyrics" (read: artistic quality), and 50 Cent responds by feigning ignorance of who GZA is (read: fame), claiming that the vast majority of the profits from GZA's music were reaped by other people (read: money), and saying that he's old (read: youth). To be honest, I was sort of surprised he didn't go the usual route and question GZA's authenticity, meeting the mandatory "you ain't sell no weight" quota. Shit, that's standard bread and butter, the HB Dive of rap beef.
And what's with there always being some herb in the background, cracking up or parroting whatever the interviewee says, from release dates to brash posturing? In fact, now that I think about it, I'm absolutely certain that these people are actually robots and there are storage closets full of them at all media outlets, offered as a complimentary service to those guests who wish to make use of their services. Don't these people have their own lives to lead? Don't they have something to do, something other than acting as a narcissistic extension for some asshole/emcee? Maybe they don't; I don't know [anything].
As for GZA's criticism of Soulja Boy: I don't think he has any real animus towards him personally, but rather resents the fact that he's become popular on the basis of facile, unsubstantial music and his popularity has made him a de facto ambassador of hip-hop music to mainstream society. And, again, more than being upset by Soulja Boy personally, I think that he's angered by the business and consumer culture that heaps so much interest and attention on someone like Soulja Boy, but marginalizes someone like GZA, leaving him scornfully looking in from the outside. On the surface at least, there's some element of professional jealousy, as well as the usual true-schooler generational/regional warfare.
dang , Him. I can't even say anything after that comment. Hahaha. You, my friend, have said it all....
ReplyDeletei second Kitty on that. Him killed the comment game with that one.
ReplyDeletethat said, i do think retaliation would be good. all your calculations seem correct, except for the accounting of the unknown. which is what a good hip hop battle is all about. you can't deny the prospect of a 50 vs. Gza lyrical exchange being hotter than fire.
I doubt that GZA feels the need to bother responding to 50 at this point. It's pretty obvious that 50 is a pop artist/self-proclaimed business man, and it's pretty obvious that GZA is a monumental figure in rhymesaying and the underground hip hop scene. the fact that 50 is still trying to drag this out only shows that he's insecure about the situation lol.
ReplyDeleteALSO, to set the record straight, AS GZA HAS MANY TIMES, he has never had any beef with souljah boy....he basically said at a show 'what do you guys think about people like 50/soujah boy/etc' and it was THE CROWD that started yelling a bunch of demeaning shit lol, all he did was laugh...which is fair, because it's funny....plus 50 and souljah boy ARE a complete waste of time.