All I need is the love of my crew/The whole industry can hate me, I thugged my way through…

Every artist with an inkling of buzz relates their presence to a “movement,” yet the creation of Dame’s hustle, Jay-Z’s talent and Biggs’ backing fit the description almost to the tee. Read the rest of this entry »

“You chop the head, the body fall. Basically, that’s what happened with Roc-A-Fella.”

With all the recent developments in the Beans Vs. Jay saga, the Roc-A-Fella chain — a symbol of crew love among certified black gangsters — has been rendered a relic of times past. One of the select few who had the honor of Roc’in it was Christopher “Young Chris” Ries, a talented young buck who you could almost envision as the post or the point in the dynasty’s second wave. Unfortunately, as a result of the Roc’s first fissure, that remains merely a pipe dream with the family members seemingly now gone their separate ways. Read the rest of this entry »

Shortly before it hit the net, Karen Civil informed me of Shad’s decision to head over to Cash Money. What ensued next was barrage of commentary on Twitter, 95% of which was negative. On paper, having a label with Lil’ Wayne, Drake, Mack Maine, Nicki Minaj, Omarion and now Bow Wow seems like an excellent investment. But when looking beyond the surface, we’ve seen over and over how this situation has played itself out.

Roc-A-Fella Records — Arguably no dynasty’s (no pun intended) downfall has been documented more than this. There was once a time when a roster which touted Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Memphis Bleek and the rest of State Property appeared invincible. However, it was the addition of Read the rest of this entry »

Without a fancy intro or provocative thesis statement, simply put, Jay and ‘Ye have been going at each other’s throats for the better part of a decade. Their latest project didn’t help calm the debate either. Similar to how I’ve done in the past, I’ve taken the liberty to flashback and examine their rich and competitive lyrical history.

For the record, the only songs considered valid were records they’ve appeared on together (with one exception). Anyway, let’s talking, more research. Without further adieu, bring on the debate.

2003

Jay-Z Feat. Kanye West – “Girls, Girls, Girls” (Remix)

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Jay’s Quotables: “She call me professor, say ‘Daddy come and test us’/ So she can fail on purpose and repeat the semester/ I’m like, ‘At this rate ma, you’ll never graduate’/ She said, ‘I ain’t no fool, I’ll make it up in summer school…’”

Kanye’s Quotables: “You remind me of my jeep but not Nokia/ We can talk on my cell but not Nokia/ It be goin’ in and out that’s why i barely hear ya/ It be goin’ in and out like a robberia/ I’m tryna take dis money like Rob and Gia/ And I’m a take you to my house like Trick and Trina…” Read the rest of this entry »

Words By David D.

When mentioning the best “beefs” in the post-Biggie/Pac era, people tend to point towards the Canibus/LL, Jay-Z/Nas or 50 Cent/Ja Rule altercations. One battle that is seemingly overlooked was the tooth and nail series of records between State Property and D-Block. While the tension building towards the epic Jay and Nas clash seemed to overshadow this feud, these MCs released numerous mixtape tracks and radio freestyles to one-up the competition. What resulted was one of the most high-quality, sustained beefs on wax we’ve been fortunate enough to witness.

The beef seemed to come out of nowhere. I remember reading an interview in which Jadakiss mentioned he ran Philly. Sigel was quoted in the same interview as adamantly disagreeing with Kiss’ assertion. I read the interview and thought nothing of it. That is, until Jadakiss threw a few lines Sigel’s way: “I’m a show you the reason why I’m the truth for real/ can’t fuck with Kiss, I meanie that/ had to quit eating red meat cuz I ate too many Beanie Macs.” The rest, as they say, is history. Let’s look back at all these back and forths from this underrated battle. Read the rest of this entry »

Found in the Inbox, sent by Wit-E aka Dirk…

“Pretty rare bonus disc I got @ the Hard Knock Life show in ’98. Tried finding it for ’98 week but I had way too many discs to dig thru. Just located it today.” Read the rest of this entry »