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REASONABLE DOUBT: a critical round-up of the week's hip hop headlines
RUSSELL MYRIE returns with another trawl through the wit, wisdom and weirdness of the week in rap
Published: April 24, 2009
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Officer Ross: preparing for the battle of his life?
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| Photo © Paul Hampartsoumian |
The promotional blitz for Rick Ross' third album, Deeper than Rap, really kicked in to gear this week. Despite those pictures that prove he used to be a correctional officer rather than a drug kingpin, the beef with 50 Cent has increased his profile ridiculously. It's the first time in a long time that an orchestrated attack has actually paid off for the orchestrating artist. J-Hood may be a dope lyricist, he was a regular on all those D-Block mixtapes that everyone loved around the time of 2 Gunz Up, but his beef with The LOX, justified or not (who knows?), definitely put a hold on his career. This is usually how it goes. But the man dubbed 'Officer Ricky' (by the man he calls 'Curly') has somehow managed to attract a lot of attention. It's obviously given him a lot of confidence. But Eminem? Don't do it! Yep that's right, Ricky has decided that he's beaten 50 and that Em is now his main target. Is Dre next? 50 Cent, by his own admission, may have "less compassion than the average human being" - a point he has relentlessly proved throughout all of his rap-based "disagreements" - but he is not a battle-tested emcee like Eminem: he's a gangsta rapper who isn't interested in punchlines and metaphors. He made a point of saying so during the early G Unit mixtapes in 2002 ('memba them? Great days) and in many instances, his autobiography included, since. Em, however, is a different kettle of fish. Come on, his number one homey was Proof, who used to host weekly battles at the Hip Hop Shop, and he used to roll with guys like The Outsidaz. You ever seen Pace Won or Young Zee battle? They go for theirs! Em may not put Ross' baby mother in a porn film (truly scandalous!) but if he makes a proper dis track against Rick Ross then that really could be it. 50 wasn't even bothered about beating him in a rap battle, he just wanted to fuck up his life. If Ricky continues to bait Em like this, I think Em will be bothered and it could backfire badly on the Miami rapper. Most important of all, just like the 50 thing - I wonder just what 50 did or said to him at the BET Awards - it's all so unnecessary. Deeper than Rap has a big buzz and is set to be his 3rd US chart-topper. It'll probably be the best first week tally in hip-hop for the year so far (though the rumoured 70,000+ for Asher Roth's Asleep in the Bread Aisle is impressive too). So there was no need. He'd have been better off getting at that pornstar who did that dis track.
Lil' Wayne has lost his court battle to stop the release of that upcoming QDIII documentary, also called The Carter. No disrespect to the biggest rapper in the game, but QDIII's father is Quincy Jones!! I'mma say it again: Quincy Jones!! You can't buy that kind of a rep. Of course, now that he's tried to stop people seeing whatever it is he doesn't want them to see, Wayne's only made the whole thing seem infinitely more interesting than it was. Most people with only a passing interest may now be a little bit more curious. Or a lot more. And what exactly is it that he doesn't want us to see? Is it really his drug use that is the problem? It could be but I dunno. Consider the following: he opens Playaz Circle's Duffle Bag Boy by saying the words "weed and syrup"; if you've ever read an interview with Lil' Wayne you will know he stacks his syrup cups three deep; the name of his forthcoming (if it ever comes) album with Juelz Santana is I Can't Feel My Face, for gawd's sake. So I don't think it's the drug use that Weezy's peeps are concerned about, and if it was, I think Weezy is easily smart enough to not allow himself to be filmed at moments when such activity is occurring - even if it is in Amsterdam. So, again, what is it that he, or his people, don't want the music-buying public to see? We now have one surefire way to find out, and Weezy's made sure we all are going to want to.
Deep breaths people: Lauryn Hill is embarking on a new European tour. Does that mean she'll release a new album before D'Angelo or Dr. Dre? Who knows, but let's hope all three drop discs in '09. There is definitely new shit from The Clipse though. Praise the Lord for The Clipse: they are one of the few groups who tick every box for modern hip hop. They go extra hard lyrically, have some proper street stripes, and have The Neptunes, possibly the biggest producers of the last ten years, in their corner. It's a formula (no pun intended) that's resulted in two classic albums. Kanye is also easily one of the biggest producers of the last decade and a great person for them to release their first non-Neptunes-produced tune with. If Kinda Like a Big Deal is anything to go by, their third album is likely to be another killer. Let's hope Rick Rubin, or whoever decides these things, gives it that proper push. Can't wait to hear those joints he produced for them.
But will any of the forthcoming new albums from Interscope receive support from Funkmaster Flex? His rant against them is strange in the extreme. Weren't they best buds? Flex is probably the only DJ who could call out the biggest label in the game like that and professionally live to see another day. Can the same be said for the employee who pissed him off? Who can say? But we'll be back in another seven days to see if the dust has settled and the view is any clearer then.
If you missed last week's news, catch up HERE.
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