Lil Wayne « tonygrands.com

I’ve been swimming in Hip Hop since it first began making real world waves. I’ve seen it all…Hip Hop families (Papoose and Remy, Treacherous MC and Pepa, Jayoncé), Hip Hop grim reaping (Eazy, Tupac, Jam Master Jay), rappers-turned-food critics (Action Bronson), rap politicians (Rhymefest), the entire gamut. But mostly, I’ve seen a lot of beef. Pause. Conflict in rap music and Hip Hop culture – better known as beef – is as relevant as dope beats and fresh rhymes.

Back when I rapped and the Internet was still being potty-trained, some dude had “beef” with me because he claimed a group I was in stole his name. Nothing ever came of it, however, mostly because I was a nobody and partly because I was constantly drunk and didn’t give a shit who liked me or not, but it showed me how eager some rap cats are to use conflict and controversy to pump up themselves and their neighboring dickriders. That hasn’t changed one single iota. Rap beef is such a constant variable in the culture that nowadays when you hear about rappers dissing each other, it rarely even registers on the radar. It’s like “whatever, so what.” This is not the case with Lil Wayne versus Young Thug. In fact, this beef is very interesting, if only for the fact that it appears Wayne has – over the years of basically rapping nothing but sex – ironically become a pussy, which has momentarily granted Young Thug a victory in this erratic battle.

Allow me to explain.

Rick Ross had problems with 50 Cent some years ago, and while 50 attacked Ross on a personal level (50 Cent is why we know Rick was a cop), Ross, for the most part l, ignored it. Somehow that move – coupled with him dropping dope songs non-stop all throughout the beef – earned him the war. And he has literally be winning ever since (50 not so much). It may have been the first time in rap beef history where the “problem” actually went away due to being ignored. Google the fiasco if you’re unfamiliar. It also seems to have started the trend of not responding to being called out by another rapper. The Internet and certain pockets of real life called Ross a punk, a charlatan, a pussy for not responding to 50 Cent’s aggressive tactics to throw Ross’ public and professional life into disarray. Lil Wayne appears to be using the same tactic of pretending the problem isn’t there, but it’s not working. And with Young Thug’s current state of comeuppance and constant material delivery, it would behoove Wayne to start “fighting” back or risk losing whatever foothold he’s ascertained over the years, as well as our collective respect forever. OR until he does something crazy enough for us to forget about the previous fuckery. As a rap AND Lil Wayne fan, I demand he step up to the plate and publicly address being dissed (and allegedly shot at) by Young Thug incorporated.

There was a time when if a rapper dropped your name, you headed straight to the studio to up the ante. Maybe all that Lean has these rap guys too relaxed for lyrical combat. ~~Perhaps they should be drinking more booze and blowing more cocaine.~~ Nevertheless, I need Lil Wayne to drop a mixtape dedicated to Young Thug, rapping his ass off in a way that should be directly reminiscent of Weezy in his Best Rapper Alive uniform.

The only other acceptable alternative, at this point, is Lil Wayne shave all his hair, denounce the gangbanging lifestyle, retire from rap music, and become an online relationship expert, kinda like what Steve Harvey is doing with Delightful.com.

Words by Tony Grands
@Tony_Grands

Questions, Comments, Concerns, or Contributions? Hit us up. tgdcmailbox@gmail.com