Is Fifty keeping it real or just running Game?

by Rob King

03/11/05

“It was all a dream I used to read Word Up magazine…”

It’s hard to believe that classic hip hop lyric from the song “Juicy” appeared on Christopher Wallace’s aka Notorious B.I.G.’s debut CD “Ready to Die” over ten years ago. The hip hop scene was first introduced to Biggie on the 1993 “Who’s the Man” soundtrack and later that year he made guest star appearances on cuts by artists such as Super Cat and Mary J. Blige.

The 1994 release of “Ready to Die” elevated him to the top of the hip hop world. He probably would have remained in that position for many years if not for his senseless murder on March 9, 1997 in Los Angeles. It is a death many believe was revenge for the equally senseless murder of the multi-talented rapper/actor Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas six months prior.

Both murders remain unsolved.

Former G-Unit member Jayceon Taylor aka The Game followed the drug money to rap money formula followed by Fifty, Biggie, Easy E and others to the top of the Hip hop charts.

Many in the hip hop world thought they were witnessing a replay when two rising hip hop stars recently engaged in verbal warfare that spilled into the streets. The dispute stems from the Game’s departure from Fifty’s G-Unit family though both remain with the Interscope label. Fifty and Game disagreed on how it went down but what both seemed to agree on was that the Game was no longer part of Fifty’s G-Unit clique.

A member of the Game’s Black Wall Street crew was wounded after shots were fired between the two factions in front of New York City’s Hot97 radio station early last week. While I am encouraged by Fifty Cent and Game’s mutually agreed truce, I am aware of the criticism both will face in the days and weeks ahead from the many individuals who embrace and even romanticize the “thug life”. The “when keeping it real goes wrong” community may perceive both men as soft for settling their beef amicably and some have even questioned whether the beef was staged for publicity. (Fifty did move over one million units last week.) Whether the beef was real or “reality TV”, the bullet one of the Game’s crew took in the buttocks was authentic and nobody yelled cut after the shooting stopped.

A few years ago at a presentation I attended, Kwanzaa creator and historian Maulana Karenga remarked “we study history to learn from its examples.” Maybe Fifty and Game have learned from the tragic examples provided by two of hip hop’s all time great artists, whose lives were extinguished way too soon by inane acts of violence.

Beef is common in the world of hip hop. We had Benzino and Eminem, Jay Z and Nas, Ice Cube and Common, Cannabis and LL Cool J, Dr. Dre and Easy “E”, KRS One and MC Shan and the list goes on. Most of those situations were reconciled or just dissipated. There are still some current beefs going on in hip hop. Competition in hip hop is healthy. It usually brings out the best in the combatants. In some cases it can resurrect careers. Nas appeared uninspired until Jay Z’s lyrical taunts inspired him to respond with “Ether.” The verbal jousting with “Jigga” appeared to reinvigorate Nas, who had been overlooked for a minute in this “flava” du jour world of rap music and pop culture in general.

Beef definitely has practical applications if used properly and handled with care. The problems usually occur when beef moves from the studio to the streets. However, if the beef was fabricated by Fifty to gain publicity and boost sales, then he just might have a bigger future than any of us anticipated. Fifty’s next move could be to the political arena where he can hone his skills with the experts on fabrication and manipulation in D.C. Remember the alleged Election 2000 and Weapons of Mass Destruction fabrications? Those incidents were financial boons for many including the media, which I’m sure move more papers with “Rap War” headlines.


The bottom line: to quote Fifty, “he’s a crook with a deal” who got rich and didn’t have to die trying. Game is following the same blueprint to fortune and fame in the hip hop music industry. Is it possible the beef was staged? Of course it’s possible!

However it’s also possible the Game and Fifty realized how disposable toy soldiers in the rap game are because the aftermath of their beef could have led to a massacre – one that would have only improved record sales for their posterity and the music moguls at the top of rap’s food chain.

Or maybe they simply reflected on the cautionary tales of Biggie and Pac. I’m sure Biggie is in his “life after death” hanging with Tupac telling him he wasn’t really “ready to die” and Pac telling him “I’m not mad at you.”