Hip-Hop’s Iconic Lyrical Proverbial Tug of War
Im sure you have heard your fair share of diss tracks if you are a true hip-hop fan. And although I am truly and sincerely glad that this beef of sorts did not turn violent, it did however take real estate in my mind. I am not the consensus, I cannot say that I am the judge, nor the jury, and most definitely not the prosecutor, but what I can say, is that of ALL the lyrical boxing matches two stand in my top ten.
Yes, I can talk about the hip-hop classic Roxanne, Roxanne by UTFO, and their call out to the “fictional woman” who rejected their advances.
Which then was answered by the Juice Crew’s own Roxanne Shante with Roxanne’s Revenge. Three words: Hip-Hop Classic and Iconic.
Were there others to attempt the answer? Yes. But in my opinion, no shade. They couldn’t hold a candle. And I am going to sit it right here.
“Yo EMD
Yeah, what’s up man?
There goes that girl they call Roxanne, she’s all stuck up
Why do you say that?
‘Cause she wouldn’t give a guy like me no rap…”
And then I almost fainted when the beat dropped and EMD responded to Kangol Kid
“Yo Kangol, I don’t think that you’re dense
But you went about the matter with no experience
You should know, she doesn’t need a guy like you
She needs a guy like me with a high IQ
And she’ll take to my rap, ‘cause my rap’s the best
The Educated Rapper MD will never fess
So when I met her, I wasted no time
But stuck-up Roxanne paid me no mind…”
What? Are you f**king kidding me? No [dramatic pause] they were not…
UTFO
Roxanne Shante
Speaking of the Juice Crew, MC Shan with the help of DJ Marley Marl played a little game of tug of war with the Blast Master KRS One as they told the world about where they came from: “The Bridge”. To this day when the opening cadence hits the airwaves, everything stops for me because I am ready to recite the intro to one of my all-time hip-hop jams:
“Ladies and Gentleman
We got MC Shan and Marley Marl in the house tonight
They just came from off tour
They wanna tell you a little story about where they come from…”
And then the hook hits…
“The Bridge, Queensbridge
The Bridge, Queensbridge
The Bridge, Queensbridge
The Bridge, Queensbridge”
What? What did they say? Okay, I am going to leave this one to sit right here as well.
The Teacha with the help of DJ Red Alert opened the classroom doors yet again, as a sequel or subtle but not so gentle reminder that if you didn’t hear the first lesson from the lyrics in South Bronx, we are going to inform you that anyone outside has nothing commin’
including the Juice Crew and the lesson is titled “The Bridge is Over”. Now, when we talk about iconic hip-hop beats. This is most definitely a Hall of Famer. The hip-hop Boom Bap was evident. And here we are again, looking back to see that class was in session.
KRS One opens “Hey, Yo Red, I am getting sick and tired of…”
…we come out with one jam explaining what time it is…
I said…
The chorus chants:
the bridge is over, the bridge is over, biddy-bye-bye
the bridge is over, the bridge is over, hey, hey
the bridge is over, the bridge is over, biddy-bye-bye
the bridge is over, the bridge is over
Then the verse hits
You see me coming in di dance with the spliff of sensei
Down with the sound called BDP
If you want to join the crew, well, your must see me
You can’t sound like Shan or the one Marley
Because Shan and Marley Marl, dem a rhyming like they gay
Picking up the mic, man, dem don’t know what to say
Saying hip-hop started out in Queensbridge…
And from this point, I think you know the rest. But if not, listen closely…
When I tell you, I can go on and on but I will again sit this on my imaginary table of all things Hayzel Greene.
The one match that sparked my fingers to typing was that back and forth of Jay Hova and Nasty Nas. Now, can I talk about the not-so-nice banter of Hov coming for Nas talking about his baby Mama in multiple tracks:
“I came in your Bentley backseat (DAMN)
Skeeted in your Jeep (Woo)
Left condoms on your baby-seat (Woo)…”
”Since you infatuated with saying that gay sh*t
Yes, you was kissing my d*ck when you was kissing that b*tch”
Is that your chick
“She begging me to hit it raw so she can have my kids and say it was yours”
After all this and that and tit for tat Nas told it when he said that those words didn’t hurt that at the end of the day:
“Let me make this clear Hova
You had my left overs
She told me your little problem of the day when you slept over
But that’s another subject homie…”
The true passion of it all. LOL! It is almost waiting patiently for the school bell to ring at 3 o’clock and we all round the outside and watch and listen carefully to one of Hip-Hop’s Iconic Lyrical Proverbial Tug of Wars… Songs include “Got Ur Self A Gun,” “Destroy & Rebuild”, Made You Look”, “Bad Intentions”, and “Super Ugly” just to put some of them out there. But the ones that I will refer to in this catalog of Hip-Hop’s history are the “Takeover” and “Ether”.
Nas’ Ether
[Intro]
F**k Jay-Z
What’s up, ni**as?
Ayo, I know you ain’t talkin’ about me, do (You? What?)
F**k Jay-Z
You been on my d*ck, ni**a
You love my style, ni**a (uh, uh, uh, uh)
F**k Jay-Z
[Chorus]
(I) F**k with your soul like ether
(Will) Tech you, the king, you know you
(Not) God’s Son across the belly
(Lose) I’ll prove you lost already (Uh)…”
As you can tell, where my heart lies “Hip-Hop“. Don’t get me wrong, I rock with all these artists, but I just thought this needed to be mentioned.
Are there others? Yes. And in the words of KRS One “I think very deeply” and have a couple of honorable mentions that is not the end of all.
Song – Track / Artist / Target
Lost Ones – Lauryn Hill – The Fugees, Wyclef Jean
10% Dis – MC Lyte – MC Antoinette
Kill That Noise – MC Shan – BDP, South Bronx
ShETHER – Remy Ma – Nicki Minaj
Jack the Ripper – LL Cool J – Kool Moe Dee
Dollaz & Sense – DJ Quik – MC Eiht
Truth – Gucci Mane – Jezzy
Against All Odds – 2Pac – Biggie, Mobb Deep, De La Soul etc
The B*tch in Yoo – Common – Ice Cube
2nd Round K.O – Canibus – LL Cool J –
Dre Day – Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg – Luke, Tim Dog, Eazy E and Ruthless Records
The Story of Adidon – Pusha-T – Drake
No Vaseline – Ice Cube – NWA, Jerry Heller, Ruthless Records
Hit Em Up – 2 Pac – Mobb Deep, Puffy, Junior M.A.F.I.A, Lil Kim, Biggy and Chino XL
Are there more hip-hop diss tracks; absolutely. Can I cover them all, No!
Please let us know of any that you would like to hear more on.
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Hayzel Greene
