Expanding The "Parameters" of A Rap Battle: Did 50 Cent Go Too Far?

We've heard this story before...in anticipation for an upcoming project, we've seen 50 Cent go at other hip-hop artists to build hype and promotion.

But this situation is a little different. In "Mafia Music," one of his latest songs for his upcoming album, Deeper Than Rap, Rick Ross took a shot at 50 Cent regarding the fire that burnt down his multi-million dollar mansion on Long Island.

It was a short, four-bar shot in which he called 50 jealous and boasted about how he would love to take his son's mother (who resided in the house) shopping...you'll peep the irony later.

As you can probably imagine, 50 responded promptly with "Officer Ricky, Go Ahead Try Me." One the track, 50 Cent disses Ross about his past as a Correction Officer as well as his rhyming style and DJ Khaled.

50 also brought up how Rick Ross lives a lie by naming himself after the currently incarcerated "Freeway" Ricky Ross, who along with the CIA and Ronald Reagan created and used crack-cocaine to fund a war in Nicaragua--the Iran-Contra Scandal. If you don't know about it--please do your research.

On a side note, "50 Cent" is also named after a former convict, Kelvin Darnell Martin, who was a stick-up kid infamous for the robbery and murder of hustlers.

Back to music. Typically, what would happen next is a few radio interviews on nationally popular hip-hop shows, and they would go back-and-forth with songs until one of them waves the white flag. Hip-hop fans know that 50 Cent is veteran in beef on wax and he's not going to stop dissing his opponent (unless your Jadakiss.)

Going into the music battle, some speculated that this might have been the begginning of the end for 50 Cent's rap career because of Ross's affiliation with other popular hip-hop artists, especially in the south, and that if they combine their efforts, it could put 50 "Curtis Jackson" Cent away from mainstream radiowaves for good.

Rick Ross, whose birth name is William Roberts Jr., did an interview with radio host Angela Yee on Shade 45 (Sirius Satellite Radio.) Ross essentially called 50's response weak and gave him 48 hours to come back harder.

Within 48 hours, Jackson took the beef to a different level. First, on his website, 50 vowed to "fuck [Ross's] life up...for fun." He then flaunted some public records that he retrieved and warned Ross--saying that he (50) is very resourceful.


But that was just step one. The proof is in the pudding and 50 seems to be as resourceful as he claims. Within the next two days, he released a brief animated cartoon depicting Rick Ross as the cop and himself as the person in jail. Jackson took the liberty to diss Ross's mother and one his baby's mother.

But that was just step two. 50 continued his onslaught on Ross by flying his sons's mother (not the same one he dissed) out to New York for an interview, which essentially was the airing out of Ross's dirty laundry. 50 released video of the interview and then had the cameraperson follow them to Fifth Ave. in New York, where they went shopping.

In the video, Ross's baby's mother, Tia Kemp, verifies that William Roberts a.k.a. Rick Ross was a correctional officer, on top of a bunch of other details including his evident failures as a father.

Afterwards, 50 Cent took did an interview with Funkmaster Flex on Hot 97 in New York and explained it all.

Before 50 released the video, Rick Ross did an interview with Hot 97's Miss Info and said that he knew about his son's mother flying out to go see 50, and added that "Mafia Music" ended 50 Cent's career.

Finally, 50 is planning to put the final nail in Ross's career by publishing a book by Ross's baby mother, called Tia's Diary: Deeper Than Rap--ex[ect it in book stores in March--the same date Ross releases his highly anticipated album Deeper Than Rap.

We shouldn't expect this to be over--it's probably far from over--let's just hope that they keep it on wax.

NOTORIOUS BIG

^^BIG & I ON OUR ROMANTIC DATE LOL ^^

So I finally saw NOTORIOUS yesterday..
HUMMM..
In my opinion the movie was good. I felt that it was a little rushed as if they were just trying to get to the death part.

I also felt it was a little mixed up, of course the movie was based from the eyes of Ms. Wallace (BIG's mom) but there were a lot of important parts of Big's life that didn't come out in the movie.

Lil' Kim is upset about the way she was portrayed. I do believe they had love for each other, but his girlfriend at the time of his death was Tiffany (now known as rapper Charlie Baltimore, former member of Murder Inc.)

After his death, Lil' Kim constantly went on and on about how she was his girlfriend and he loved her. I think it was one of those things where you keep repeating something over and over because you want to end up believing it yourself because you know it's not true. LOL.

My question is why wasn't Tiffany portrayed in the movie? Yes the movie was based on his career NOT his life so maybe thats why. And they didn't wanna juggle back and fourth between women in the movie.

However, Tiffany was a major part in Big's life.

For example:

In the movie, there is a car accident scene. They make it seem as if the accident involved BIG and Lil' Cease, when in real life the accident involved BIG and Tiffany. That accident was a big part of his life especially because the reason the Life After Death album was stalled and then was released as a double album was because of that accident.

BIG was in the hospital for three months and there was nothing left to do but work on it and recover. He was told that he would never walk again and if he were to walk again, he may have a wheelchair or a walker. That accident was very much downplayed in the movie. To me that was a huge part of BIG and Life After Death coming out the way it did.

For some reason, all of that was left out of the movie. Maybe it’s because so few people recall Biggie and Tiffany's relationship. For those that didn't know about Tiffany because it has always been as if Lil' Kim was his main chick.. Tiffany was his real girlfriend.

If you haven't read the Faith Evans book Keep The Faith she talks about all of it and the accident as well.

He even bought Tiffany a car that at the time of his death Faith called her and told her she had to return it and Tiffany refused but eventually it was taken from her.
She even showed up at the funeral and is also in the "Get Money" video after Faith decided not to be in it because she thought the song was written about her after they separated.

So in my opinion, Tiffany should have been in the movie more than Lil' Kim was. However, Lil' Kim was coming up as an artist at that time so it makes sense of why they did it.

Other than his personal life, the movie was great. Especially the end..
The footage when they drove through Brooklyn and they turned a radio on and played "hypnotize" all of that was real. That was the actual footage from the funeral. I even remember when they showed it on the news that day.

Overall I give the movie a 7.
Only because not everyone was portrayed the way it should've been. However maybe in two or three years they will make another movie about his WHOLE life.

It's sad that he didn't even get a chance to see the release of his second album. Which was released two weeks after his death. We will never know how big he would've became.

Tupac had his chance--he had about 10 albums at the time of his death, while Big only had one. And making it to that level with just one album... I think that makes him great. NOT the greatest of all time...but great.

As for now, go get the Faith Evans book Keep The Faith and be on the lookout for Lil' Kim's book The Naked Truth, as well as her movie.

No Expectations for NOTORIOUS

I am a critic. Not a professional one, just a critic.

It's not that I'm a cynic, it's just the fact that I believe that there is always room for improvement. But that does not mean that I am never satisfied.

There is nothing more satisfying than a good book, or a good flick--Jack Nicholson, Anthony Hopkins, Denzel Washington, and Spike Lee never seem to fail me, to the point of where my expectations are high whenever they bless the screen.

Movies that are biographical bore me--most of us fans know the story without the movie, so the movie is just a waste of time. But this wasn't the case in American Gangster, but that was rare--let me shorten this--I have no expectations for NOTORIOUS--which comes out tomorrow, 1/16.

American Gangster was biographical of Frank Lucas and the short lived Lucas Crime Family. Anyone can do research and know the story, but the movie--the movie was something different.

The performances by Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, and especially Ruby Dee (Mama Lucas) were outstanding. And the language--the way that it was written--was phenomenal. It hit hard, had a great build--ideal, to say the least.

I was excited for American Gangster--gangster movies are the best kind--they always keep you on your toes, and there is no 'good guy-bad guy' typical theme--in most gangster films the so-called good guys wind up crooked and just as bad as the rest of us--a true reflection of real life.

But enough about that--I'm not as excited for NOTORIOUS, I'm not sure if I'm excited at all--which is why I'll be the film's biggest fan if it is indeed a modern marvel.

A lot of fans and some pundits are hyping it up, one artist even said that he sees it doing $50 M opening weekend. We all (well, most of us) know Biggie's story, and it is compelling--which makes the acting, writing, and delivery much more prominent.

With that, I have no expectations of the film--I'll just wait to see it...and I refuse to see it on opening weekend--I know better than that. Theatres will be mayhem, I anticipate fights and a bunch of rowdiness, so I'll just wait to go on a secluded rainy morning or something like that.

To close, I brought this up to some of my friends--the way that they are advertising the movie is great, it's ideal and they're doing everything right. On a personal note, they're doing such a good job, that people are screaming that BIG was/is the greatest rapper of all time--wait--the greatest rapper of all time?

I'm as objective as they come, I don't think that I have a bias, but if I do, I wouldn't mind being called on it, but there is no way that BIG is the G.O.A.T.. As aforementioned, his impact and influence cannot be denied, and we pay homage, and we'll all pay homage and remember him for as long as music exists, but the greatest of all time?

No.

Impact and influence don't translate to being the GOAT--Jackie Robinson was arguably the most influential athlete, but does that make him the GOAT? No, Willie Mays is still better.

He came out with two albums, and unfortunately we would never know how his career would have progressed if he were still here, so we can't FAIRLY call him the GOAT. I can name one other Brooklynite and two other rappers who I would put above him without any second thoughts.

He put the east coast back on the map and influenced every NY rapper in the game after or during his era. I pay homage, but I'm not fooled by the hype and the absurd.

Go see NOTORIOUS