BLOG: When Rappers Attack?

It's no secret, rappers be on some shit. Back in 1998, when Wyclef stuck the toast in the face of Blaze Magazine EIC Jesse Washington the entire hip-hop community collectively SMH'd. The incident allegedly occurred over a poor Canibus album review (fuck the bullshit, that first album SUCKED!) and was quite despicable. Plus 'Clef wasn't really gangsta anyway so overall the shit came off as weird.

With the bloggin' phenomenon taking off as of late, it really surprises me that there hasn't been any instances of rappers attacking bloggers. Not that I condone that shit, but I'm just sayin'. There was the time that Lupe Fiasco threatened to "jump off in [Bol's] ass," after hip-hop's most infamous blogger accused the Chi-Town MC of slingin' dem thangs and snitchin’ on his imprisoned partner (or some shit like that). Still, despite the threats you got the feeling that cooler heads would prevail; a) because Lupe seems to be a sensible dude and b) because Bol blogs from an undisclosed location (read: his mama's basement in St. Louis). So unless Mr. Food & Liquor was in the Lou doing a collabo with Nelly, I can't see any other reason to go to STL. And since no one is looking for Nelly verses these days, is there any real reason to go to the Lou? Still last week got tense when a rapper who's so nice they had to name him twice (rhymes with Slick Rick) promised to strip a certain XXL blogger (rhymes with Don Texaco) naked and do him bodily harm. Once again it seemed cooler heads prevailed, but I highly doubt Hip-hop has that much sense, and I'm predicting future violence unless some shit changes.

Now I'm not much of a blogger, but damned if I don't generate traffic (I did go 7 times platinum on a post this past 4th of July weekend); still most of my XXL duties are regulated to print. But I understand the game, a blogger is only as good as the traffic he/she generates and the quickest way to generate traffic is through controversy. But is it always safe? To me it seems clear that when bloggin' the hood rules definitely apply. If you say some blasphemous shit, then the verbally attacked party is liable to approach you on it. Maybe he'll just want to talk it out, or maybe he'll wanna strip you naked and do you bodily harm. Point being, if you can't back your shit up then keep ya trap shut. And this ain't directed at any one blogger in particular, but we've gotten this far without incident, so let's try to keep it that way before we end up on some East Coast/West Coast shit with the media claiming "We never knew it would go that far." Til then I'll continue to rate rap albums for XXL and take my chances with Wyclef.

But the question remains, should bloggers be held accountable for their words or should rappers just understand that it’s all entertainment?
Have at it haters!—Rob the Music Ed