Who Got The Camera?

With today DJs too shook to drop mixtapes (The Feds is watching), rappers today have resorted to airing out their opponents through visuals. 50 set it off (like he often does) last week and today Cam has finally returned the favor. What happens next? It’s anyone’s guess. Will the crewmembers jump in the fray or stay away? All I know is a lot of people are heading out to Vegas and I’m pretty sure they packed a video camera or two.

Still any true rap fan knows video disses have a long and sordid history. They often have been the stuff that sticks in your brain when you reminisce on old bickering beef. I can still see Snoop getting his King Kong on and stomping the buildings in Dogg Pound’s “New York, New York” video. The homie MC Serch bringing the baseball bat to Henry Rollins (look it up) acting as Vanilla Ice in 3rd Bass’ “Pop Goes The Weasel.” Interscope exec Steve Berman (from the Eminem skits) playing a faux Jerry Heller in the Doctor’s “Dre Day” video.

Still one of my favorite older-school diss vids comes courtesy of BK’s finest crew in the mid 90’s, the Boot Camp Clik. The Originoo Gunn Clappaz who in their debut video “No Fear” went after their fellow Brooklyn brethren. On the one version I could find on Youtube, the fake Foxy Brown image has been blurred as well as the scene of a Biggie Smalls look-alike being tossed off the stage—PM Dawn style. Those kids had balls! I mean balls!

Peep it for yourselves if you haven’t ever before. But if you’re a true rap fan you should already have the B.C.C.’s Video Surveillance DVD in the collection, which pretty much contains all their important videos.

P.S. The Biggie and Boot Camp differences got really real after this thing dropped. But I’m gonna spare the details out of respect to Duck Down and the memory of B.I.G.