Womp Womp!

When it comes to beefing, The Game might have one of the weakest track records in hip-hop – 50 Cent, Joe Budden, Yukmouth? Complex did a pretty thorough recap including some of his more benign feuds. He’s not exactly the best at tough talk (sorry homie), and no matter how talented dude is, it’s hard to take him seriously when all the disputes overshadow that. Well, now the Doc’s Advocate has Hov in his line of sight. The onslaught began after Jay mentioned Game’s name in a freestyle during a recent show – a track that’s supposed to be the intro to the upcoming Blueprint 3. Now people are saying that Game’s attempt to spar is ill-advised and that his retort, “I’m So Wavy,” ain’t it (c) Johnta Austin. Too bad, ‘cause I was really digging that song “Bang Along” and hoping Game would stay out of trouble.

Unfortunately, his latest attempt is just another in a series of misguided beefs. People always argue about the best (if you can call it that) rap beefs (Nas/Jay, 2 Pac/B.I.G., 50 Cent/Ja Rule, Eminem/Benzino), but in between the epic battles there’s also been a lot of stinkers. In general, I find grown men arguing over BS to be childish, but competitive beefing can be entertaining when it’s kept on wax and it’s done as sport. That’s when you look forward to the lyrical jabs, the witty punchlines and the what’s-he-gonna-say-next.

The entertainment factor helps. Silly as it was (is?), the Rick Ross-50 Cent duel was amusing, and at least Fif injects some charm and humor into his spats. The wackest beefs are those that aren’t entertaining, have no real origin, have a fuzzy reasoning behind them or involve two uninteresting rappers, which results in a “conflict” that makes little sense or that rap fans barely care about. See: Bow Wow vs. Soulja Boy, Charles Hamilton vs. SB, Joe Budden vs. Saigon, T.I. vs. Shawty Lo. Fighting over who lives where < fighting over getting shot.

We all know beef ain’t what it used to be, especially with the Internet making it difficult to maintain that tough-guy façade. Nowadays, it seems like artists are sparring just for publicity and/or over silliness. Surely, many of the recent beefs rank low on the pole: Bow Wow/Soulja Boy, Charles Hamilton/Rhymefest and Fat Joe/Papoose are right there at the bottom of the barrel with Timbaland/Scott Storch. Laaaaame! So who holds the crown? —clovito

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