After watching two back-to-back interviews from Inspectah Deck and Fabolous (which were both good by the way, outside of the beef questions), I just felt I had to comment. I really didn't want to talk about this because of the origin of it and me working with Vibe, but now I'm getting tired of seeing it everywhere, so it's time to put an end to it once and for all (yes my little two cents isn't gonna stop it all togehter, but hopefully somebody will read this and see how ridiculous it is getting).

First, let me say that while Joe Budden is definitely entitled to his own opinion and I don't have a problem with what he said, but his misinterpretation of the Vibe competition (and actually many people's misinterpretation, not just his) is the reason for all of this is nonsense in the first place. I am not making this statement because I am working there, but because it is the truth. I wanted to stay away from it to avoid seeming bias, but once again, it's gotten out of hand. Many people's issue is that when they saw "best rapper", they mistook it for best lyricist, which is not what the competion is. If you look in the June/July issue of the magazine and go the the "Best Rapper Ever" page, you will see that it reads "Who has the best lyrics? The flyest style? The dopest hooks? The most classic albums? You decide." The reason some people are seated where they are is not based off of lyrics along. Here is where Joe Budden's logic of his seating in the brackets is already nullified. When talking about the best rapper, it is incorporating everything; lyricism, album sales, legendary status, ability to create great songs, etc. These are all things that we do judge rappers upon and factor in to decide who is the greatest. Of course some things count more than others, lyricsm most likely being at the top, but all factors must be accounted for. It pains me to see Bow Wow on this list, too, but with the number orrecords he sold and what he accomplished at such a young age, given thecriteria, he is a legitimate candidate (plus he was easily going toloose in the first round so who cared).

Joe Budden also made the mistake of saying that because today he is better than Method Man (which you could definitely argue is true), that has no bearing on the competition. Because the competition says "EVER", that means all bodies of work are taken into account. If we were talking about today, Biggie and Pac couldn't even be in the conversation because they're not here. How artists may compare at the present time has nothing to do with the competiton. It takes into account everything that has been done throughout a career. The voting is now in the 5th round, and the reason that the MCs such as Eminem, 2pac, Biggie, Jay-Z, etc are still around is because they were able to take lyricism, pain, and all the elements we would associate with underground hip hop and make them appealing to the pop culture. Although he hung around for a while, the reason somebody like Mos Def, Big L, or others aren't around isn't because they don't compare lyrically, but because they are not as appealing to the mainstream. As much as it sucks, that is still a factor in being the best ever.

So, that is where the real problem started. It was the misinterpretation of the competition in the first place and what it really represented. Method Man is one of the most legendary rappers in one of the most legendary groups of all time, period. He has earned his spot in the brackets, and most would proably argue that he could have been higher. Regardless, the next problem was when not only Method Man got upset (whicih is to be expected so I can't fault him for that), but when everybody else started jumping into the mix throwing shot at Joe Budden. It is amazing to me how every single person to ever touch a mic has said at one time or another that they are the best, yet when somebody says it and it's not in the form of a song, it's not acceptable anymore. It's like Budden said, you're supposed to think that you're the best. You're supposed to feel like you can go toe-to-toe with anybody. Now I'm not going to say how people could ever hate on that is ridiculous because I would be there with everybody else questioning Gucci Man if he argued that he would beat Talib Kweli in any lyrical contest, but, within reason, how can you hate on somebody who has the confidence in their craft to say that they think they could take out a legend. If you argued Joe Budden's way of doing was a little disrespectful, yeah it was. But you have to respect what he said, whether you believe it or not.

This goes back to what Mos Def was saying a couple of weeks ago in terms of a hip hop battle. The ego of hip hop has become so huge that people want to claim titles and give themselves certain places on brackets without earning it or proving they belong there. Not only that, but other people will defend them without having something definite to point to. The response from everybody symbolizes one of the major things that needs to change in hip hop. Being an icon or being a legend does not automatically make you better than somebody that has not reached that status (and this is not just about Method Man, but all people in hip hop). Many legends and pioneers are people that started something, but the creation can always be improved upon. The problem is that most other competitive outlets have stats by which to track who is better, and even then the discussion can still become cloudy, so how can we honsetly say who is better than who when it comes to music when it is all a matter of preference.

The point is, this has gone from two MCs who we might battle to just the next long, drawn out story in what seems to be the boring story of present day hip hop. When this first happened, I, along with everybody else, was excited because I thought that for the first time, in a long time, we would actually have a lyrical battle. Now, it has become nothing more than a headline, a question that evey interviewer must ask every person they are interviewing, even if the person has no affiliation with Mef or Joe. Let's either let these two battle or let it go because this whole thing was misguided from the beginning.

What are your thoughts on the beef? Who do you think would win in a rap battle between Method Man and Joe Budden? Leave a comment or hit me at straightouttahiphop@gmail.com


Peace.