Temperatures rose this week, and so did tempers – or so it seems. From diss records, to surprise performances, to explanations of arrogance, the Rap industry was a three-ring circus this week, with a lot of buzzer-beaters yesterday. Here are some of the highlights from this July scorcher:

Jay-Z & Kanye West Own The Week With “Otis”

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If Watch The Throne was losing buzz momentum, Kanye West and Jay-Z snatched it back Wednesday July 20, by unloading “Otis”. The Otis Redding-sampled track from the album brought the pair a great deal of fanfare for sound and lyrics, with prominent deejays like Funkmaster Flex and Cosmic Kev playing the single repeatedly on primetime waves. With Game and Papoose already doing so, expect the West-produced instrumental to reach “A Millie” / “Blowin’ Money Fast” karaoke status quickly.

A Week Of Hip Hop Diss Tracks

This week’s audio section was fueled by fire. The week started with Panorama City, California emcee Hopsin (formerly of Ruthless Records), taking shots at OFWGKTA’s Tyler, The Creator on “The Ill Mind Of Hopsin #4” in audio and video (see below) form. Then, to close out the week, Game took his latest shots at Jay-Z on the “Uncle Otis” track. Within two hours after that, Consequence, formerly of G.O.O.D. Music, unloaded a diatribe aimed at Clipse’s Pusha T, swearing that onetime friend Kanye West was next on “The Plagiarist Society”.

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Maybach Music Group’s Wale Explains His Arrogance

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From underground darling to mainstream star, media, friends and peers have all pointed on Wale‘s changes. The Maybach Music Group member explained in an interview with Culture IV that there’s a method to his madness: “My music is based on reality and artists are supposed to almost accentuate all of their qualities for better or worse. I’m sure the most depressing song ever written by the most depressing person on Earth wasn’t as depressed as they depicted it to be. A song is supposed to accentuate human emotions. So, I put those things and emotions on the genre, Hip Hop, where we are praised for how we say rather than what we say. So if I exude confidence on a Hip Hop record and I’m really good at exuding confidence on it, you’re gonna call me cocky? Well, what should I tell you? I woke up at 8 o’clock this morning, ate a bowl of cheerios, went to the studio, made a mediocre song, and went to sleep? Is that what people would prefer you think? Because I’m sure if I said I put on some $400 Jordans, a Moschino shirt, and some PRPS’s and I went to the studio and killed every nigga in Hip Hop on a song…motherfuckers would check for me. I’d get close to a million [Twitter] followers quickly.” Wale later posed the question, who is more well known of the great athletes named Barry – the humble Barry Sanders or the brazen Barry Bonds. Later in the week, the Warner Brothers-backed emcee provided details on his sophomore solo album.

Other items of note:

– 50 Cent Releases The Dirty Version To “Outlaw”

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– Game Provides Reasons For Dissing Jay-Z, Again

– Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean and Curren$y Plan A Free Mixtape

– Joe Budden Plans Free EP In Fall

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– Kanye West Surprises The Audience At The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival

– Pusha T and Tyler, The Creator Release Collaborative Video: