Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is myself, Omar Burgess and Andre Grant. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
Bobby Shmurda Emerges From The Ether With “Hot N*gga”
The Internet is a cruel mistress. Opinions rise and fall rapid fire, and you have to be prepared to be the hero one minute and the butt-of-the-joke the next. Bobby Shmurda is experiencing that in real time. His first video (and song for that matter) “Hot N*gga” rose to ridiculous heights in one part to the knuckle-up Jahlil Beats’ product lifted from the lukewarm Lloyd Banks third-stringer “Jackpot,” (which, luckily, Banks never bought) forgotten in time. And like artifacts that lay dormant for decades before they are rediscovered, this production’s true destiny landed in the hands of GS9. A set from the still ungentrified East Flatbush section of Brooklyn that, literally, did nothing to that beat, but allowed Bobby to go in over it. And go-in he did, randomly elongating his nouns and literally rhyming in way that you’d IM. Great idea. And now we’re here. But we didn’t get here without social media because like Aristotle said, “Do it for the Vine!”
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“Hot N*gga” Goes Nuclear On Social Media
Like Sage The Gemini’s “Gas Pedal” before it, “Hot N*gga” bubbled on Vine before it officially went viral. The song was released earlier in the year. And by the time Complex posted the visual on June 28th, the video had already accumulated 450K views and skyrocketed into the public conversation. Vines accumulated of random people doing this thing called the “shmoney dance,” a combination of your grandfather’s two step and unbridled, hilarious confidence. It’s DNA was omnipresent, considering you could literally use it for every type of music.
Miguel
D’Angelo
Things reached a fever pitch when Bey and Jay adjusted their On The Run tour ever so slightly to include the shmoney dance:
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And all of a sudden, the kid who just got off probation. Like literally drove down from up north and recorded what was only three verses in theory was on top of the world. Meek Mill had him out at King of Diamonds, DJ Mustard offered him a beat, Jigga even dropped him into a revamped lyric for “F*ckwithmeyouknowigotit,” and Raekwon the Chef had him come out at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. Calls from labels followed, and that’s when things started getting real.
Bobby Shmurda Signs To Epic Records
Riding the momentum, Shmurda signed to Epic records in July. ShaMoneyXL (the guy who A&R’d and received an Executive Producer credit for 50 Cent’s classic Get Rich Or Die Tryin’) had this to say about the signing: “Deal is done @bobby_shmurda #EPIC no one does the underdogs better then me. Brooklyn this 1 is for you!” But what happened to the rest of the team? The GS9 squad even had a mixtape out with Rowdy Rebbel seemingly at the head. In fact, the “Shmurda Dance” features Rebbel as the lead with Shmurda running audibles. More recently, the video above surfaced and people took it to mean Bobby was being taken advantage of. Now, new signees do these kinds of performances all the time. But it rubbed people the wrong way, of course, because it felt like you were watching the greasy, cautionary-tale footage of a horror movie. Of course, no one thought that when they were throwing their hats in the air, praying they’d never come down.
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Bobby Shmurda Releases His Follow Up Single “Bobby Bitch”
Produced by Dondre (or so says Epic) the follow-up to “Hot N*gga” features the same head slapping production, and particularly violent, diamond-cut lyrics. The single has come under fire, though, as Kilo Murda — a youngster from Brooklyn — claims he’s the one who really made the beat. The Twitter back and forth that has followed can be summed up with this:
Kilo Murda maintains he’s been robbed so we’ll see where things go from here. If the allegations can be proved, then a trip in front of a judge may be in order.
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Not quite the phenomenon “Hot N*gga” was “Bobby Bitch” has been enough to keep his name in our mouths, but is it enough to guarantee the young guy stays hot? There’s a growing constituency that knows he’ll be the next Trinidad James, but why would you wish ill on the kid everyone’s rooting for?
November 11 Marks The Release Of Shmurda She Wrote
No one saw this title coming, and the things’ been streaming for a few days and no one has flat came out and said it was terrible. If it’s enough to keep the chains moving on the kid, then he wins. Of course, the backlash may be ungodly if this road he’s on doesn’t lead to some kind of alchemic fame Weird Science style. And will he have another hit? Maybe. But his meteoric rise may always be his downfall as expectations will always be at a fever pitch.
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RELATED: Stray Shots: 4 Diabolically Good Artists From Eminem’s Shady Records [Editorial]
