Stray Shots: Wiz, Amber Rose’ Divorce & Rosenberg’s Righteous Indignation

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.”

Why Are We So Obsessed With Celebrity Couples?

Andre: There’s a stat out there which states celebrity couples are so fascinating because we’re bored, greedy bourgeois who are so involved with the lives of others that we forget the reality of our own. That was before the Internet. Now, in these voyeuristic times (seriously, is voyeurism even still a word?), following your local celebrity into the depths is a hobby. We wade out into the sea water with them and they want it to be so. They must let us in so that we will buy their things. We need to be emotionally invested in them. This is a tectonic shift in celebrity culture. No longer are images carefully tailored to the public. Now, we’re constantly watching some version of reality television wherein we steadily consume the hastily thrown together shade of the lives of others.

In this third tier of celebrity Rap coupledom—just after Jay X Bey and KimYe—are Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose. This was the couple for the common man, wasn’t it? The skinny stoner turned good and right into the waiting arms of the once stripper with a heart of gold. It was Rap’s Pretty Woman with Amber playing the heartbroken, newly single sex symbol after Kanye’s supposed tryst with his now wife Kim K and Wiz playing the affable young weed aficionado looking for his beauty. But the credits rolled and we continued to watch, and that’s when things fell apart. Now the rumors will fly. And Peter Rosenberg comes out of nowhere to declare that Wiz cheated on Amber with identical twins (which sounds like a script from a Judd Apatow x Michael Bay collab) and Wiz fires back saying he was done with Amber for weeks before she walked in on him canoodling with two women who share the exact same DNA. Dios Mio! Fear not, though. This is a space with no consequences. We no longer really care if people get cheated on or care if people get walked out on. We are now in the Temple Run era of Rap celebrity culture. There is no losing for the celeb, and for us there is no winning. There’s just how much can you watch, how far you can run.

Omar: The short answer to this would be we’re obsessed because we collectively aren’t shit. It’s the reason phrases like “The Fappening” (the recent batches of celebrity nude leaks for the uninitiated) have been added to our lexicon, and it’s the reason why a TMZ video of Solange channeling her inner 3rd Ward on Jay Z will likely be HipHopDX’s most popular news story of 2014. I suppose a less pessimistic way of viewing it would be that people need some type of affirmation that the celebs they idolize and obsesses over are just like them. In some ways, maybe they are.

I agree that the Internet has changed everything, and I think we’re looking at an issue of either the elimination of the traditional definition of privacy as we know it or the evolution of the concept. Where do we draw the line as it regards privacy? For example: A-list couple Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union often post pics of themselves together on Instagram, which is a public forum. The line got blurred when news leaked that Wade impregnated his side-piece while broken up with Union. And just like that, a private act becomes public by virtue of the fact Wade and Union are public figures. If you’re a teenager with access to a high-speed Internet connection, lubricant and free time, are you really going to make the distinction between a curated public image and private nude image that was only meant for two people to see? Highly doubtful. The only difference is we make allowances for horny teens with prurient interests and sticky keyboards while adults live in denial and lurk (and possibly fap) away. Take the above scenario and apply it to Kim and Kanye, Jay and Bey, Wayne and Christina Milian, Joe Budden and Tahiry, and you see what we’re dealing with in this new paradigm.

Was Rosenberg Right To Come Down on the Side of Amber Rose? 

Andre: Rosenberg is on a special pedestal within our culture if only because he is one of the biggest radio personalities in one of the largest radio markets sanctioned by one of the largest radio conglomerates in the world. He also came down squarely on the side of Amber Rose in the marital feud between Wiz and Amber. Of course, he’s friends with her, so it’s only natural he’d stand up for his friend when the chips were down. But when asked by Ebro if Wiz thought “the marriage was over” he said, “No!” Then quickly backtracked into not being so sure. Never-the-less, Wiz did admit to entertaining those twins, which I mean, really? And Rosenberg stated on the morning show that Amber knew the man wasn’t happy and aired out her grievances to his wife a mere fortnight ago. But that’s not the point. The point is that Rosenberg stoked a raging inferno of celebrity marital mania and after he got called out for it, he said this to his rival over at Power 106 “@cthagod lol life lessons from a morally corrupt lowlife … Go back to kissing corporate ass and not contributing to hip hop…” Yowza. That’s the kind of thing a man pastes on his bathroom window as motivation in the spot his eyes should be.

This isn’t the first time Rosenberg’s been caught being a habitual line stepper. Remember that whole Nicki Minaj made the biggest sellout song of all time thing, or his most recent snafu directed at the legendary Chuck D in which he made incendiary statements about a member of Hip Hop’s Mount Rushmore? He’s used to this, I thought. So why get upset if Charlamagne comes for your head on Twitter? This is just a conjecture, but maybe because he shouldn’t have been so quick to come to Amber’s aid? Relationships between women and men are always complicated, so it’s tough to simply choose one side over the other without getting Wiz’s take on it. There’s no doubt some kind of violation took place, but that’s a “I need to hear the other side,” situation if there ever was one. There’s no doubt that I completely respect Rosenberg and what he’s contributed to the culture, but speaking from the heart means you don’t get the other side of the story. Just ask Kanye.

Omar: Yes. This was the most egregious violation of Man Law since one Kobe Bean Bryant told authorities his then-teammate Shaquille O’neal paid his mistresses hush money. Did I mention he said this to police in a taped deposition? Man Law Municipal Code 599217, states, “No man shall violate the sanctity of man law by publicly discussing what another man does with his genitals behind closed doors or in public.” Usually, I’d sit here and pontificate about the how and why, but no. Not this time. Regardless of whether Rosenberg is Amber Rose’s friend or not, this would have been the perfect time for Rosenberg—a savvy media member—to recuse himself from the discussion. Instead, he blatantly violated Man Law. There’s nothing more to say.

Omar Burgess is a Long Beach, California native who has contributed to various magazines, newspapers and has been an editor at HipHopDX since 2008. Follow him on Twitter@omarburgess.

Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant who’s contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Senior Features Writer for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter@drejones.

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