Someone is
getting ready to do the absolutely unthinkable: call Rakim out on a
record by name. Who has enough courage to do so? None other than Mr. Fearless
himself, Freddie Foxxx a.k.a. Bumpy Knuckles. The song is called
“The King Is Down” and appears on his new LP, Amerikkkan Black
Man.
“I will eat Rakim’s ass alive on any record,
any stage,” Bumpy Knuckles asserted recently. “When I finish
with him, every bit of legendary status he had is gonna go out the window. I
swear on everything I stand on, I will eat that n—a alive, bar by bar. I’ll
tell him to his muthaf—in’ face.”
If you’re wondering why Freddie Foxx would come
after Rakim after all these years, according to Foxxx, it goes
back to the ’80s in Wyandanch, New York, where Foxxx‘s rap team Supreme
Force used to be competitive with Ra’s team the Love Brothers.
This was pre-Eric B. and Rakim.
“We got a history, you know. We got a real long
history,” Foxxx explained. “We from the same part of
town. Ra has always had an attitude towards me that he was better than me — on
the mic and more successful. How dare he think he can out-rhyme me. He has one
style, that’s all he’s ever had.”
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What really got Foxxx upset, he said, was a
Q&A with Rakim he read on hip-hop Web site Halftime Online. Rakim
was asked about a battle that supposedly took place back in the day between
the Love Brothers and Supreme Force squad.
“I never f—ing turned down a battle with that
muthaf—er!”Rakim is quoted as saying. “Foxxx wasn’t
ferocious like that. Foxxx had two other cats that used to rhyme with him. They
were a good group, but Foxxx wasn’t ferocious like that baby pa.”
“I read the article and it set me off,” Foxxx said. “He said I’m ‘not ferocious.’ How dare
he? His ego kicked in. I said I’m gonna let the world who he really is. People
are only calling him a legend because of what he did with Eric B.
Everything after that was wack. Nobody will say it to his face.”
“I’m too old to be chasing publicity,”
Foxxx said when asked if he really has a legitimate gripe with Rakim or
if he’s just doing it for hype for his album. “I don’t need the
publicity. I ain’t no hater. But when I see he’s so quick to always shoot me in
the foot, enough is enough. Why would I want to get recognition on Rakim? He’s
nothing to me. Y’all see him differently than I do. On the song, I never called
his name. We used to call him ‘Pop’ back in the day. I don’t call him ‘Rakim’
on the record, I call him ‘Pop.’ “
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Bumpy Knuckles also said he dares Rakim to come
back at him on wax. “Turn your mic on, B,” he said defiantly. “I
want him to put me in my place.”
Rakim is on tour and could not be reached for
comment.
