For the past few months the beef between rappers 50 Cent and Rick Ross [click to read] has made its way onto Hip Hop blogs and Web sites across the net, but now the beef has made its way into more mainstream outlets.
This week the Village Voice takes a deep look at the 50 Cent [click to read] and Rick Ross [click to read] saga. In the feature story, writer Erik Parker explains how the Internet has become a vital tool in this latest rap drama.
Throughout the storyHot 97’s Miss Info and ThisIs50.com creator Chris “Broadway” Romero give their opinions on the matter.
Jacques Degraff, who helped manage political campaigns for Senator Bill Bradley and Rev. Al Sharpton, compared the rapid-fire insults to mud slinging on the political circuit.
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“If you wait outside the news cycle, a negative attack can take on a life of its own,”Degraff said. “But rapid responses are not just for a defensive mode anymore—it’s also about connecting with a counter-punch.”
Fresh off a now settled, rapid-fire Internet beef with Joe Budden [click to read], Saigon also weighed in.
“With that whole Officer Ricky shit, 50 turned him from a CO into a cop,”Saigon explained to the Village Voice. “It’s entertaining, but you gotta draw a line somewhere, because shit can go too far. If I was to get into a rap battle with somebody, and they dug up dirt, and it started to affect my lifestyle—like 50 did to Ja Rule—I’d be looking for that nigga to this day.”
The Village Voice isn’t the only mainstream outlet to examine 50 vs. Ricky. Just last month, the New York Times posted several witty charts breaking down the beef.
Chart categories included “Topics Discussed During The 50 Cent/Rick Ross Feud” and “Selected Rappers Involved And Their Relevance.”
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Most recently, Rick Ross enlisted the help of Fat Joe, Ja Rule, and The Game for the “Mafia Music” remix [click to listen], a diss track against 50 Cent.
