Jim Jones has called for Hitmaka to go up against Hit-Boy in a Verzuz battle following the latter’s diss song.
Hit-Boy took aim at Hitmaka and a number of other producers on The Alchemist-produced “Slipping Into Darkness” last week, sparking a back-and-forth between the pair.
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Appearing on SiriusXM’s Billboard Live on Tuesday (March 14), Hitmaka said he doesn’t plan on responding on wax because he has nothing to prove as an artist.
“I already did it, but it’s just like, look…” he began. “I’m an executive, right? So, that’s not my plight. He’s trying to become a respected rapper. I already have multiple plaques. I’ve sold 10 million records as a rapper before.
“He hasn’t went gold yet before, so he’s working and building his craft up on that level. So what, I come back and rap, then he come back and rap again? Like, no. Nobody’s getting caught up in the hoopla.”
Hitmaka went on to dismiss Hit-Boy’s pedigree as a superproducer, saying artists come to him for hit records, whereas they go to Hit-Boy for “boom bap” records.
“Look, this what I was really saying,” he continued. “And I’m gonna say it better so he’s not upset and throwing a hissy fit and doing his producer ‘Control’ rap or whatever over beats that’ll never be on the radio, like I explained before.
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“Me being an executive, me being a producer, if someone is an A&R in the game or if you’re working for Billboard Records and you have an artist, you would go tap in with Hit-Boy for some of that boom bap or something like that.
“But if you wanted a single for a mainstream record with one of those crazy flips, with one of those crazy hooks that we’re speaking about, 99.9 percent of the time, you’re gonna hit me. And that’s all I was saying.”
Hitmaka also called Hit-Boy a “terrible rapper,” before Jim Jones — who was part of the interview to promote his Back in My Prime album with the producer — proposed a Verzuz battle between them.
“I wasn’t disrespecting him,” Hitmaka said. “I was just saying, ‘Yo, I’m the mainstream guy, you’re that guy, and it’s all love and there’s enough space for us to coexist.’ But if you want me to just pop my shit, he’s just a terrible rapper, I’m just an amazing producer.”
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Jim Jones interjected: “I told you how we could settle this bit. A Verzuz, a pass-the-aux Verzuz, all hits. Let’s see who got the most hits out there. Fuck the rapping, let’s get to the hits. We ain’t gotta rap a bar, you heard?”
The Harlem rapper, meanwhile, has his sights set on his own Verzuz battle after calling for a rematch between Dipset and The LOX.
In a recent interview with AllHipHop, Capo admitted that Cam’ron, Juelz Santana and himself weren’t fully prepared for their bout against the Yonkers trio in 2021, which ended in a unanimous victory for the latter.
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However, Jones claimed his crew are “ready” for round two and the outcome will be very different this time around.
“Last time, there was a lot going on. The venue was way too small. There were people on my back. There were people on people’s shoulders in there,” he said. “I think we need proper respect of doing it in the Garden, the big Garden, with proper security, set up right so everybody have breathing room.
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“Not using it as no excuse, but we need a rematch for the city. I’m puttin’ it out there like Rocky after he lost to Apollo Creed … And we gonna be ready like hot spaghetti.”
He added: “Let’s score it like a boxing match. Let’s get the judges. Let’s make it live. Let the people vote live. Let’s do it right. Let’s really go for it.”
