A Sunday morning conversation between Gotty and I opened both of our eyes to the reality of a situation the two of us have helped instigate in our own separate ways. Jeezy actually shouldn’t respond to Gucci Mane. In fact, he’s played this situation almost exactly the way he should.
Harking back to Gucci’s “Truth” for a moment, the most revealing quote comes when La Flare venomously boasts, “This the type of shit that got Biggie and Tupac killed.” Such a logic stands as the sole reason asking the parties involved in this long-running (but seldom-discussed) beef to keep animosity on wax is as farfetched as it is unintentionally hypocritical.
No one’s blind to the fact that Gucci’s making a push towards 10/17 and Trap God‘s debut on WorldStarShitHop’s new mixtape site. For the past few weeks he’s shown flashes of his old self, but his stay at the top of rap’s heap was cut short by run-ins with the law that ultimately led to other artists taking their positions as lords of the trap and all things ratchet. Even his once second-in-command Waka has had a more sustainable career than Gucci. At this point it’ll take a miracle or a string of hits for him to regain the relevance he once had in 2008 and 2009. Since neither one seems to be in the forecast, La Flare’s firing up the grill in hopes everyone looks his way.
Even more surprising is the fact Gucci’s spending this much energy and attention on a project being released for free. But what needs to be remembered is what’s at stake. Young’s a legitimate draw in rap. He’s also an executive now. T.I. – whom Gucci recently recorded one of his better records, “Plain Jane (Remix),” with – would be a fool to entertain such tomfoolery knowing his own track record with the law, even as Gucci throws unprovoked shots his direction. Meanwhile, Radric’s continuing to live off this mantra of being his own mob boss in the streets of Atlanta – a mob boss with a big-ass ice cream cone planted on his face and an album with V-Nasty in his discography.
I’ll spend about as much time addressing Alley Boy as Jeezy should because fact of the matter is he’s failed to make much headway outside of the Atlanta airwaves. To quote Nas, Alley’s really painted himself as a “pop shit and apologize” MC and the sad thing is Jeezy gave the guy one of his best looks by hopping on “Four,” yet Alley’s done nothing but… well, look confused in his own plays for attention. One minute, he’s dissing Jeezy and T.I.,* then immediately turning around to deny he has any problems with either rapper. As far as retractions, there hasn’t been backpeddling like this in Atlanta since Deion Sanders claimed residency in the Georgia Dome. And from the looks of this recent chain of events, he’s been waiting all this time to hitch his wagon to a bigger one, but who wants to let a misguided man lead them?
This brings us back to our original point. Gotty and myself were both critical of Jeezy and claimed he needed to respond because, for lack of a better description, he was being carried like a hoe by different parties left and right. We wanted battle records. We wanted that intensity back in a game which has become essentially dependent on subliminal disses. We wanted something to talk about. Yet, we realized that’s easy for us to request knowing we’re not directly involved.
We both agreed the scenario recalled the ’90s when publications covered and sensationalized the “East/West beef,” which ultimately left two of the genre’s greatest MCs lying in body bags. Shove skill sets off the table for a moment, knowing all personalities involved, such an outcome seemed incredibly plausible taking into consideration we’re not dealing with the most logical characters and their subsequent entourages here, we retract our statements**.
Coming full circle, I still believe Jeezy should send a shot or two back at Ross just because the playing field is more even from a career standpoint. As far as the 1017 H.N.I.C. is concerned, however, let that situation die down come October 18. After the mixtape drops and a few weeks pass, most of the current commotion will be forgotten.
Gucci once referred to himself as his “own worst enemy.” Knowing that, why try to play chicken with a train that will eventually derail itself in the long run anyway?
* – And let’s be serious here for a second, the absolute last thing Tip needs at this moment is beef or any reason for him to slip back into the clutches of the wrong side of the law. Plus, Clifford’s got the TV hustle going and looking like the new Huxtables.
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