WHY THE LOX & DIPSET VERSUZ WAS IMPORTANT
It’s been a week since the greatest Versuz of all time took place and I’ve rewatched it more than a few times and there are a few people out there that don’t truly understand why what The LOX did is important for hip-hop and why niggas like me care so much.
New fans were trying to push guys like The Lox out of hip-hop by trying to downplay rappers who give a fuck about rapping. I’m not talking bout that Eminem rapping fast and not saying shit rap I’m talking that cypher outside the corner store. Those battles on the block where you sparring. Those wars you had in other hoods cause your homies hyped you up on another block now you gotta go demonstrate why they weren’t lying.
I grew up on Jada versus Beanie Sigel the most vicious rap battle ever. It was State Property vs D-Block. State Property went on the radio live and bombed on D-Block and Nas for an hour. D-Block did the same. Rappers going up to the radio station and rapping for an hour over 7 different beats was an every week occurrence. Jay-Z and the rest of Roc-A-Fella did the same thing. They went to Hot97 and bombed on shit. G-Unit did it. Dipset did it. Fabulous and Joe Budden did it. If you thought you was that nigga and your crew was official you had to bomb the radio station.
Do you see that happening today?
Nope.
Why though?
It’s because it was the niggas who can’t rap like Jada, Beans, Cam that started to do everything in their power to make lyricism look uncool and make swag and flow seem like it’s more important. As long as you look cool it doesn’t matter what you say or if it has any feeling as long as it look cool that means it must be good.
The Lox destroyed all that shit last week. Dipset was definitely had the flash, the swag, the jewelry, they looked cool. The lox didn’t give a fuck they came to do what made the culture the culture….. RAP! I don’t give a fuck how fast you rap. I don’t give a fuck how good your flow is. I don’t give a fuck about your melodies. Nigga what the fuck are you saying? That’s what mean something. I was listening to Scarface on highway 70 the other night listening to homies and thugs and I was just lost in the track. You can’t do that with shit today. A lot of music today just exists. The videos be good but that’s it. The song itself just exist. The song don’t make you feel anything.
When Jadakiss snatched the building last week by doing his Who Shot Ya Freestyle to me that’s a defining moment in our culture cause he proved a point. The fact he wasn’t rapping over his vocals. The breath control. The command of the crowd. THAT’S AN ARTIST! No gimmicks. No additives. No preservatives. No dancing. No props. It’s just him and the mic. Raw, uncut, and vicious. All these artists in every genre hide behind special effects, dancing, props, and don’t focus on their voice or the message. That’s why all these music videos be so over the top cause they ain’t saying shit and they’re trying to hide the fact they ain’t saying shit. It’s like what 2Pac said in his interview with MTV outside the awards show “Niggas are here to cause confusion” that’s exactly what happened to the game.
This versus showed me that we’re never going to get something this authentic in hip hop ever again. That was the mixtape era. People think DJ Drama run was the mixtape era. No he was the last chapter of it. Dipset started the mixtape era with The Diplomats Vol 1-3 then G-Unit came with 50 Cent is the future and then everybody started dropping mixtapes with those same formats. Basically everyone would drop a tape every month.
We’re never getting that ever again. Instead we’re getting a bunch of lies and deluxe versions of albums. A bunch of niggas acting like billboard positions mean something. What The Lox did last week beats a top 10 record on the billboard charts. That was a MOMENT in history.
There’s some heat out there in the game today but there’s a lot of watered down shit and it’s shown when that shit gotta be performed and the antics don’t work and the music cannot stand on it’s own. Their words cannot stand on their own. When niggas not reacting to the dancing then what? When the autotune ain’t hitting live then what? Once the shock value of seeing you in person wears off and you still got 27-28 minutes of your set left then what? We just watching a trainwreck at that point.
Don’t get it twisted there was some bullshit in the 90’s too but you had so much raw talent and different styles it overshadowed that shit. For an example of how different niggas was YouTube The Arsenio Hall Show Final show freestyle cypher and listen to how different each rapper sounded from one another. Peep the originality. No copycat shit. No trendy flows.
Of course niggas will save face and say music is evolving. Evolving to what though? I thought evolution meant the next form is improved? There should be rappers today that are as good as Jadakiss or better than Jadakiss. There’s not any. I should be able to name off 15 rappers without much thought of who really spitting but I can’t. I can name off the same 4-5 people then shit gets blurry after that. Back then you didn’t have that problem you could name off 15 killers easily. Yes the creativity of an artist has evolved and the ideas as well I’m talking bout rapping. Just rapping. That has not evolved. I could argue it has regressed.
For example I could debate 80’s R&B versus 90’s R&B and really make strong cases for both decades but R&B evolved in the 90’s because the singers were still singers. The albums still meant something. The sounds evolved but why? IT’S BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T ABANDON THE BASICS. They kept the basics in their craft they didn’t try to make it look uncool. In hip-hop niggas abandoned the basics of what makes a true M.C. Lox looked like some niggas in the late 80’s and early 90’s but guess what those artist back then knew how to move and control a crowd and those same techniques work 30 plus years later. The basics are the foundation. If you ever see a boxer never setting up combinations with their jab they won’t last long. The jab is part of the basics. Footwork is apart of the basics. Keeping your chin down. Hands up. All apart of the basics.
The only thing that has evolved is that artist can get more money today BUT the white people running it become billionaires even faster. I really don’t want to go on a music streaming rant but that’s the most obvious case of getting fucked over in music today. The artist gets a portion of a penny.
In The Lox era niggas was like 18 years old with 20 raps memorized and letting niggas have it at any moment. These new niggas today cant even give you one freestyle. Like damn you aint got at least 5 verses memorized? What’s crazy is that they will do an interview and say they got 100 songs done but can’t remember at least 5 verses out of the 100? It’s sad. These niggas just be on drugs and yelling at they phone camera on IG live.
I say all that to say Thank you Lox and Dipset. I loved the memories. The fact that I could smell the possible assault charges in the air. I could feel the presence of 10,000 Timberlands. Thank yall for representing a time that is hard to find today. I’m bout to watch this shit for the 100th time today.
Peace
Benny
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