DJ Bishop has reignited a 3-year-old dormant beef with fellow St. Louis native Nelly over the rapper’s alleged mistreatment of the city’s Hip-Hop scene.
The issue surfaced again this week during a UStream broadcast of Nelly’s new radio show at Hot 104.1. DJ Bishop, a well-known mixtape DJ in St. Louis, sent in a message ridiculing Nelly’s recent album sales. He also claimed that the former platinum-selling emcee would have to sign with Birdman’s Cash Money label to secure a release date with Universal Records.
Nelly acknowledged the comment but dismissed Bishop as a “dickrider” still using controversy to further his career.
The beef stems from the summer of 2007, when then-newcomer Huey felt slighted by Nelly declining to appear on a song for his debut album The Notebook. He would fire off a diss record directed at Nelly and the St. Lunatics entitled “Down Down Baby.” DJ Bishop supported the move and proclaimed himself the founder of the “New St. Louis” movement. He initiated several public boycotts of Nelly’s brand (clothing, music etc.) which resulted in confrontations with members of the rapper’s camp like Kyjuan.
Last week, a video with ousted St. Lunatics member Slo Down appeared on WorldStarHipHop.com entitled “The Rise and Fall of the St. Lunatics.” According to stlhiphop.com, DJ Bishop is reportedly behind the project.
He lashed out at Nelly and criticized St. Lunatics member Ali for allegedly threatening him over the phone.
“You went from selling 10 million records to working on the fucking radio. Where they do that at?” Bishop quipped. “Is it that bad?…And Ali quit calling me. You’re a hoe, you’re a 40-year-old hoe. Niggas calling me trying to threaten me you know where the fuck I’m at…If y’all from St. Louis and you rapping y’all letting this motherfucker do what he been doing. That’s why the city fucked up.”
At press time Nelly has not commented further on the matter.
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“Grown men, want me to sit them on my lap/But I don’t have a beard/And Santa Claus ain’t black…” Jay-Z “What We Talkin’ About”
Before I give my opinion on this, check out these painfully embarrassing videos of the Nelly boycotts back in 2007.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that the majority of Hip-Hop beefs have their origins in the envy of another’s success. KRS-One admits that his Boogie Down Productions crew went at MC Shan after being shut down for radio play by Mister Magic. In numerous interviews and on wax, Tupac expressed disdain at how Biggie blew up by copying his style and utilizing what he deemed as a fake player image. Nas threw an early shot in 1998 on “We Will Survive” because he didn’t care for Jay-Z’s self-appointed and growing fan recognition as King of New York. You can go on and on through the various battles and see these same themes recurring many times.
But what most rappers are missing today in the post 50 Cent era is that beef is only truly beneficial if there is great music to back it up. Everyone enjoys seeing a spirited competition. And even further than that, everyone enjoys a good fight. You could walk outside right now on an errand and if you see two guys fighting, you’re going to stop and watch. If the quality is bad (clumsy swings, lot of rolling around/wrestling), you’ll likely shake your head and go about your business. But if they’re reliving Ali-Frazier III or Hagler-Hearns, odds are you’ll camp out for a bit.
Now apply that philosophy to Hip-Hop battles or beefs. You can shoot all the viral videos and talk all the trash you want, but if there isn’t fire music coming behind it, the people will eventually lose interest. Nas vs. Jay-Z rages on to this day in Hip-Hop lore due to quality of their diss records against each other. The same with LL vs. Kool Moe Dee, and Ice Cube vs. Everybody. Compare this to Rick Ross vs. 50 Cent from last year, which is pretty much only remembered now for Ross’ baby’s mama above anything else.
Regarding whether Nelly should help out other artists, I would argue he indirectly did that when he blew up in 2000. His unique, hometown-bred style made labels and the entire nation take a closer look at the St. Louis Hip-Hop scene.
Should Nelly have taken a more active role like Bun B in the 2005 Houston national movement, or how E-40 did with the 2006 Hyphy scene?
That was Nelly’s option, but it wasn’t a requirement. No more than Nas was required to lead the Queensbridge scene after he blew it up with Illmatic. His contribution was enough to open label doors and ears to future artists like CNN, Cormega and Nature.
Much like the 2007 incarnation of this Nelly conflict, I expect it to fade rather quickly from public view. But I hope artists realize that manufactured beefs will never be a substitute for music quality.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 