Diss tracks are almost always a mistake. This one was too much fun to resist, though. Naturally, it has led to a lot of conversation, public and private, about my motivations, priorities and objective levels of rap talent. None of these interest me much, but I’m happy to indulge potential customers, you know? Doing the video out of PowerPoint presentation templates was another mistake, but again: all my art has to do is make me laugh. Enjoy:
When I was circulating this amongst my elders & peers, the most common advice (aside from “drop that shit now“) was to cut the line about El-P. The man has an unimpeachable reputation on our East Coast, and it is somewhere between inaccurate & insane to imply he’s on the same footing as cornballs like Asher Roth or Talib Kweli. The best advice I got was almost a curse: there’s no way to diss rappers without writing them into your story. I’m still unpacking that one. All actions have consequences, and I’m looking forward to seeing what I reap from this harvest.
I’ve also had some pointed questions about the take itself. A number of colleagues & listeners said they wished I’d gone in more; spit it like a battle verse, less 50 Cent laughing, more Diabolic on a warpath. Nah. This track is a joke, and I enjoyed telling it. Plus that Diabolic track is not nearly as good as you remember: I still chuckle about him begging Dead Prez to tone it down. Maybe I’ll write a diss track to him next.
Once again, that is NEK producer SKYWISE on the beat. I like how these early singles are, with no prior planning, demonstrating how crazy his range is. The man is a musician first and foremost, building compositions over looped breaks every time he fires up the MPC. We have a lot of flavors to share with you in 2024…and 2025, if I’m being realistic, because everything, always, takes longer than you think.