Royce da 5’9″ and Lupe Fiasco are amidst one of the more interesting rap beefs in awhile. With their personal issues finally reaching a boiling point, the pair have each put out diss tracks in the past weeks. Given who they’re two of the greatest lyricists in the culture’s history, these aren’t just your average diss records.
Royce’s ‘Silence of the Lambda‘ and Lupe’s ‘Steve Jobs SLR 3 1/2‘ are both fairly scathing but, man, they’re the products of fantastic writers. Adding the songs together, you get more than 10 minutes of some of the most creative and well written jabs that you’d ever find in a rap beef. However, it was Lupe’s friend, Mickey Factz, hopping in with his own diss on Royce that got Royce feeling betrayed.
“Nah, I ain’t disappointed in Marshall”-Royce
Not betrayed by Lupe and Mickey, but by his partners of the pen for leaving him out to dry. Nickel questions why the likes of the Slaughterhouse MC’s and Joyner Lucas haven’t hopped in to take his side, whether through song or anything else. He fully and honestly expresses “disappointment” in each, including Eminem. However, he immediately changed the inclusion of Em without clearing the others.
While he’s certainly not mad, Nickel feels appropriately bothered that his close friends seem to not have his back when he’s under fire. On the flip side, the last thing any beef needs is to get more out of hand. With more rappers and more diss records, it could become a mess, both professionally and personally. All things considered, he’s focused on the lack of public support for himself and not the lack of an attack on Lupe.
Whichever direction this conflict will go in, there’s no doubt that it will at the very least be interesting!
Jason Heilbronner | Twitter: @JasonHeilbronn1