Fat Joe is adding his 2 cents to the brewing conversation that today’s hip hop journalists are big trash, spurned over backlash from Kendrick Lamar giving his first “Not Like Us” interview to SZA!!!
The Bronx rap legend sat down for a new interview to discuss the fleeting practice of artists having journalists ask them fair questions, in exchange, to be able to alter the narrative on their own platforms. Fat Joe says the coverage of Tupac Shakur and Biggie‘s beef led to their demise!!!
“I also believe that the old guard of hip-hop journalists created a lot of conflict and might even have blood on their hands,” Joe explained.
Friendly reminder that the “east coast vs west coast beef” was started and fueled and perpetuated by Vibe Magazine.
2pac and Biggie’s blood is on that magazines hands.
A cautionary tale in irresponsible journalism. pic.twitter.com/lfxPJAdynL
— MOTHER TO MOST. (@francemothers) May 14, 2023
@francemothers
“When you talk about East Coast-West Coast, Biggie-Tupac, that thing was amplified, and they both ended up dead,” he declared. “And, when I look at the so-called journalists that were here from day one, since Vibe and The Source [magazines] and all that, still to this day when they interview people and they do podcasts themselves, it’s always a negative route.”
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We recently spoke to Benzino and he blamed the 1995 Source Awards for sparking the East Coast-West Coast wars, so there’s definitely some synergy in the OG’s recollections.
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Kendrick compounded his meaning of dissing Drake on “Not Like Us” to SZA … which irked music critics who felt K. Dot’s space was too safe to properly outline the nuances in the highly publicized beef.
Top Dawg Entertainment’s Terrence “President Punch” Henderson‘s boss defended the interview and suggested the reason Kendrick and other artists do softball interviews is because most of today’s journalists are TRASH!!!
This convo has been boiling for years — remember DJ Akademiks ripped hip hop’s “Big 3” a new one when J. Cole decided to give an interview to sports czar Bob Myers.
The blowback from Punch’s comments sent hip hop journalists into a tizzy … but Joe says now that podcast mics are easy to buy, artists have leverage.
Joe continued … “These were the people when we didn’t have social media or podcasts, they were controlling the game, and it was always a negative narrative. Back in the day, if you didn’t get shot nine times or went to jail for 10 years, they wouldn’t consider you a good rapper. It was terrible.”
Joe says he’s aiming to be the next Oprah, and sided with the new wave of streamers and TikTokers to push hip hop journalism forward.
“So I kind of agree with the young boys and young girls,” Joe admitted. “They’re saying get your message out there however you want and where you feel comfortable, where people ain’t out here to jam you up. That’s why I did ‘Fat Joe Talks.’ So we could talk about exactly what the artist wants to talk about in a positive light.”
“I used to go to interviews, and they’d be like, ‘Joe, what’s up with Rapper X? I never even met the brother. And then, next thing you know you got beef with Rapper X over a journalist who wanted to create a hype.”
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Switching gears, Joe hit the political circuit in Pittsburgh today and joined his fellow Puerto Rican artists Bad Bunny and Nicky Jam in slamming comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about their homeland he made at Donald Trump‘s Madison Square Garden rally.