By Jordan Upmalis
Ever since Soulja Boy Tell'em entered the hip-hop realm, his place there has been questioned and his creativity scrutinized. But it looks like he's finally had enough. Soulja Boy is hitting back, in a vlog battle with Ice-T.
It all started last week, when DJ Cisco's Urban Legend mixtape was released and contained some pretty harsh words from Ice-T directed toward Soulja Boy, at one point telling him to "eat a di--" and blaming him for "singlehandedly killing hip-hop." Ouch.
Two days later, the gloves were officially off when Soulja Boy posted his own response video, in which he laughs throughout and constantly refers to Ice-T's age, repeatedly calling him an "old-ass n---a" (six times, we counted). Although he seems to be joking for most of the video's seven-and-a-half minutes, Soulja Boy does have some serious moments in which he acknowledges Ice-T's influence on hip-hop (calling him a legend), but also says that times have changed, and he's doing what he has to in order to support his family. Soulja Boy, tell him!
Another two days went by, and another response video surfaced. On June 22, Ice-T posted a video apologizing to Soulja Boy for telling him to "eat a di--," but still making it a point to say that his music is "garbage." Ice-T says this isn't an old-school vs. new-school or East Coast vs. West Coast war, though he warns that there will be ramifications for Soulja Boy from the West.
Not surprisingly, other artists have begun to add their two cents to the debate, and one of them is the most influential in the game right now. Mr. Kanye West himself decided to weigh in on the debate on his blog, siding with Soulja Boy. Soulja Boy hasn't killed hip-hop, Kanye says, but instead he represents the true meaning of what hip-hop should be. "He came from the 'hood, made his own beats, made up a new saying, new sound and a new dance with one song."
The debate comes as no surprise to us, since Soulja Boy was the most controversial name at the table when our Hip-Hop Brain Trust got together recently to name the Hottest MCs in the Game. Seriously, we thought the battle would never end. Check it out below.
Whose side are you on? Should Ice-T retire and quit whining like a cranky old man? Or are Soulja Boy and his fellow ringtone rappers the death of hip-hop?