Yes, these are the same kicks the non-practicing NBA great wore when he gave Air Jordan the drugs at the top of the key. Bubba Chuck was actually rocking the white & blue colorway, but those are on the way at a later date too (see Swizz Beatz Instagram pic below for the evidence). Getting a fresh pair of the white & red version on May 25th will cost you $120. Check out a bunch of photos of the Reebok Question Mid in the gallery.

MORE ON HIP-HOP WIRED!

• Bangin Candy: Usain Bolt's Ex-Girl, Taneish Simpson [PHOTOS]

• Lark Voorhies ("Lisa Turtle" From Saved By The Bell) Fell Off [VIDEO/PHOTOS]

• 10 Reasons Why Justin Bieber Has Earned His Hood Pass

• A Bad Azz Timeline: How Lil Boosie Ended Up On Trial For Murder

• The 10 Greatest Ghostface Killah Soundbites Ever [VIDEO]

• Rihanna Strikes A Pose For Terry Richardson [PHOTOS]

• Kanye West, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Rick Ross and More At The Met Gala [PHOTOS]

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Photos: Reebok, Inside The Sneaker Box

Rock these with some fatigues or cargo shorts (avoid OD'ing green/brown jungle camo, though) on the  and you are winning the game, period. Act fast, these are quickstrikes, drop April 20th and are a hefty $200. Peep close ups of the Nike Air Force 1 Max Air VT in the gallery.

MORE ON HIP-HOP WIRED!

• Hip-Hop's Top 10 Most Infamous Breakups

• Classic Hip-Hop Albums Get Flipped With Comic Characters [PHOTOS]

• Bangin Candy: Drake's "HYFR" Vixen Stephanie Monique [PHOTOS]

• Just Because: The Best GIFS From Drake's "HYFR" Video [GALLERY]

• Nicki Minaj Holds Album Release Party At Miami's Club LIV [PHOTOS]

• Bangin Candy: Playboy Playmate Tisha Marie [PHOTOS]

• The 10 Most Expensive Music Videos In Hip-Hop History
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Photos: Nike

All. Time.

That is a loaded statement. In the story, Caramanica points to all the female rappers that have followed in Nicki Minaj's wake as evidence of this alleged all time influence. XX chromosome possessing MCs like Iggy Azalea, Brianna Perry, Nitty Scott and Azealia Banks (who surely will disagree), in obvious and subtle ways owe the Harajaku Barbie a debt for their current fortunes.

The problem with this argument most people will readily point to is the fact that, at least early on in her career, Nicki Minaj cribbed much of her style heavily from one Lil' Kim. Even if you don't care to follow that train of thought, many of Minaj's current moves (Pop music dreams, outlandish outfits) have her seeming like a poor woman's Lady Gaga. Yes, Nicki Minaj is becoming her only female Rap (with Pop goals) archetype, but not highlighting were she got a lot of her style from is problematic. The only time Lil' Kim, and Foxy Brown, are mentioned in the Times story is in regards to Brianna Perry (who coincidentally dropped a track called "Marilyn Monroe" before the one found on Minaj's new album):

Flexible in a different way is the Miami rapper Brianna Perry, who recently signed to Atlantic. Ms. Perry most resembles the main earlier model of female rap success, the sex kitten and gangster's moll poses honed by Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown in the mid-1990s. (There's even YouTube footage of Ms. Perry performing at a recent birthday party for Lil' Kim in Miami.)

Also going without mention in the story is Lauryn Hill, a major inspiration on any and all MCs, regardless of gender, who Nicki has sighted as a muse multiple times; most recently in an interview with Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex. Also, at least a handful of these all time great rapping ladies should have a legit beef, too.

While there is no question Nicki Minaj is one of the Hip-Hop game's most influential artists, saying she is the most influential female artist of all time is a reach. Especially days before her sophomore album has even been released.

Spotted at: Black Book

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• The 10 Most Abused Freestyle Beats Of The Last Ten Years

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Photo: Complex

The 3 Finalist have been selected for The 2012 National MC Search and now its up to you decide who takes it all home.

After going through a month of submissions, our celebrity judges Torae, Big Pooh and Kareem Fort have narrowed it down to 3 and now its up to you to decide.

We've selected one track each from each MC so take a listen and cast your votes after the jump.

The winner will be announced next week.  Listen and cast your vote below:

MaG - Bronx, NY

"You're Welcome"

Check out more music from MaG here.

Rello Hill - Greenville, NC

"Rello Hill"

Check out more music from Rello Hill here.

Yahzilla - South Jersey (Willingboro)

"the Movie"

Check out more music from Yahzilla here.

When you think "North Carolina Hip-Hop," Rapper Big Pooh is one of several MCs that will come to mind.  Not only for his lyrical gifts, but his undeniable place in the legacy of the state's music scene (the well known Little Brother should ring a bell).

Many have tried their hand at transforming N.C. into the music mecca it seems to fall short of, but Pooh is one of the handful of artists that has even come close.  It's not just his butter-smooth lyricism, but also his unselfish perspective on the culture that has made him a staple for Hip-Hop devotees.

In his one-on-one with Hip-Hop Wired, the solo MC discusses the art of lyricism, the division in North Carolina Hip-Hop, his friendship with Kendrick Lamar and where he currently sits with his Little Brother partners 9th Wonder and Phonte.

Peep The Exclusive Interview After The Jump With One Of The Judges From The 2012 National MC Search Contest!

HipHopWired.com:  What new projects or albums do you have in the works?

Rapper Big Pooh:   I'm still promoting my current album, Dirty Pretty Things and I'm working on a few things. First up is gonna be the second installment of my Phat Boy Fresh series, Phat Boy Fresh Vol. 2.   It's almost entirely produced by a kid named Astronote out of Orleans, France.  I have a couple other things in the works, I'm working on something for my birthday on February 12^th, re-release a project on that day. A couple things I'm working on.

HipHopWired.com:  How do you feel about your place in music right now?

Rapper Big Pooh:   I think I'm in a weird space right now. I haven't been here long enough to be put in the same class as Talib Kweli or Mos Def, but I'm not young enough to be with the new generation like a Kendrick Lamar, Wale…them guys.  I'm kind of in the middle and I think I've always been caught in the middle.  I'm a little too late, but a little too early.  It's also a good place because I get a lot of respect from my peers, guys that were before me and guys that came after me.  I'm working hard to stay on people's radar…especially the position I'm in, that's what it's all about. You got to continue to feed the people.

HipHopWired.com:  How do you do that without over saturating the market with music?

Rapper Big Pooh:   It's definitely all about timing, I don't even have the right math equation to tell you what's the perfect time but I guess it's about feeling.  I put out my project Dirty Pretty Things November 1^st.  I'm kind of waiting to see when people, in my eyes, are ready for something else.  There's no way to calculate when to release music.

HipHopWired.com:  Being in the music industry, it can be easy to get desensitized to its underlying value. Having been in the game for a while, what does music mean to you now verses when you first started rapping?

Rapper Big Pooh:   It has definitely changed. When I first started I approached it with certain exuberance, being naïve and being younger and having a whole bunch of energy…I wasn't tainted yet from being in the business.  As of now, a lot has happened a lot of time has passed and I've released a lot of music.  I still love it, but I have to sometimes remind myself to not focus so much on the game and the business of it…just go back and have fun.  That's where I get caught now, is doing the actual game and not being in the moment.

HipHopWired.com:  How do you keep your passion fresh? How do you keep from a monotonous routine?

Rapper Big Pooh:   Inspiration. Just like this Phat Boy Fresh Vol. 2, I didn't even intend to do anything that quickly.  I was going to the studio and doing verses for various people and doing different features…I was just sitting I the studio one day and the kid Astronote hit me up and sent me some stuff and I was just inspired to go.  In a weeks period I had [finished] four songs.  I kept that momentum going and let that inspiration take over.

I learned that when you try to calculate you end up over-calculating, so I just try to be in the moment and try to let inspiration take over.  That cures the monotony of Okay, I gotta make this type of record or I gotta make sure it does this.  Instead of doing that, I just [make music]. I let it be what it's going to be.

HipHopWired.com:  As an artist, you seem to have looked up to NY MC's as far as inspiration…I know Nas has been a huge influence for you, why is that?

Rapper Big Pooh:   I'm based out of NC but I was born and raised in VA. It didn't have its own scene, and New York was where everything was coming from.  That was some of my first experiences with Hip-Hop.   I'm definitely a fan of music from all over but New York was how I was introduced to Hip-Hop.  There's favoritism towards New York Hip-Hop, it was just the stories. It ended up taking place even when I became a fan of NWA, UGK, Outkast…the stories.  You hearing about these different places and what goes on, it's so magnetizing.

It's even extra when you actually go to these places.  I remember the first time I went to New York.  I didn't go for the first time until 2001 maybe. Just riding across the GW bridge into the city, listening to Mobb Deep…nothing like it.  I started having those experiences when I began to travel and it made me more of a fan being able to see some of these places.  New York was the beginning for me, that's where it all started for me.

HipHopWired.com:  You mentioned a few already, but what southern MC's have most influenced you?

Rapper Big Pooh:   Outkast, UGK, Ghetto Boys, I was a fan of early Rap-A-Lot.  I was a fan of 8ball & MJG, those are definitely some of the artists that I grew up listening to.

HipHopWired.com:  Where do you look to for inspiration when he and maybe some other artists who may have inspired you don't release music as consistently or don't have the same presence within the public eye?

Rapper Big Pooh:   I was re-energized after doing some work with TDE out of the West Coast.  Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, SchoolBoy Q and AB-Soul. Just being around them, you pick up some of the energy that they have.  That's inspiration.  There are others like that but I have a personal connection with those guys so it's a little different.

HipHopWired.com:  At a earlier point in Kendrick Lamar's career you two did a song together, “Thanksgiving.” Also, the first time he came to perform with SchoolBoy Q at Greene St. he brought you on stage at that point, did you know TDE would take off as fast as he did?

Rapper Big Pooh:   No, I had no idea. It was crazy how we ended up connecting.  This was back when Myspace still had a little pull.  Their people hit me up on Myspace and they wanted myself and Phonte to do some work with Jay Rock. He was on Warner at the time, and I had went and did my research…I had never heard of them before so I went Googled them, heard a couple of songs, I liked what I heard so I hit them back, I was like Yo, I'm down.

Me and Phonte did some stuff for them, but I kept in touch with them.  I ended up going out to L.A., I went to their studio and checked them out.  That's where I ended up meeting Kendrick and AB-Soul. SchoolBoy Q wasn't part of the picture yet.  That's when I started hearing all the records that they had over there and I was a fan instantly.  I kept in touch with them, and we were passing records back and forth.  I made sure I always checked them out when I went their way and vise versa.  We formed a working relationship and then we would just hit each other up like Yo, you good?

I had no idea what it was going to become, I didn't know all this was going to happen I just saw the talent.  I didn't care what their names were, I just wanted to work with the talent.  You can be MC Joe Blow with 10 fans…if I think you're dope, I'm working with you.

HipHopWired.com:  What do you see next for the NC Hip-Hop scene?

It's in a weird place.  They're trying to re-create a scene again.  There was a scene when we were first coming up as Little Brother, the scene was bubbling and then it fizzled out.  They're trying to re-create a scene again but it's just fractured.  As long as the scene is fractured and you have 10 or 15 different people trying to create 10 or 15 different scenes, there will never be a strong scene.  Everybody wants to be the first to put North Carolina on as they say.  It's one of them things where the music scene reflects real life…as long as there is no true unity, it will never be as big as it could be.

HipHopWired.com:  Why do you think that is?

Rapper Big Pooh:   I don't know honestly.  We're in the age of where people don't like playing their position, they don't like playing up to their strengths and people don't like to be criticized.  I've scene it within our own crew when we were coming up.  It could be a thing of like Look dog, you are better at doing graphic design than you are at making music.  If you just stick to graphic design we don't have to go outside of our team to get graphics…ever…because you're the man.  But, that person who does the graphic designs wants to be an artist, so they're not doing graphic design.

Then you have fraction within the circle and you taking money outside of the circle.  That's just one example but it happens so often.  If something that small can affect it, the issues just get much bigger than that.  The power is in numbers, until people realize that then the scene will always be what it is.

HipHopWired.com:  As of now what's your relationship like with 9^th Wonder and Phonte?

Rapper Big Pooh:   We don't have a relationship.  Not business or personal.  I haven't spoken to either one of them in awhile, it's just a thing where it was time for me to walk my own way.  I wish those guys the best, I see them, they're doing shows together and putting out records together…I wish them the best because Little Brother is and will always be a part of my foundation.  At the same time I had to step away and finally start taking care of me.

HipHopWired.com:  You're a judge for the MC battle that's coming up, what do you pay attention to when you look to give a rising MC constructive criticism?  What criteria do you have prepared?

Rapper Big Pooh:   Part of it is feeling.  A lot of people just think I got hot rhymes, so I'm nice and it's like nah…it's about the totality of a song.  Can you make a song?  You don't have to be the best rapper to make a song.  I'm looking for songs, I want to hear what the hook sounds like, I want to hear your ear for beats, I want to hear if you're making sense.  It's [about] the total picture for me. I'm interested in hearing what a lot of these guys come up with.

HipHopWired.com:  Is it challenging to give guidance to an artist who is in a different sub-genre? Like what if it's a trap artist or an artist with a more commercial sound that comes to you for advice?

Rapper Big Pooh:   I think it's just going to depend on the artist, if they're open to listen.  True, I don't make trap music or what people would deem commercial but I know a good song when I hear one.  I'm not biased enough to believe that only people who make my type of music make good songs, I listen to everything.

I know it when I hear it and I can still analyze and point you in a better direction if what I'm hearing doesn't compare with a Young Jeezy trap song, or compete with a Wiz Khalifa type of song.  I know it, whether a person would believe it or not from the type of music I make.  The artist just has to be willing and open to accept certain criticism.

For rules and submission information about the 2012 National MC Search, click here. You can also contact Sebastien Elkouby, co-founder of S&H Public Relations, at SNHPRF@gmail.com or 310-654-1681.

Details After The Jump!!!!

S&H Public Relations, who has been hard at work since this past summer representing some of the best up-and-coming Hip Hop artists, has partnered with one of the nation's premier urban entertainment website, Hip-Hop Wired, to kick off the 2012 National MC Search.

Judged by Rapper Big Pooh from Little Brother fame, underground heavyweight Torae, and film producer Kareem Fort from “Demos”, this online talent search, kicked off this week, will give aspiring rap artists across the nation an opportunity to compete for a chance to win exciting prizes including international publicity.

Hosted on HipHopWired.com and SNHPR.com, the 2012 National MC Search is sponsored by some of the most respected names in the world of Hip-Hop and entertainment:

• Conspiracy Worldwide Radio – Hip Hop's most discussed weekly online radio show, broadcasting to millions across 180 countries.
• MP3Waxx – The #1 MP3, Video and Radio Service for Major and Independent Artists.
• KevinNottingham.com – The Underground Hip Hop Authority bridging the gap between the underground and mainstream.

Starting January 9, contestants  can click here  in order to enter the competition.

The entry fee is $6 and artists will have until February 3, 2012 to submit their best song.

All music will be evaluated by the judges and the staff of Hip-Hop Wired S&H Public Relations. On February 13, the top 3 finalists will be announced and readers of Hip Hop Wired will vote on their favorite song. The winner will be crowned on February 20. Prizes include:

• A part in the upcoming Hip Hop film, “Demos”
• A song on the film's soundtrack
• A featured interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio
• Free publicity
• And more…

For rules and submission information about the 2012 National MC Search,  click here.    You can also contact Sebastien Elkouby, co-founder of S&H Public Relations, at SNHPRF@gmail.com or 310-654-1681.

Pop culture critic Touré wondered if the Hip-Hop throne will one day be claimed by a White female rapper. Did he make a valid point?

The New York Times published a piece on December 23 from cultural critic Touré which proposes Hip-Hop's masculine core may be shifting by way of an influx of upstart female rappers. The author asserts that a growing, savvy group of up-and-coming artists are challenging Hip-Hop's male-centered presentation simply by being quirky, excluding commonality with their male counterparts and exhibiting a new type of cool.

The catch: all of them are White.

Touré opens his piece with the notion that Hip-Hop is mostly about Black masculinity. The provocative statement achieves its goal of raising eyebrows but it simultaneously opens up some holes in his theory. No sensible person would allege that Hip-Hop isn't male-dominated, as much of music has flourished under a long known patriarchal bent. Yet Touré, who carefully covers his tracks by mentioning that Black female and White male rappers have had their successes, fails to elaborate with anything concrete.

The piece instead becomes a love letter to the prototypical White female who happens to rhyme, gushing over a trio of rap artists that have not made any significant impact beyond social media spheres and a few features articles. It is unfair to say Australian MC and Los Angeles-based Iggy Azalea and Bay Area rhyme slingers Kreayshawn and K. Flay aren't interesting. But after a thorough listening, none of these women have the star power to unseat Nicki Minaj from her throne nor do they possess the stuff to create new trends in Rap.

A big gaffe in Touré's piece is his statement that part of why White female rappers have yet to impact the mainstream is because they lack “Black masculine power”—saying that this is a construct borne of exposure to street living, the “Black male cool” as he further calls it. It is a foolish notion to promote because as it has been proven time and again; not every Black male rapper had tough upbringings and quite a few of these MCs are college educated.

The story simply chooses to ignore the truth that timing, image, management and an ability to generate buzz in varying mediums are just as important as rap ability in these times where blog hits determine a rapper's worth as much as sales. Odd Future's (and Drake before them) well-documented rise to notoriety happened by way of social media savvy and a flood of critically lauded releases via various top Rap blogs. Neither Tyler's nor Drake's respective paths to fame were the byproducts of being reared in inner city environs.

Another eye-catching moment in the article that derails any merit the piece could possibly have; “As soon as White women start rhyming, no matter what they say, it's seen as cute and comical, like a cat walking on its hind legs,” writes Touré. Apparently he's never heard any music from Canadian rapper Eternia or Michigan's Invincible; nothing these women spit could ever be considered cutesy, as they rhyme with gumption often trumping some of their male peers.

Touré's curious focus on these women seemingly has an insidious agenda to inject these artists into mainstream conversation or to appear knowledgeable about the next big thing. These women are not household names, although the piece alleges they could be. He lavishes Iggy Azalea, calling her hodgepodge of southern rap trends “Hot” and mentioning her alignment with Black culture although she's just been living in America for five years.

Turning his focus on Kreayshawn, he captures the irony of her label-shunning “Gucci Gucci” but fails to state how she challenges this looming Black masculinity that Hip Hop is mired in. Much of the words regarding the Bay Area product meander to fluff, adding no weight to the article in any way. Kreayshawn's Odd Future and Lil B affiliations aside, she hasn't followed up with a song anywhere near the popularity of "Gucci Gucci," although she has appeared on tracks with southern fixtures 2 Chainz and Juicy J this year.

The infatuation with White women rappers continues as he profiles Stanford graduate K.Flay. As the eldest of the three, the 26-year-old's art is flagged as a counter to the so-called normal trends of Hip-Hop with the author remarking that she doesn't pander to the traditional tenets of Hip-Hop by way of her dress and sound. He fumbles greatly by saying she represents a generation of rap neophytes who rhyme but don't see a need to pay homage to the culture, although her music is nothing but Hip-Hop at the root.

/p>

Touré dangerously touts an idea that deepens the already wide chasm between male and female rappers and their fans.  His claim that Hip-Hop is inherently Black and masculine ostracizes entire groups of people who just want good music and are not at all worried about Hip-Hop's supposed White female gentrification. Simply put, fans should enjoy the music for whatever qualities they feel attached to, not because White female rappers are somehow challenging Rap's entire Black male
construct—a point Touré never proves.

D.L. Chandler is a DC-area  writer, editor.  D.L. has covered a wide range of topics from politics, pop culture and music for over 14 years. Follow him on Twitter at: @dlchandler123.

Black Panther activist and former death-row political-prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal - who has been held captive in solitary confinement, within the Pennsylvania penitentiary system, for the past 3 decades - was transferred on Wednesday to another Keystone state concentration camp, where he'll soon be placed in general population.

 “I must admit to some surprise because I was expecting the hearing ... even though many friends, supporters, and even lawyers, said there probably wouldn't be one,” Mumia mentioned on Monday.

Mumia

After combating an unforgiveable injustice system since December 9^th 1981, all the while enduring the grind of anticipating his death-warrant to be signed at any given moment, Mumia and his attorneys claimed major victories recently.

Both, when the Supreme Court in October declared his death-sentence to be ‘unconstitutional', then again last week after the district attorney conceded, announcing they'd no longer pursue to legally lynch Abu-Jamal – automatically relegating him to a sentence of ‘life in prison without parole'.

“While Abu-Jamal will no longer be facing the death penalty, he will remain behind bars for the rest of his life, and that is where he belongs,” boldly claimed A.D. Seth Williams.

 

 “Another penalty proceeding would open the case to the repetition of the state appeals process and an unknowable number of years of federal review again, even if we were successful,” said the district attorney.

Having spent the past 16 years at the maximum-security Greene State Prison in Waynesburg, the prolific penman has been down-graded and transferred east-bound to medium-security Mahanoy State Prison in Frackville, approximately 80 miles northwest of Philly.

“I am for the first time in almost 30 years… I'm not on death-row, physically.  It takes some getting used to, you see, I'm still acclimating myself.” Mumia stated.  “Because there will not be a hearing there is some disappointment, because we thought we could make some things happen in that hearing and really give a good fight," Abu-Jamal said, “but we'll have to fight in other ways.”

Widener University law professor, Judith Ritter, Abu-Jamal's attorney in recent appeals, commented.

"There is no question that justice is served when a death sentence from a misinformed jury is overturned,” asserted Ritter.  “Thirty years later, the district attorney's decision not to seek a new death-sentence also furthers the interests of justice.”

Amnesty International, which maintains that Abu-Jamal's trial was “manifestly unfair and failed to meet international fair trial standards," said the district attorney's decision does not go far enough. Abu-Jamal still has an appeal pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concerning the validity of ballistics evidence.

“Amnesty International continues to believe that justice would best be served by granting Mumia Abu-Jamal a new trial," said Laura Moye, director of the human rights group's Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Pam Africa contends…

“Mumia is being set-up for assassination…  Pennsylvania authorities intend to have Mumia Abu Jamal killed if he is transferred to the general inmate population, said Pam Africa, of International Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal.

The Philadelphia District Attorney agreed last week to no longer pursue the death penalty in the killing of a police officer, 30 years ago. ‘This is a devious trick of theirs,' said Ms. Africa. ‘This is the same government that attempted to assassinate Leonard Peltier [American Indian Movement activist], this is the same government that murdered George Jackson [San Quentin inmate and Black Panther], and the list goes on.'”

Ramona Africa

Mumia Abu-Jamal Transferred, Call The Prison

From Ramona Africa of the MOVE organization:

ONA MOVE, Everybody! We've received news that Mumia has now been transferred to SCI-Mahanoy, another prison in Pennsylvania. He is in “Administrative Segregation”, he is not in general population yet. We need to let those administrators know, immediately, that we know Mumia is there and that the WORLD is watching. People need to flood the prison with calls and flood Mumia with postcards (Mumia needs to know that we have his back). —-Ramona

Mumia Abu Jamal

AM-8335

SCI-Mahanoy

301 Morea Rd.

Frackville, PA. 17932

Superintendent John Kerestes

Deputy Superintendent Bernadette Mason

570 773-2158

###

This is no time to relax, we must be ever-vigilant!!!

Written By Ice Pick Slim 17

The lyrics from one of the Greatest Diss Records, Ever!  Where would Hip Hop be without the “Diss Record?”  Sadly, you don't have to look far to find the answer because that's exactly where we are today.  Hip Hop lives in the subliminal day and age, where the traditional direct shot doesn't exist anymore.  Now the diss looks more like this:

“Talkin bout baby money, I got yo baby money, Kidnap yo Beyotch & get that how much you love yo lady money!” – Lil Wayne “It's Good”

If you're not an individual that's abreast to what's going on, you have no clue what Lil Wayne is talking about.  So has Hip Hop caused us all to think more...Maybe?  Using your brain to decipher and analyze isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Except for when it comes to dissing/disrespecting another M.C.  No matter who you sided with in the beef between Jay & Nas, you appreciate both Ether and TakeOver.  Both of those records are in the diss records, “Hall of Fame,” so to speak.  There was no question as to who was being talked about, or in what way.  So what's happened to the direct shot?  Who or what is to blame for this subliminal era?  There are only two reasons I can think of: 1. Social Media and 2. Jay-Z

Think about it…How many times have we seen a rapper, athlete or celebrity get caught in “Twitter Beef.”  We've all seen tweets re-tweeted into our timelines, with artists going back and forth about some nonsense, only to say they were “Hacked,” afterwards.  How corny would Hip Hop be if Social Media was around when Biggie and Pac were beefing?

Sway – “What up world, welcome to this MTV News brief…Rapper Tupac Shakur has just posted a picture of him and Faith Evans on Facebook!!! Yes, since posting the picture he's even Twitpic'd it, with the following message “@2pac Dats why I Twitpic'd Yo Beyotch N*gga, Death Row!!!”  He's also put the photo on his Tumblr, and is now uploading it to Instagram!  Word on the street is that he'll soon be making it his Avatar on his YouTube Page as well!  We've since sent out G-Chat invites to members of the Bad Boy Camp, but our requests went unanswered.  We'll have more on this story, as it unfolds!”

So has social media completely left out the need to record an actual “Diss Record?”  Twitter creates an element where you can engage with whomever, directly.  So why waste time going to the studio, when you can just @ the person that you have an issue with, for the world to see.  But email thuggin shouldn't be how these “Gangsters” are handling their issues, right?  Instead of killing your battery life on your Smartphone and only limiting your feelings to 140 characters, why not take 4 minutes to tell us all how you REALLY feel about that individual.  Besides, the whole “I was hacked,” cop out is dry, and over used.  Give the fans a reason to actually follow you on Twitter.  Let Twitter be the outlet you used AFTER you've already talked about an individual's mother, wife, and worthless life.  Don't make your Twitter your means of handling a beef.

So now where does Hov come into all of this you ask?  His beef with Nas and Prodigy are well documented.  Now ask yourself, who else has Hov actually called out on record after that?  Go ahead, I'll wait.  Jim Jones, nope…His record over Jimmy's “Ballin,” was a complete subliminal shot, never used his name.  Ok what about Game?  Nope.  His verse on the radio was just him using the word game metaphorically, and he never said anything directly to dude at all.  That's probably one of the main reasons for Game's 75 diss records that he's done, towards Jay, which he's never responded to either.

So how can we blame Hov for everyone only sending Subliminal Disses?  Simple, what rapper got everyone to start dressing more grown up, or doing more grown up type of records.  What rapper single handedly killed Auto-Tune?  Let's face it, Jay is a trendsetter.  In this particular case, Hov has essentially made it almost “Uncool,” to call out another rapper when dissing them.  Beanie Sigel didn't get that memo, and made one of the hardest diss records we've heard in a while, with “Average Cat.”   There've also been other rappers to do it, but you can find those records on the front page of the #NobodyCares Newspaper.

In closing, Rappers bring back the Diss Record!  We need it, the game needs it…Hell, some of you need it!  Maybe it'll wake up the beast in some of you, and you can all get off of this singing tip…But that's an entirely different subject, for an entirely different day!

@TheKidSkoob

Jay-Z - TakeOver

Nas -Ether

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