Hip Hop Shooting: Follow the Money, Not the Macho

I'm thoroughly disgusted by all these macho, macho men and the fact that when many people think hip hop, that's what comes to mind. But I've made my editorial stance quite clear in the past and I'm going to focus on the business angle of yesterday's shooting outside Hot 97, because that may be a more important element than recognized.

Although some will view the shooting as a publicity stunt, and it's always worth considering, I'm just not buying that scenario in this particular instance. The Game's album has done very well and 50 Cent's album looks like it will also do well, regardless of leaks and early bad reviews. Also, one reporter, who recently interviewed 50 Cent in the prepress buildup for The Massacre, told me he asked 50 how he was going to keep his crew from falling apart since that seemed to be a big part of rap's history. He said that such problems had resulted from people getting ripped off and that he was going to make sure that everybody was treated fairly and got paid.

Now, in all the reports I'm seeing, nothing indicates that money squabbles were the problem between 50 and The Game. However, when 50 Cent talked about his beefs with other rappers in a recent feature at MTV.com by Shaheem Reid (who's building some serious cred right now), he states the following:

"I ain't gonna let up off of them until their homes are in foreclosure ... Till it's really that bad . . . For me, if you begin to destroy, you should destroy completely. They already went too far. Like right now at this particular point, if I let off of Murder Inc., they'll linger for a little bit and people will start to feel like it's OK to start to like them. They get back in position, then guess what? They want to fight again. Now, they're like, 'Oh, peace treaty, wave a white flag, everybody please get up off us. This kid is killing us.' Now that makes sense for them to do it at this point. But you let them get back on their feet and they gonna wanna fight again."

Whether or not 50 can really affect sales in that manner remains to be seen. My observation is that most people decide what they like and then justify it after the fact, except when they're stuck in peer settings that don't give them any personal flex. And, given the fact that so much of the consumer audience for hip hop is composed of young males across racial and ethnic divides, one has to take into account both the intense peer pressure and the constricted thinking regarding difference so present in that demographic.

Nevertheless, 50's making it clear that he's going after his rivals in a way that doesn't just boost everybody with a little controversy. He's going after their money and that's generally when the gloves come off for real whether in the streets or the boardroom. As a short term tactic, it makes sense because if he can pull that off in a visible way, then people will start to back off and younger artists will focus elsewhere if they want to build their rep through diss records, except for those who are so hard and living for the moment that he will become the prime target. So, it may be a good short term tactic, but it's a strategy of self destruction.

This makes me sad because talking to reporters about their interviews with 50 Cent revealed a man much smarter than previously known, who may have been hiding his intelligence for PR purposes by giving the press what they asked for in the past and who seems more willing to accept that he has something to live for. In any case, I will continue with additional posts on this topic with an emphasis on following the money, especially within the G-Unit and Interscope Records.

See also: Part 2