Somethings to Ponder…Hey Game-When is Enough, Enough?
By Davey D


Before I began, I wanna let everyone know I been writing up my final four picks for Greatest All-Time Hip Hop albums. I’m trying to really mash this out and offer up some good history and keen insight. Trust me you will not be disappointed, but it takes time... In the meantime, I had to comment on the following situation…

So this past weekend radio station Hot 97 in New York held its annual Summer jam Concert which was packed with the ultimate Hip Hop line up. Everyone was on board including; Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Ludacris, Lil Jon, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube just to name a few. They even had a surprise visit from Jay-Z.

However, it was Game who overshadowed the proceedings with his first New York appearance since his infamous altercation with 50 Cent resulting in a shooting outside the radio station. This as we all know, was followed up with a public burying of the hatchet with 50 and Game donating a ton of money to the Harlem Boy’s Choir.

The public peace making suggested to everyone that the pair saw themselves as key figures in the public and wanted to set a positive example for all to follow. It seemed like a good end to what was a tumultuous situation. A lot of people were hopeful that the Game vs. 50 cent beef would not go the way that the Biggie vs. Pac beef went.

Lurking in the backdrop of all this, was Reverend Al Sharpton who exploded onto the scene a few weeks back demanding that warring artists and the radio stations that play them clean up their act and stop being the facilitators of their conflicts. He held a town hall meeting. He went on all the news talk shows and he wrote a scathing letter to the FCC asking them to pay close attention and to put pressure on the radio stations that providing platforms for artists to promote their conflicts with one another.

In addition to all this, Game found himself in hot water when he got hit with a 280 million dollar lawsuit because of an altercation he had with a DJ Xzulu who was formerly with Radio One’s WYKS in Washington DC. The DJ accused Game’s entourage of the unprovoked beating resulting him getting his ribs busted and him having to spend a couple of days in the hospital.

For those who don’t know what allegedly prompted the beating was DJ Xzulu remarking that the Blue Tooth headset worn by one of Game’s people looked like something a Vulcan wears. Dude apparently didn’t like the Vulcan reference and the rest is history. According to Xzulu, he wasn’t going to sue until Game went and re-recorded vocals to his hit song ‘Hate It or Love It’ and made reference to the DC incident in the hook.

So all this is happening in Game’s world, but as of late he seemed intent on trying to overcome all these past dramas and move to higher and hopefully more positive ground. For example, he recently donated a lot of money to local Compton community organizations. He participated in the recently held West Coast peace Summit which was organized by Snoop Dogg and resulted in the Dogg Pound reuniting and Snoop squashing his troubles with Suge Knight. Game also came together with Snoop to do a West Coast Unity Tour which was significant because Game is affiliated with the Bloods in Compton and Snoop with the Crips in Long Beach which are rival gangs and rival cities in Southern Cali.

Ok-so now you have the full picture…Now let’s get back to the Hot 97 Summer Jam in New York. According to reports from sources like Allhiphop, Game took to the stage and threatened to knock out G-Unit members Lloyd banks and Tony Yayo. He called 50 Cent a rat and then proceeded to beat down a rat mascot that appeared on stage. This was followed up with Game throwing his G-Unit medallion into the crowd, him yelling G-G-G-Unit Not throughout his set and him telling folks that 50 cent is not the King of New York because dude had relocated to Connecticut.

Upon hearing about this all one can do is ask, “Why Game why?” and “When is enough, enough?” With all these things going on, why was it necessary for Game to get on stage and start up the beef again with 50 Cent and the G-Unit posse?

I’m hoping that this is all just a staged situation and that all this was done to generate controversy and press. But even if that was the case, these beefs, staged or not, are getting old. Even if 50 and Game never come to blows you best believe there is likely to be drama amongst the fans that have love and passion for these artists. Have we not forgotten the huge brawl that took place in Long Beach shortly after the initial altercation between 50 and Game?. Furthermore since all eyes are on them, all this talk about peace goes out the window and sends a strong message to folks who look up to artists like Game-that all this talk about shaking hands and moving past the drama is pure bullshit.

Adding to all this, are the lack of steps that corporate radio giants like Hot 97 have taken. One would think this embattled media outlet would be the first to pull the plug and call it a day. One would think that Hot 97 would be the first to say to Game; you can have beef, but not on our stage and turn off his sound. We should also note that the station did cut the sound on Snoop and the D-Block camp when their sets went too long, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities and was within their jurisdiction.

Lastly it will be interesting to see how Reverend Al Sharpton who as I mentioned earlier, publicly called for a 90 day ban by radio stations on any artists promoting beef. So here we have Game in New York City kicking up dust and promoting beef-now what? Will there be ban? I doubt it...is hot 97 really gonna pull an artists who is blowing up the charts?

I will say this for the record, several years ago when Too Short provoked an altercation with the Luniz he was banned from the local radio station His records did not get airplay for quite some time… so such things can happen if there’s a real commitment to bring about peace. Unfortunately, I guess asking for an end to drama is a bit too much especially since the marketing, fueling and maintaining of beef is a multi-million dollar industry. Even more disturbing is that this culture of beef has gone on to the point that people are addicted to it, so much so that you actually come across strange and may be accused of being weak for asking for peace. Imagine that?

Anyway, before I bounce I have a couple of questions... With the recent arrests of actors Russell Crowe who is accused of throwing a phone at a hotel employee during an argument, and Christian Slater who is accused of groping a woman, do we now refer to these guys as ‘gangsta actors’ After all, both Crowe and Slater have been arrested numerous times and some of their transgressions rival if not surpass those that are often attributed to some rappers. Yet the media still treats them as icons. Thus far there has been no Bill O’Reilly calling for a boycott on any of their films and DVDs or anything like anything like that. I’m just wondering why the special treatment? Anyway let me not digress...

It’s Something to Ponder