Dear B.o.B. (re: 'No Future')

Attaway, Bobby Ray!! Point 'em out!!!


B.o.B. - No Future

BEEF is such a watered down version of what it used to be. Gone are the days when rappers would get at each other on their own tracks, like Canibus on LL's '4,3,2,1'. No longer are funny looking caricatures and long monologues using names utilized like 50 Cent in his all-front assault on Ja Rule in 2003. Rappers nowadays may devote passing lines to rivals and keep it moving. Such is the case today Bobby Ray. I woke up this morning to a new track from you entitled 'No Future', and gave it a cursory listen, as I do most music that enters my periphery. Immediately, I heard a B.o.B. that I hadn't heard in years. You sounded angry. You sounded vicious. You sounded like someone had insulted your mother, or better yet you. Then I remembered the OFWGKTA frontman Tyler's track 'Yonkers' where he famously said:

I'll crash that f*cking Airplane that f*ggot nigga B.o.B. was in

Ahhhh! Now the 'No Future' title makes sense. But then I thought more about it and realized that your retort, while lyrically dope, was reminiscent of why rap beef today is so lame. There were no names, there were no personal attacks... Just vague indicators of the nameless foe you were attacking... whom everyone already knew. That said Bobby (and any other rapper that wants to clap back), make sure you make your diss tracks clear. Seriously... It's like handing in an exam without a name on it. You might have aced it, but no one's going to know who it is for. The teacher could use elimination to decipher who it is, but the thought that a kid so smart could forget to write his name almost erases the good grade, in terms of common sense.

I'll say it again, Bobby. The track was kind of hot. You dropped that sing-songy 'I'm trying to be Eminem and talk about obstacles I've overcome' flow, and RAPPED. Too bad it was undirected and vague. If we were keeping score, Tyler would be up 10 with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter, and I'm the furthest from an Odd Future fan. I just respect when a rapper has the cojones to put a name out there and stand by it. Hell, I'd rather you not even throw out a diss track if you were going to keep the adversary anonymous. Take a hint, Bobby. The next time someone disses you (and Tyler has since backed away from his comments), take one of two routes: Either A) Pull a 50 and call your rival out like a man, or B) Pull a Jay-Z and don't even regale the comment. Hip-hop was never about sitting on fences. Either you hop over and give your neighbor a piece of your mind, or stay on your side, lament about how his grass is greener and look up at the Airplanes...