Are we all tired of talking about Kendrick’s “Control” verse
yet? It’s a great verse, to be sure, but it’s no “Hit ‘Em Up,” to cite one
classic diss from a rapper name-checked in the song. Unfortunately, among all
of the lackluster responses (I’m looking at you, Papoose and Lupe Fiasco), one
truly great response got lost in the muck. Breeze Brewin, of the legendary New
York underground rap group Juggaknots, quietly released the most mature,
intelligent and dope response recently.
Kendrick called out a lot of people by name and claimed that
he was the king of New York, and a lot of people responded with anger, but
Breeze Brewin’ remembers what happened the last time the coasts went to war. Fighting
words on wax led to dead bodies, and hip-hop culture recoiled. Kendrick’s right
that an element of competition has been lost in the mainstream since the days
of “Hit ‘Em Up,” and if the response to his “Control” verse is any indication,
some of that might be coming back in the near future. But Breeze knows he
should tone it down a little. He knows that some people are too dumb, they don’t
understand the culture enough, and they might take this verse the wrong way. He
takes issue with Kendrick disrespecting the hip-hop Mecca, New York. And he
knows we should “get mediation for media moist from the name droppin.’” The
media tends to highlight the negative responses over the positive, fomenting clashes
in the name of page views.
