You’d think that the Soulja Boy/Ice-T battle had died down, but with neither side of this hip-hop rivalry showing signs of yielding, the war of videos continues. In this first installment of Station Conversation, Liz Shannon Miller and Jill Weinberger discuss whether or not Ice-T is relevant, Soulja Boy is right, and what it all implies about the current state of new media.
Liz: So, to start off, I feel like it’s safe to say that despite having been going on for almost a month, this feud hasn’t yet been resolved. Tell me, as a staunch Ice-T fangirl, what did you think of him lashing out at Soulja Boy like this?
Jill: I gotta be honest, much as I love Ice-T — and I really love Ice-T — I don’t think it’s super cool to pick on a teenager and tell him to eat a d**k. That said, hip-hop has always been about throwing down with other artists. And if Ice – tells you you suck and you need to eat a d**k, well then you man up and take it! ‘Cause he’s Ice-T.
Liz: But seriously, when was the last time Ice-T did anything to advance the cause of hip-hop? By which I mean — when was the last time Ice-T released an album?
Jill: Well, 2006. I will admit it didn’t exactly rock the industry. But if you are a recognized founding father of an industry, do you constantly have to keep creating and innovating for your opinion to be valid? Does cred have an expiration date?
Liz: I think it does. You can respect a founding father for their contributions, but it is possible for them to become irrelevant to the overall medium. Take Stan Lee and comics, for example. Everyone grants the man his place in history, but no one cares about his current projects.
Jill: Yeah, but if Ice-T spoke positively about a new hip-hop artist — “discovered” somebody who then hit it big — nobody would say that Ice-T’s opinion was irrelevant. They’d say it was great that somebody old school was still supporting new blood.
Liz: Is Ice-T citing any examples of new blood worth celebrating?
Jill: In his response video to Soulja Boy’s response, yes. Lil Wayne, T.I., Young GZ, Ludacris…
Liz: Ludacris isn’t exactly new blood.
Jill: That’s true. But let’s talk about Soulja Boy for a second, because as inelegant as Ice-T might have been, his point was about the music. And Soulja Boy didn’t defend the music or the trends of the genre. He just called Ice-T old about 7,000 times.
Liz: The argument in Soulja Boy’s defense is that he represents new media in a profound way. Ice-T claims that all of hip-hop is going to come down on Soulja for attacking an elder statesman. But the thing is, hip-hop is part of a dying industry. Ice-T’s disapproval is not going to impact Soulja’s success at all.
Jill: But I don’t think Soulja Boy is far enough along in a career for ANY of us to predict how long his success is going to last. Because he IS at the forefront of a new way of distributing and consuming music, we don’t know yet if he’s got any kind of long-range chops…or if he’s a just case of a good hook with the right technology at the right time.
Liz: But Soulja doesn’t aspire to be the salvation of hip-hop; he has a specific niche — dance party jams — and he does it well. This is like Stanley Kubrick rising from the grave to slap Brett Ratner around. Brett Ratner makes crappy movies, but no one confuses what he’s doing with high art.
Jill: Soulja could’ve said, “Look, I’m just trying to make music people like. If that offends you, you can suck a d**k right back.” Or, “The people determine what’s popular; they’re not listening to Gangsta Rap (Ice-T’s 2006 album), they’re listening to Crank That.” But he didn’t say any of that.
Liz: Wait, Ice-T’s 2006 album was called GANGSTA RAP? Did it come out on victrola? Or 8-track?
Jill: HEY! Do not link my Ice-T to 8-tracks. I will cut you. I will cut you where you stand. Probably with the edge of an envelope or something, but still.
Liz: I’m going to go look you up on Wikipedia and find out if you’re an actor who plays a cop on TV a decade after saying “F*** Da Police.” Because that right there will probably win me this argument.
Jill: Well, Ice-T recorded Cop Killer, for sure. But seriously, are we going to say that people can’t PLAY A ROLE — as in pretending — DECADES after they record a song? Not to mention that when Ice T was recording stuff like Cop Killer he was responding to police brutality and dirty cops. He was NOT declaring war on all police.
Liz: Look, I’m new media. I’m happening right now. I don’t have time to do things like research or fact check my statements. LEAN BACK!
Jill: Ice-T may be old, he may be out of touch, he may say “the YouTubes,” and he may be slightly dick-ish himself for attacking a 17-year-old out of the blue. However, he made a passing slam. It’s Soulja Boy who made it a debate/war by creating such an extensive response, and a response essentially without much substance, even though he did in theory have a valid argument to stand on. And that is why I think Soulja Boy sucks.
But I do like that Crank That/Barney mashup.
Liz: That just makes you part of the problem, you know.
Jill: Yeah, I know. But I don’t feel that bad about it, to be honest.
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