Deen didn’t want to write this, but he had to.
Ain’t this some anticlimactic shit? This might be the first reconciliation track between two previously “beefing” rappers that was simultaneously anticipated and unanticipated, if that makes any sense. I knew I was going to write this shit when Rawse tweeted the picture of him and Jeezy in the studio and I was hoping that the effort wouldn’t be a waste of time. Talk about wasted hope.
For one, we still aren’t entirely sure why these two were beefing or if they were actually beefing, since we didn’t hear any explicit diss tracks. I’m really too fatigued to offer a full recap of the history between these two, but things seemed to come to a boil between Rawse ascending to stardom from being a bearded Jeezy clone via a song that paid schizophrenic tribute to a benefactor that was previously associated with Jeezy, i.e., Big Meech. Jeezy seemed to take offense and everything sorta kicked off – but not really. There was a grainy YouTube video with Jeezy talking shit on the streets of Miami, Rawse calling someone a “fuckboi” 4 times on a random loose (‘Finals’ feat. Meek Mill) and a physical altercation backstage at some event.
Eventually, we heard Jeezy AND Rawse pop up together on Rihanna’s ‘Throw It Up (Remix),” where they both got washed by Juicy J – no shame in that, given that Juicy J has probably done the best job of crushing Mike Will Made It beats, but it was a total non-event. We’ve all done weird shit for a lot less money or record label pressure.
Given the fairly tepid response to Rawse’s latest set of singles – wait, I could be wrong, I don’t go out much any more in my old age, but no one is saying shit about the fat man lately – it made sense for him to draft off Jeezy’s fairly decent buzz of late. ‘No Games’ with Future Dogg was decent, but we’re all more interested in Future-Pain’s solo output and the duet with Jay-Z was actually very good, but mainly because Jay decided to rap like he cared for once. No hits, no real buzz. It’s even drier out here for fatty than it was in the lead up to his last album.
On the other hand, Jeezy has reinvented himself as a viable A&R/West Coast/Ratchet rapper. I’ve heard this peanut headed nigga over more DJ Mustard beats than YG in the last few months. He’s essentially ‘Jeezy Loc’ now. I find that shit kinda irritating, but a hit’s a hit and Jeezy’s been a quite a few of those of late. He’s not quite a prime level superstar anymore, but he’ll still get the right single green-lit in 2014. Can’t deny that.
So I guess the powers that be up a Def Jam decided that the fake beef between these two cornballs had reached it’s expiration date and told them to get together and cook up some material for Rawse’s upcoming album. And this was the result. Color me bored. I suppose I’m willing to credit them for going aggro/street with it, but this is one of the weaker Mike Will beats I’ve heard in a minute and nothing either MC says over the track does anything to elevate the song. I’m sorry. This shit is like Nas & Jay-Z’s ‘Black Republican’. Except the fucking opposite. The most memorable part of this shit is the pair of sampled skits/dialogue within the song. Or maybe it’s the pseudo, uncredited and shitty excuse for a hook. Or is it a bridge?
Whatever. I suppose this shit ain’t the worst ‘album’ track I’ve heard, but the given the hype that inevitably trails anything Rawse related, it’s sorely underwhelming. It’s really as if nothing happened between them. At the very least, I was hoping for something resembling verbal gymnastics on this thing. Alas. So Jeezy burned whatever flimsy bonafides he had left by associating with the former corrections officer and this was the result. Not for nothing, Gangsta Gibbs was right about these niggas. I know we don’t care anymore in 2014, but these niggas ain’t real at all. And neither is this bland song.
