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Big City Phil - To Da Break of Dawn
In just about any other era of hip hop, I would probably have dismissed Big City Phil as little more than a gimmick, a rapper putting out diss records instead of contributing something of substance to the culture. This is a new era of hip hop however, where a rapper can build an entire career out of synchronized dancing. Where an emcee can can rock a pink stuffed animal on his arm, kick a freestyle about his girlfriend getting an abortion, catch a right hook from said girl as a result, and carry on like it's all good. Where a rapper expected to be one of the best of his generation doesn't think twice about declaring that he has no interest in being the best emcee. Where rappers who have spent their entire careers telling us about their gangster lifestyles not only sign autographs for the police, they are the police. Where a rapper puts more effort into penning his declaration of retirement than writing lyrics for his number one single. Where emcees save their best lines for their twitter accounts. Where a rapper slash singer who can neither rap nor sing is able to sell enough records to afford this monstrosity. Where having a man's bare ass lowered from the ceiling on to your face is a legitimate way to promote your new album.
In other words, there are a whole lot of people who have been hurting the game lately, and I'm not mad at Phil for pulling a few of their cards. Over LL Cool J's To Da Break of Dawn - the song where Uncle L crushed Moe Dee, Hammer and Ice T's curls - Phil goes at Jay Rock for copying his How To Rob '09 track, Rick Ross for being the rap version of Donnie Brasco, DJ Khaled for looking like "Alf with a high top fade," and Joe Budden for dissing Melle Mel and Phil's mentor, Will Smith. Everyone Phil has gone after up to this point has been a fairly easy target - Asher Roth is unlikely to reenact The Takeover, and Rick Ross is hardly the second coming of B.Rabbit - but Joe Budden should make for an interesting matchup, as he's unlikely to let this one pass without some sort of response. I don't know if Phil is quite up to Budden's level as a lyricist (yet), but I'm certain any battle they may have will be far more lyrical than whatever songs are currently selling as the top
Here's what Phil had to say about the new song:
i remade the ll cool j classic focusing on a few people i needed to address. one of them is jay rock. a month after i dropped my 'how to rob an industry hipster' remake of 50's how to rob, jay rock dropped a remake of the track too. he saw i was gettin buzz from it and he jacked the idea to remake it. so i address that. plus i address the rick ross co situation. and i also call joe budden out since he likes dissing dudes like melle mel and meth and then claim he'll take it to anyone, not just big name rappers. so i'm seeing if he means what he said.
To go along with To Da Break of Dawn, Phil's put out a skit starring Budden:
Big City Phil starring Joe Budden - Break of Dawn intro
And in case you missed it the first time around, be sure to check out our interview with Big City Phil, where he discusses his beef with hipster rappers, his history with Will Smith, and his thoughts on Philly rap.
06/8/2009 08:30:01 PM posted by Fresh