“What’s Beef?”: Davey D Breaks it Down

Interview by Dawn-Elissa
Photo of Davey D from www.daveyd.com

Davey D is a monumental figure in Hiphop. He is a journalist, historian, deejay, community activist, and webmaster of Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner (www.daveyd.com). His online archive of interviews and articles dating back at least ten years are enough to impress any Hiphop scholar. In January of 2003, he was profiled in The Source magazine as being one of the Top 10 Most Influential People in the Country when it comes to dealing with Hip Hop and politics. Recently, he has struggled to increase awareness about legal changes concerning FCC (Federal Communications Commission) regulations that not only affect media-consumers’ choices, but also our community access and self-determination regarding these varying forms of media. Davey D’s ‘raptivism’ is remarkable in that he skillfully weaves public interest in popular culture with public action for social change.

Just as Hiphop Appreciation Week came to a close, Davey interrupted his hectic schedule for this interview. Early Sunday morning, we spoke by phone as he broke down his perceptions regarding the connections between battles, beefs and big business.

HHA: Okay. So, what is the concept of the battle; what does it mean for Hiphop or in Hiphop culture?

Davey D: ….Battles are competitions, usually based around the test of skills. Beefs are things that spill over, and any weapon that can be used to resolve that beef will be used. …About beef and how it spilled over into Hip Hop, you have to first of all understand that you have a clash of cultures, and by that I mean there are many reasons our people get into Hip Hop. One group of people get into it because they are attracted by the skills that one has to perfect and they want to be a part of that. Other people get into it because they need to express themselves, and they discover that this expression can make money. It can lead them out of particular financial and social situations; so they make a business out of it. And I guess the person who put it to me best was MC Hammer when he explained [it to me]. Hammer both battled and had beefs. When he battled people like the Run DMCs and what have you, he was really saying I’m a better entertainer than you are. So he came at them like that, and it was primarily in response to the fact that those folks wouldn’t recognize him, being a West Coast artist. You start to have beefs when people fail to recognize that what you’re doing is business, and if you are taking that to undermine their business… then you may have problems. And so that’s when you have a clash of cultures …

The other aspect, as I said, [is that] we really have to realize beef, and it’s just playing itself out in Hip Hop relations. … If Tupac and Biggie had a beef, with one another, it played itself out on records, it played itself out at the Soul Train Awards, [and] it played itself out among the people in their crews….As long as we are going to go ahead and do our thing, I think rappers have to understand the implications… [W]e don’t battle folks who are trying to run a business…

HHA: You’ve been in the game for years. What patterns have you seen emerging in regard to Hiphop?

Davey D: I think it’s a yin and yang. On one hand, you have lots of people testing their skills. I mean, I include poetry slams, the spoken word slams, as part of battles, and that goes on. You always have people in ciphers where they are going to test their skills…I think that’s good: it keeps people sharp; it keeps them quick. And I think a lot of people have raised the level of what it means to battle. That’s a good thing. I think dancers are going to test their skills, and I think that’s good. I’m not as deeply involved with the dancing scene as many others, but from what I’ve seen, that’s a good thing. Of course, the deejaying thing is also a great institution... The Hip Hop community and the people themselves who participate in Hip Hop like to see that, but what you have now is a lot at stake based around businesses and reputations which are connected with…images, which are connected with…folks who may not understand or even care that taking steps to escalate a battle in the Hip Hop arena—that is really a beef—can have adverse effects on everybody, both those involved and everybody outside of that. And so, you know I look at the 50 Cent v. Ja Rule beef that spills over into records, and it stopped being a battle when somebody got shot. If what 50 Cent is saying about Ja Rule’s crew shooting him or stabbing him is correct, it stopped being a battle. It’s now real-life situations playing themselves out on records. That’s not good for Hip Hop. ‘Cause now people are like, “Oh, Ja Rule v. 50 Cent; who raps better? Who can come up with the hardest diss?” That’s something else, which is now being said to be a battle because you hear records. I don’t know what you call it when those two meet up in the streets like they had at “106th and Park” and almost had a fight. That’s just an altercation at that point…

I think that sometimes beefs are settled when people put them in a battle form of Hip Hop. I’ve seen Eminem kind of shut folks down, a couple of times. It could have been a beef, but he smashed them so hard on records that maybe he sent the warning that maybe [the other artist] should have left everything alone. Let me back track on that …even in that situation, those are beefs that play themselves out on the battlefield. I think to the degree that someone can be entertaining in how they approach their beats resolving their beefs may fuel the desire for people to want to see more of that, but these are the same people that want to watch ultimate fighting or some other form of sport where people go out to hurt themselves, and to them that’s entertainment, but for everybody else, it may not be that anymore. It’s a business and they’re protecting their business or what they perceive to be their business, and they will do whatever it takes, including diss you on record, or smack you upside your head if you were standing in front of them.

HHA: What are some of the major beefs and what are some of the major battles that you have seen in Hiphop?

Davey D: … [T]he biggest beef and probably the most—the one that, I think, impacted us all, was the beef between Death Row and Bad Boy… Which, depending on who you talk to, everyone will have a different jumping off point, but I think once Suge Knight’s bodyguard got killed in Atlanta, things moved to a level that was going to be hard to turn back. And Snoop and Suge had beef, you know. But Suge’s not going to get on a record and start rapping; I mean, I don’t anticipate that.

…You know, it’s gonna be some things that, I think, at the end of the day, circulate around a social situation and ultimately business. Those are beefs; those aren’t battles. The police in certain cities versus Hip Hop is a beef. Sometimes the rappers will use weapons that they have available, which are records, and I have seen some of them that will talk about the police and put them on front street, and the police in turn, whether they admit it or not, use their resources, and they respond with the political weaponry that they have. [They] won’t let you get a club, [or] won’t let you do a concert…[The police] will scrutinize you a lot more, etc. You know, [for example] Murder Inc. and the feds have beef. They are investigating those guys to see if the allegations of money laundering are true. Those are beefs…And those, they go down in history. Some of them have a thin line. [Such as] Eminem versus Benzino. On one hand, it could have been seen as a battle, on another hand it could have been the people perceiving political ramifications of beef. I say political ramifications because at the center of it were social issues that extend way beyond those two people… They raise some very important issues, but it becomes a beef if only in the sense [that] you [are] talking about Hip Hop being co-opted, and who are the people that co-opt it versus it being a viable tool of expression that doesn’t have all the added baggage to it.

… As for battles? There have been lots of legendary battles—I mean L.L.’s been in tons of them. The biggest one is with him and Kool Moe Dee. That was a big battle and an ongoing battle. He and Canibus never really reached the heights of the L.L. Cool J v. Kool Moe Dee battles. Battles? Hmm, let me see. When Kool Moe Dee battled Busy Bee was a big one. Uh, KRS-ONE going up against the Juice Crew. Marley Marl versus Red Alert. You know, Juice Crew versus BDP. All the bridge wars, those were battles; those were classic battles. And that is what I think has been a law within Hip Hop. It took on large proportions. Those are things you talk about [like], “Man, I remember the bridge wars.”… But you know KRS-ONE and Marley Marl and MC Shan and all those guys can sit down and pop a beer and be like, “That was a classic battle,” and discuss it…

HHA: What are some of your battles?

Davey D: I haven’t really had battles in that sense. I think there are people who might have taken pot shots [at me] here and there, but my battles have really been more like beefs, and really along social/political lines. You know, battles with the FCC and their regulations and being an outspoken opponent for some of the things that they have put forth. I take that beef/battle very seriously and will continue along that route because I think it has ramifications, if we don’t really resolve it….Whenever I take on a social issue—or I use Hip Hop, or the things that I have at my disposal within Hip Hop, primarily my writing skills and my radio access—then I don’t like to reduce it to a battle, because usually in this case, I’m not testing wits; I’m trying to end the ball game….To me, it’s those social things, and I think to a large degree you are trying to represent the Hip Hop community. What I think was a beef/battle was Bill O’Reilly taking on Ludacris and all those guys. It was beef! You know? But on a certain [level], it would have been good to have the battles, where you could really have a chance to debate the issues.

HHA: And about the FCC, about what was going on with radio?

Davey D: That’s a beef. ((laughs)) That’s a beef as far as I’m concerned. It’s not something that I debate…I think there’s a lot at stake depending which way it goes. So, I use whatever weapons I have, from radio to TV to websites. You know if I was making records, I would be doing that to get the point across and to get my viewpoint across. But the end game is to have whatever decisions they make to be reversed, and to improve a situation that I think is already messed up from jump street.

HHA: So that we’re hearing more positive material on the radio?

Davey D: Well, it could be more positive material. It could be, and in my case, not only that, but it is also to have more access for community information as well as just local artists in a lot of cities. It is something that you just simply can’t reduce. I mean, politics is battles and beefs, too. And the music industry on a certain level is the same way…

HHA: Were there any other comments that you wanted to make?

Davey D: Well, I think that in the end, I think ultimately our battles and beefs should be along intellectual planes…. If you want to test ideas, then use a medium like spoken word or rap as a way to accentuate your thoughts. That’s great. But I just think that because Hip Hop is such big business now, and we’re socialized to have a winner-take-all or loser-lose-all mentality….The way we look at it is if a rapper gets busted in a battle, [then people say] “Damn, I don’t wanna buy his record no more.” That’s the mentality that has been fostered by a lot of people within the country, and both within and outside of Hip Hop, so it makes it very difficult to have these battles, unless it is really like a sanctioned type of situation, and even there you have a lot to lose if you don’t come out on top….There’s not an appreciation, like when two teams are playing a sport and one team loses, you can come back for another season. It’s not like that. It’s like, “Damn! Eminem just ate yo’ a-- up! I’m never buying your record again.” You know what I mean? And that is kind of how a lot of people feel, and that’s what Hammer meant when he said, “ No, this is a business.” You know? “My name is attached to this business. You put your name in my mouth, and your mouth messed up my business, and if I don’t know you; I don’t have an affiliation with you, or what have you, then to a certain degree, by putting your name in my mouth, you’re trying to diss my business to up your business,” and you know, it gets seen a whole different way on certain levels depending on who does it… [S]ome people say once you get behind the mic’ it is all fair game; no matter what you say. That’s where it could be a battle for one and a beef for another.

Go to www.daveyd.com/commentaryiseminemelvis.html for more commentaries by Davey D on Hiphop battles. Davey D can be contacted at Hiphopdaveyd@aol.com. To learn more about the changes in FCC regulations, peep www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1424-2003Jun1.html?nav=hptop_ts. For more info about O’Reilly’s slam on Ludacris, check out www.daveyd.com/FNVsept132002.html. For Ludacris’ response to O’Reilly, read www.daveyd.com/interviewludacris.html.


Contact: Dawn-Elissa banks@hiphoparchive.org