Ok, so my bestest friend in the whole wide world had but one wish, on this, his birthday week; that I address the frequent criticism of Jay-Z, that he’s a biter.
Jason sent me a link to a download site (a link I’d include, but it’s since expired. Sorry.) Anyway I downloaded the audio file, opened it up and found it contained a very cleverly constructed attack on Jay-Z.
Y’see the creator of the file took various lines from various songs by various artists and followed them immediately with Jay-Z using the same or similar lines. It’s very well crafted and fun to listen to. Through it all the creator twists Jay’s line “I’m not a biter, I’m a writer.” from What More Can I Say, to say “I’m not a writer, I’m a biter.” It’s really well done.
I suppose now would be a good point for me to explain “biting” for the unaware. Biting is a Hip Hop term for attempting to pass someone else’s style off as yours. It could be a production or DJ style. It could be a rhyming style. It could be a graf style. You get the point. So basically biting is stealing.
Biting was also one of Hip Hop’s Cardinal Sins, at least up until recently. Once Hip Hop became a huge selling product and commercial, right around the mid 90’s, record companies stopped looking for talent and started looking for clones, or biters. Since then, whatever is successful has been what’s been bitten.
By definition one of Hip Hop’s most famous acts, Ja Rule, is a biter. In the early 90’s he would have been called out. He’s clearly channeling Tupac (barely tolerable) but he’s blatantly ripping off DMX (a huge “no-no.”) But what a difference five years makes. Ja Rule had an amazing streak of hits, with barely an identity of his own.
Biting became tolerable, because it was almost a necessary evil once Hip Hop became a commodity. Once the taboo against biting had been lessened, Hip Hop began down a slippery slope. As it stands right now biting, in some variation or another is an acceptable part of Hip Hop.
Now to me, the definition of biting is filled with nuance. I think that initially biting was dependent of a few factors; most notably the attempt to deceive. Trying to pass something off as yours, when you know it’s someone else’s, to me, seems like a case of biting.
And that’s one of the reasons why I don’t think that Jay-Z’s a biter. He’s not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. If he references the lyrics of Biggie song, it’s fair to say that everyone knows he’s doing it. He’s not trying to take credit for the line, he’s merely “flipping the script.”
Another aspect of biting that needs to be addressed is that Hip Hop is now old enough to reference itself, frequently. Albums that people loved in the 90’s, are now considered “classics.” Thus they’re going to be referenced. Lyrics from Pac, Nas, Biggie, and Wu Tang are all going to pop up all over the place, because the artists now grew up on that music.
Which brings me to my next point; the concept of homage. It seems sad, but Hip Hop seems reluctant to embrace the idea that some artists could be paying homage to others. This is certainly the case with Jay-Z quoting Biggie.
Now I don’t recall their being a huge uproar when The Roots or Talib Kweli use lyrics or choruses from Afrika Bambaataa. And of course the chorus from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Award Tour” was an original composition, right? These artists are seen as paying homage, but Jay-Z is biter? Double standard?
Um, yeah! I really don’t see what the big deal about Jay using Biggie’s rhymes is. 1) They collaborated with each other. 2) They respected each other. 3) They’re from the same borough. 4) Jay dedicated a song (albeit an incredibly wack one) on his second album to Biggie.
To me Jay is just paying respects to a fallen friend. The same way anyone in Pac’s inner circle brings up Pac lyrics. Well, except that Jay is actually capable of crafting incredible lyrics on his own. (Allow me to convince you of Jay’s Greatness.)
I’ll basically give Bad Boy and Junior Mafia passes on using Biggie’s lyrics. He was clearly down with them and I’ll sleep at night with the belief that they’re paying homage. The further you get outside that inner circle the more biting rears it’s ugly head.
While my friend and I were talking about biting, Remy Ma came up. It’s widely accepted that Remy is a habitual biter. In fact it’s rare to hear her and not hear her not working some other MC’s lyrics into her verse. And if it was Pun, she might get a pass, but she’s all over the place. She is without a doubt a biter.
Biting isn’t limited to specific lyrics. As I mentioned with Ja Rule, style also plays a role. Clearly Fabolous owes much to Ma$e, but is he biting? It’s a bit of a grey area. What is the distinction between “inspired by” and “bitten from?” I honestly don’t know the answer.
Since we’re talking about style, the rise of regional Hip Hop has further blurred the definition of biting. A few years ago if a whole bunch of rappers came up spouting identical gibberish and dressed outlandishly, sporting gold fronts, they’d be biting Flavor Flav. But now people fitting that description are considered “Southern Artists.”
So basically Hip Hop is evolving, and older fans need to adapt to the changes. Just as you no longer carry cardboard around in case spontaneous dance battle breaks out, you also have to accept that biting is no longer “biting.”
Now go read something worthwhile.
Flavor Flav
Cam covers Black History Month in the patented Bootlegâ„¢ way.
Jeff has returned from Amsterdam. Jeff, what do they call the Swindle Sheet in Amsterdam?
Mike Eagle debuts and gets his B-Boy on.
Gloomchen ponders Sesame Street (for the record, I gave the same commercial a huge thumbs down) and The Shield. What’s really funny is that when I visited my family in Iowa, I watched the same old episodes of Sesame Street. Nutty.
Tom comments on the decapitation of Korn.
Micheal finished up his look at Billy Corgan.
Crunksters
Tayo looks at the Grammys.
Jim says “good-bye.” I’ll miss you Jim.
Ian covers NME awards, and tells us all about Paris’ woes.
MSD doesn’t get off on Beecher/Keller action. Dude, that’s the only reason to watch Oz.
Five Artists Who Got The Minidisc Mix Treatment This Week
1. Ghostface (vol. II)
2. Talib Kweli
3. Madlib
4. Mos Def
5. Busta Rhymes
