Bizzy Bone's recent crusade has been widely misinterpreted. Though it's easy to craft a narrative in which yet another rap pioneer is salty at the game's current state of affairs, it runs deeper than that. We've already seen Offset go on record stating that older artists should be "kissing Migos' feet," thanks to their own cultural contributions. Yet Bizzy Bone feels the disrespect is bigger than Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff. "YA’LL right this IS bigger than the lads," he begins, via Instagram. "This is a blatant attempt to KILL off the legends and make it so they can’t create and feed their families."
Though Bizzy issued a response via his Instagram page, his true response arrives in the way of "Enigma," which finds him back in his comfort zone. Kicking off the Blais-produced track with an introduction, in which artists like Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, and A$AP Rocky shout out the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Bizzy proceeds to air his grievances on wax. Adopting the self-deprecating "Elmer Fudd" persona, Bizzy takes the musket to his foes with some assertive observations.
"Bet the industry just tossed you out, all slaves on the label, little god damn cock suckers", spits Bizzy. "Ya'll living off of show money, get paid every first of the month, that's mo' money." While he's not calling out names on this go-around, the nature of his words feels pointed nonetheless. The position of an OG in today's game feels difficult to pinpoint given hip-hop's relative youth as a culture. With more and more fans viewing hip-hop forefathers as a long-past fad, the genre sometimes feels like one of the only places where the pioneers are dismissed entirely. You won't find a cinephile brushing off movies from the seventies, and you'd' be hard pressed to find a rock band rolling their eyes at The Beatles. And yet, De La Soul is struggling to get a fair shake off their own music. In that sense, it's no wonder Bizzy has decided to cock the Blunderbuss.
Quotable Lyrics
I'm about to pull the musket out
And let it off in this motherfu*ker
Watch your mouth, you n***s soft in this mother fucker
Bet the industry just tossed you out
All slaves on the label, little god damn cock suckers
Y'all livin' off show money
Get paid every first of the month, that's mo' money
It'll be from the grave at the crossroads
When I look at my sons say, "That's your money"