Iggy Vs. Snoop: How The Internet Blows Up Petty Drama
Hip-hop is in a strange place right now. Classic rules and beliefs are being cast aside for a more "everything goes" culture. As a result, artists many of us grew up with are doing things and acting in a manner that is troubling.
Each time I glanced at my Twitter News Feed yesterday, I was struck by tweet after tweet mentioning Snoop Dogg and Iggy Azalea.
No longer wishing to be in the dark on the matter, I Googled the story and immediately wished I had just left it alone.
The West Coast legend, whose classic work with Dr. Dre ushered in the dominance of G-funk and West Coast street culture into the hip-hop mainstream, was now beefing on Instagram with a female hip-hop artist.
This is a long cry from the venomous lines the Dogg Father has spit in the past to those he opposed.
Check his “Bitch Slap” track for his less-than-friendly words to Suge Knight and Kurupt.
Yet here we are in 2014 watching the man who gave us "Murder Was the Case" poke, pick on and prank a woman on IG like he’s a teenager. I have no personal love or support for Iggy, but I guess my question is, why? What was the point of this? Where was it intended to go?
Iggy is and probably will always be a target in many circles. Her faux southern rap accent, trap-based bars and “bad chick” image scream gimmick.
The idea of this woman doing what many before her with more skill have done, yet getting more commercial success than them, doesn’t sit well with hip-hop purists.
So, as well-intentioned as she may be, Iggy will always have this issue to deal with, and it would appear Snoop didn’t see his jokes as something that would be picked up on.
Clearly it was, and it got the Internet all worked up. You see, hip-hop understands “beef” and “drama.” The macho chest pounding has been a part of the culture for decades. You face-off over rhyme skills, money, respect, etc., and these are things we understand.
I personally don’t know how to incorporate IG jokes into that framework. Things that would usually be said in jest and private now have a public platform via social media, and it can be disturbing.
This wasn’t a witty series of lines delivered on the newest Snoop Dogg album -- it was a meme. Not music, but a meme.
This is how our celebs communicate now. Rihanna is a pro at the social media insult, and while it’s cute for laughs, when you step back and look at it, it’s kind of sad. It’s petty and impacts the way you view these people.
Even though Snoop has worked his way to being one of the most internationally recognized artists of our day, he hasn’t always been the media darling he is now.
Blatant misogyny, sexism, violence and drug use lace his career résumé, so picking on a young girl does have him coming off like a bully.
Reportedly, a phone conversation with Iggy’s boss, T.I., resulted in a Snoop apology and immediate Instagram ceasefire. This all sounds like something that happens between kids at lunch time in grade school, but no, this was one of the leading stories in entertainment yesterday.
I get it; I 100 percent understand why Iggy gets the treatment she does from people, but honestly, within hip-hop itself, I guess I just expect more from some people.
Instead of the image he posted that started all this nonsense, what if Snoop put out some music featuring other female artists?
Make a bigger statement on the game by remixing one of Iggy’s hits to showcase other ladies in hip-hop who are not getting attention. The problem with that is that it takes time. Who wants to invest time in something when some cheap laughs can be had in a few seconds via social media?
How about we just file this all under "events of 2014 we hope to forget"?
Photo Credit: Getty Images
