Blame it on the goose, blame it on the henney, blame it on the vodka (which happened to be Ciroc mixed with lemonade) or blame it on the remy, blame it on the alc alc alc alc alcohol, blame it on the alc alc alc alc alcohol, or just blame it on the fact that it is what is. During the televised BET Awards Show festive after party, which Diddy hosted alongside the gorgeous and talented Ms. Taraji Henson, Diddy looked into the camera and proclaimed, “Hate is for suckas and you know who I’m talking to!” To be quite honest, I wasn’t certain who Diddy was talking to. For a second, I thought he was talking to me because right at that particular moment, I was thinking to myself, “damn, I wish I was there alongside Taraji instead of him!” Now I know Diddy is a man of many talents, but I be damned if he can read minds through television sets also. If so, then I’m definitely hating and I guess that makes me a sucka to Diddy! People are reporting that Diddy’s comments were directed towards 50 Cent in response to some disparaging words hurled towards Diddy by Mr. Southside Queens himself. I don’t know if that’s true since Puffy never confirmed; however, I am in complete agreement with his statement that “Hate is for suckas” and to be quite honest, that’s applicable to a lot of people, not just one person in particular, especially in hip hop. Hate is an overused term in hip hop culture, without a clear and definitive definition, though it runs rampant in hip hop; it includes everyone, not excluding anyone from the consumers to the artists and from the artists to the executives, in no particular order. Now I wont pretend to be smart enough to define it (because I don’t want anyone to “hate” on my definition or me for attempting to lend a definition to the word), though I will attempt to address it. Personally, I don’t think it’s the fact that one may dislike an artist music, movement, brand and or everything else he has for sale that causes a person to be considered a “hater” instead I think it’s the disparaging comments and remarks that we make towards those individuals when we express our dislike of their material, or even of them as individuals (which is strange in itself because most of us never had an opportunity to get to know them as individuals) that gets interpreted as “hate.” True, we as fans of the music and the lifestyle that we not only promote, but live daily should be able to dispute an artists and his music, or anyone else involved in the culture of hip hop; however, collectively as a community we should be able to intelligently articulate ourselves when expressing our disinterest, dissatisfaction or dislike. It should be something more substantial and supported than the fact of who he aligned himself with, the location on the map where he resides, how much money he earns, who he shot or didn’t shoot, how many times he was shot, if he sold drugs or didn’t sell drugs, if he smoke weed or don’t smoke weed, if he pop E’s or don’t pop E’s, if he been to prison or worked at a prison and any of the countless other incomprehensible responses we give, not forgetting the most ridiculous of them all, “just cause.” WTF? If I’m doing me, which consists of pursuing my dreams or in some cases living them out, without hurting anyone else in the process, who could possibly be mad and have some disparaging things to say? If anything, why not be inspired to do the same? And if you don’t know how to get started or need help pursuing your dreams, why not just ask for help instead of attempting to tear the next man down? Hate Is For Suckas and You Know Who I’m Talking To! So I ask, what’s Beef? Obviously nothing that we’ve seen unveiled in hip hop, acted out in the public eye for all to see. So most of the tirades that we notice, at least appears to be contrived and calculated measures, which oftentimes lend to our culture being dubiously compared to the scripted World Wrestling Federation. Are Puffy and Fifty beefing? Well, not according to Biggie. So what can their recent tirades, whether directly or indirectly towards each other mean? Who cares. They are multimillionaires placed in a position to comfortably support themselves, their families and others while living out their dreams while most of the people that support them by buying their music, merchandise, concert tickets and everything else that they have for sale, are just dreaming. To me it’s insulting to see us argue back and forth with one another over such frivolousness. It can’t be serious because if it was it would be dealt with accordingly, assuming that we know how to deal with situations accordingly. Where’s the love in the game I ask, where’s the love? DJ Khaled attempts to unite different artists and their fan base through music and he’s hated on for that. Diddy aligns himself with Rick Ross, while speaking highly of his lyrical ability and he’s hated on for that. Jay Z amassed a certain amount of wealth in the game and he’s hated on for that. Drizzy Drake damn near sold 500,000 his first week out and he’s hated on for that. Soulja Boy became a self made millionaire before he turned 18 and he’s hated on for that. Waka Flocka is doing him and being handsomely compensated for doing so and he’s hated on for that. Eminem is a talented rapper (arguably one of the best ever) that just so happens to be white and he’s hated on for that. The list is endless and many would argue that they’re not hating just because they dislike someone for whatever reason, which I would agree with; however, all I ask is that we substantiate our reasoning, and articulate it intelligently enough with the hope that our discussion could lead to the betterment and not the detriment of our community and of each other, and who knows maybe we’ll learn something about ourselves in the process. With all of that being said, I totally concur with Puffy, hate is for suckas. Besides, my momma always told me “if you don’t have anything good to say about a person, don’t say anything at all.” How difficult is that?
