Grand Hustle/Capitol recording artist Alfamega has opened up about the chain of events that led to the chaotic early end of last weeks Dirty Awards in Atlanta.
In a recent interview with AllHipHop.com, the rapper issued a heartfelt apology to the organizers of the event and explained that he was acting in self-defense during his much publicized altercation with members of Atlanta rapper Shawty Los camp.
First I wanna apologize to [Radio One Atlanta Operations Manager] Steve Hegwood and all of Radio One, and to all of the fans, for the incident that occurred, Alfamega told AllHipHop.com. The fans, they came to see a show, they shouldnt have been subject to the beef that we had. I not only embarrassed myself, I embarrassed them also.
According to the rapper known as the Grand Hustle Muscle, previous accounts of the melee at the Dirty Awards last Monday (November 24) were wrong on several points.
He stated that the conflict was actually initiated by members of Shawty Los entourage during his impromptu performance of the diss song Dont I.
While some witnesses identified Alfamega as having thrown an object, alternately described as a bottle or chair, from the crowd, he revealed that a bottle of water was actually thrown from the stage.
The object hit Grand Hustle artist Bola of the group Xtaci in the face, prompting someone else to throw a chair, Alfa said.
The more violent conflict, which left Shawty Los brother on the ground, was an instance of self-defense, the rapper claimed.
I was out on the floor and Tip and LA were up there performing, and I was dancing around, I jumped up on a table, he recounted. And Shawty Lo picked up a drink like he was gon toss his drink on me. He was on top of another table. Just like with any human being, if you in the club and Im looking at you like Im gonna throw a drink on you and we already dont like each other, your first reaction is to [defend yourself].
“When he looked at me like he was gonna toss it, I got down off the table, cuz one of the cops came over and told me to get down.
According to Alfamegas account, that is when the situation began to escalate.
When I looked around, its not just this dude, its three more of his people coming up too behind him and one of the security dudes with Shawty Lo, Alfamega stated. The first thing Im thinking is Im gonna be in bodily harm, and Im not gonna let you harm me. So I smacked him. I didnt punch him, I slapped him. Everybody thinks I punched and thats how he fell out. Then I started swinging on the other dudes, thats when the cops started spraying the pepper spray.
By the time Alfamega was escorted out of the venue, the responding officers were approached by several other artists who vouched that he had not started the fight.
He was released free of charge.
According to Alfamega, no one in the Grand Hustle camp has any intention on continuing this beef.
The rapper, whos Capitol Records debut I Am Alfamega is due out in January, explains that this was an isolated incident provoked by months of tension.
When I think about myself, Im not just thinking about me, Im thinking about my children, he said. Theyre subject to this when they get to school. Same thing on [the other] side. We gotta be grown men, and not grown males about this thing. I feel like weve exhausted everything. It didnt work. Every time we tried [to squash it], it didnt work. Weve been eating the disrespect for like a year, being the bigger men. And it just totally got out of hand that night there. We not tripping. We living our life, we doing our thing.
Shawty Lo has denied starting the fight as well and claimed that members of the Grand Hustle camp were starting trouble and menacing him when he performed earlier in the evening.