Finally! Something I want to blog about.

Petitedov sends along an interesting article in Foreign Policy magazine (!) drawing a comparison between rapper Jay-Z's reign at the hip-hop top and the U.S.'s position in the world.

From a rap perspective, there are some errors in the piece.

I don't know anyone, not even my Queens-bred husband, who thinks Nas won the Jay-Z/Nas showdown. Jay's line that Nas had a "one hot album every ten year average" rang just a little too true to rap fans and the fact that Jay is now Nas's boss is just more evidence that Jay came out on top. That's like saying the Soviet Union kinda won the cold war because more hipster doofuses will wear the hammer&sickle on their t-shirt than the American flag. The fact that Nas went on to sell a couple more albums than he had before is just evidence of what a kingmaker Jay is, not evidence of winning the battle.

The article also makes no mention of one of the nastiest feuds ever, between Jay-Z and Nas's fellow Queens rap group Mobb Deep where Jay ended their career by broadcasting photos on the big screen at the Summer Jam concert of members of the group as children wearing tutus in ballerina class. Not a tough look for a gangsta rapper. You want see a big power squashing a little power? That's the beef to look at.

In other words, if the idea is America is too big and powerful and above it all to lay the smack down on those who bite at its ankles, I'm not sure Jay-Z is the best example. I agree with the premise that Jay should ignore the most recent attack on him by the Game but that's only because the Game who? I loved the Game's first album but he's been a straight joke ever since.

The Game came out on 50 Cent's record label. 50, in turn, is under Eminem and the man at the very top of that pyramid is Dr. Dre. Basically, Game decided he didn't need any of them. That was a mistake. Such a mistake, in fact, that the Game had to put out a song begging, really, truly, pathetically begging, for Dre's forgiveness. I don't know if he ever got that forgiveness but I do know I've heard little to nothing about him since then, until a few days ago when his name suddenly began trending on Twitter because of his dissing Jay. How pathetic is The Game? On his first album where he dissed Jay-Z's preferred car, the Maybach, and talked about dumping bodies in Marcy, the projects in Brooklyn where Jay grew up, he added a sample of an interview where he denies he's talking about Jay at all. "I don't ever take shots at legends, that's just something I don't do." Man up. If you're dissing the guy on the throne, don't pretend you're not.

In the world of hip-hop, if Jay is America, The Game is Bolivia. Remember? They elected a farmer who promised to be "a nightmare for America". I laughed at it then, I laugh at it now. So, no, America shouldn't lash out at Bolivia. It does us no good, they mean nothing to us. But should we contend with powers that seek to hurt us and can do more than just give us lip? I say yes. Us being on top should not preclude us from ending the "careers" of those who seek to harm us. Jay-Z rapped "don't be the next contestant on the summer jam screen" as a warning to those who would take their shots at him. Don't be the next dictator we find hiding in a ditch? Doesn't have the same ring to it but the concept is the same.