S. Samuel
New York rapper Fabolous has stepped up to speak out on Kendrick Lamar's now-infamous "King of New York" line and revealed why he fell back from issuing a response track.
Although he planned on addressing the proclamation on wax, Fab said he took some advice and opted out of dropping a record.
“That’s a hot topic on the market, and when I first heard I was going to address it on the surface of what it was, somebody from out of New York claiming they the “King of New York,” but I took my time and I spoke with some OG’s, I researched it a little bit and got some more history behind it. Also, how everybody jumped into it for an intention play would change the situation as well, so a lot of guys stepped in and said their peace, but you also saw a lot of guys who were mentioned on the song, or who you would expect to have responses to the song, really didn’t take that approach, but am gonna tell you one thing that an OG told me, he said “if you do respond, make it work for you, make it come on your time, and not just like you trying to feed the twitter fans with a freestyle.” So I got that in the back of mind, so you might hear something eventually…” (The Source)
While he immediately killed the perception of Lamar being the king of his city, Harlem’s A$AP Rocky did acknowledge the competitive nature of K. Dot’s lyrics a few days ago.
“He named a lot of n*ggas,” A$AP said in an interview. “I feel like, I mean, that ‘King of New York’ sh*t, you smoking crack, you’re crazy, you know what I mean? Honestly though, K. Dot and them n*ggas, that’s fam. I think hip-hop needs this sh*t. It’s n*ggas who’s pissed off just because they wasn’t mentioned. … I’m not justifiying sh*t, rap is rap, my n*gga. N*gga didn’t say nothing about nobody mother — he didn’t say he want problems. He said, ‘These are my n*ggas and I’m letting y’all know it’s competition.’ What’s the problem? That man know I’m where he at. I feel like all the rappers making disses and responses — I’ma keep it a buck, it’s not even about being relevant because hip-hop ain’t about relevance, man. It’s all about the sport, it’s all about the culture.” (Hot 97)
Earlier in the week, Wu-Tang Clan‘s Raekwon said the only one who could wear the “King of New York” crown is the late Notorious B.I.G.
“All I’ma say is that n*ggas know he ain’t the ‘King of New York’,” Rae said in an interview. “The King of New York, to me, is in the ground and that’s B.I.G. That’s the n*gga that came from the bottom, for real, and really earned that position in the game to be called that. I think son, dude was rhyming, having fun. He was feeling his d*ck, however he was doing it. He was just expressing himself. I think you’re supposed to feel like that on wax.” (Itz Bizkit)
Last week, New York rap icon Nas refrained from speaking heavily when asked about Lamar’s “King of New York” claim.
“Wow,” Nas said when asked by radio personality Miss Info about Kendrick Lamar’s “King of New York” line. “My reaction is wow. I love hip-hop right now. … Certain fans like certain eras of rap, certain fans are not up on certain eras, so they don’t really remember all of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, KRS-One, MC Shan and all the way to Busy Bee. This is what hip-hop is all about. You gotta ask him [about that line]. [Was I offended?] I’m a listener.” (Miss Info TV)
