Edd’s MANtra: DJ Premier vs Justin Bieber – How Premo Saved BET
Call me a hater (and all of you do) but your boy gives credit when it’s due. After the phenominal cyphers that took place during last week’s BET Hip Hop Awards, I’ve done nothing but sing the network’s praises. BET probably has a bruised spine from me constantly patting them on the back.
But BET, and specifically hip hop cypher honcho (and arguably the best producer of all), DJ Premier caught some flack over barring Justin Bieber from the cypher.
No, that wasn’t a typo. JUSTIN BIEBER WANTED TO BE IN A RAP CYPHER. And it almost happened!
Don’t believe me? Via sohh.com:
Renowned producer DJ Premier has caught heat this week by being the person allegedly responsible for not allowing pop sensation Justin Bieber appear in last week’s BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher. According to reports, Biebs’ aim to have Ludacris write his rhymes forced Premo to turn down the cypher request.
Apparently, Premo’s beef wasn’t specifically with Lil Justin rapping, he was just vehemently against Luda Cliff Notes. What’s the point of showcasing hip hop skill if you’re gonna allow kids to read off a teleprompter?
Stand up from your computer right now and applaud DJ Premier.
Sure, having Bieber bouncing around a cypher would have brought BET a ton of publicity (hyperactive Bieber brats would have blown up Twitter with BET hashtags, that’s for sure) but I guarantee that the intergrity of all the cyphers would have nosedived.
And I’m sure someone will make the argument that more than half of the cypher’s participants probably had ghostwriters. And you’re probably right – but I’m sure they weren’t dumb enough to publicly proclaim they had someone else do their homework. Bieber gets props for honesty, but not intelligence.
In the words of my boy Styles P: “As for y’all MCs, whoever write your rhymes might as well hold your microphone, that’s how I feel if it ain’t your own.”
But here’s a scary thought – Premo might have been OK with Bieber performing if he wrote his own lyrics. The horror. The unspeakable horror.
Check out Justin “Shawty Mane” Bieber spittin’ hotness with my family’s favorite, Cousin Chris Brown. OutKast, they’re not.
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