PackFM & Tonedeff (as Extended Famm) Rocking @ Rocksteady Anniversary 2003

Mastication will make you go blind and put hair on your palms. It’ll also get you alot of credit for ideas that you a) did not come up b) stole and most importantly, c) STOLE.

I’m referring to the general practice of the re-appropriation of someone else’s ideas for one’s own personal gain in 2008. It looks to be a scary year in this field.

The Limits Of Coincidence

Some folks like to chalk biting up to Coincidence. Now, in alot of cases, they might be right. It’s pretty commonplace to hear beats with the same sample. That’s easy to explain, because for the most part, producers are culling from the same pool, or are uncreative enough as a whole to come up with different chops of the same source material.

Lyrics are a much different affair, because there are millions of ways to say the same thing. But to any real head, it’s obvious when someone straight up lifts a punchline or a rhyme style from someone else. In recent years, this has been defended as a way of “paying homage” (HOV!), but I’m not going to get into semantics here.

Now, considering the millions of catchphrases, hooks, slogans, jingles, lyrics and song titles in the world, is it a coincidence that someone else came up with “Fuck You I ______ Better?” Is it a coincidence that their t-shirts look EXACTLY like ours? Is it a coincidence that no one else has ever been seen wearing a t-shirt or heard mentioning the exact phrase “Fuck You I _______ Better” prior to Substantial coming up with it and the remix being featured on Extended Famm’s Happy Fuck You Songs?

I don’t fucking think so.

Is Everything Public Domain Now?

In a world where there are remixes of remixes. Mashups of mashups – via YouTube or MySpace or whatever-the-fuck-social-network-invented-today is called. It seems as though every idea is fair game for retooling, re-appropriation or straight up ripping off. If you’re a true blue Hip Hop head, then this whole blog doesn’t even qualify for debate status. Biting is about is about as Hip Hop as Josh Groban singing “Fugee-La”. Sadly though, it seems that as the new generation of fans come in, alot of the foundations of the culture are lost in translation. It’s like watching a tenth generation VHS copy of a movie. Eventually, the original image and message gets so distorted that those watching have to make up their own minds as to what’s going on.

Does that justify biting, though? Only if you’re too lazy to learn about the roots of the culture itself.

Just because the song came out in 2002 doesn’t mean the statute of limitations has run out on the phrase, folks. It’s one thing to be inspired by something to create something else. But straight up jacking is a) highly disrespectful b) a cardinal Hip Hop sin and c) just generally fucking lame. It’s ours, we own it. No one’s allowed to use it, much in the same way that I’m never allowed to make an album called Illmatic or It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back.

Was the Extended Famm project as well-recognized as any of the old Hip Hop classics? Of course not – but apparently, our buzz was heavy enough on the underground in 2002 that it caught on. The seeds were planted in the minds of many a young underground Hip Hop fan, inspiring many to buy our official t-shirts when they were available.

Hell, the shirts became so popular, that once we stopped printing them, people started bootlegging them!

“PROVE IT’S YOURS!”

A Few months back, I was forwarded a link to a myspace page with some dude selling a “Fuck You, I Rhyme Better” mixtape. It even had a song called “Fuck You, I Rhyme Better” on it. Low and behold, the cover looked like the t-shirt. Gee! What a fucking coincidence! [That is ACTUALLY the cover of the CD this dude was trying to push! We’re not linking you though, because they don’t deserve a single click of publicity out of this.].

Of course, we jumped on it immediately, and pointed out to the dude that it was a) highly disrespectful b) a cardinal hip hop sin and c) just generally fucking lame. And what was his response? This muffucka had the nerve to say, “Prove it’s yours!”.

[sigh]. I won’t get into what followed, but essentially, you got to know when something is worth pursuing and when it’s not. We don’t forget though. :)

Reprimands In 2008

So, apparently, people need to be beaten, shot, or generally just physically punished for shit before they listen. Even beyond the eFamm shit, multiple dudes have already taken my name, (spelling and all), copy/paste my verses on forums as their own, bitten my lines, straight up jacked the entire QN5 site layout and promotions. Should I be surprised? Technically yes, but I’m still carrying a torch for traditions and I have every intention on teaching the next generations what I know. Am I surprised? No.

To me, it’s a problem with a simple solution. If we don’t make a collective push towards putting biters on blast as artists, journalists and ESPECIALLY FANS, it will continue to devolve into shit. Remember, people are only assholes when they think they can get away with it (ie. the anonymity of the internet). PUT THESE MUFFUCKAS ON BLAST.

If we don’t…don’t be surprised in a couple years when there’s a new rapper called Cool Gee Rapp or J.Z. or K-R Ess. They’ll probably have a song called “Fuck You I Rhyme Better” somewhere in their discography. But until you’ve rocked countless crowds with the slogan, or seen Keith Murray doing a somersault stage dive without missing a beat while rocking your tee…then you ain’t official with it.

Here’s to a biter-free 2008!
Hollerate.
Tone

PS. If someone tries to sell you a FYIRB tee without a QN5 logo on the sleeve…It’s a bootleg.