It’s been quite a while since the Naija Hip-Hop community has had a fully blown out rap war. Not since Vector and Reminisce took shots at each other around this time last year.
So quite unsurprisingly, there was a considerable amount of attention generated when Yung6ix started another battle with Benin-based rapper Cyrus the Virus. All it took was a couple of lines from his verse on Pherowshuz‘ song “Ni***s Fear”.
Cyrus has since replied both rappers with “Black Flag” (Download here). One of the issues Cyrus raised in the song was that of loyalty; he considered Pherowshuz a friend and was disappointed that Pherow would ‘throw him under the bus’ just to generate buzz for his upcoming ‘Blood, Sweat, Tears & Years’ mixtape.
Hip Hop World spoke to Pherowshuz’ close friend and ally, Terry tha Rapman. According to him, Cyrus knew about Yung 6ix’ lyrics on “Ni**s Fear” BEFORE the song was released. “Phenom was also supposed to feature alongside 6ix but he wasn’t available at the time. The thing is Pherowshuz told Cyrus about it before the song was released.
But maybe because of all the comments and what people were saying on social media and all that. So it wasn’t like Pherowshuz was just trying to create buzz or be a traitor. Personally, I think it’s not a big deal. All these names (best rapper, King of the South) are just titles rappers use, nothing more” Terry revealed.
Interesting right. But we wouldn’t be journalists if we didn’t hear from all parties concerned. So we placed a call to Cyrus and of course, he had a completely different story to tell.
According to him he only learnt of the record on the day it was going to drop. Like he says, “Why did Pherow go through the whole process of making the song, e-mailing back and forth, mixing. Then it was only the day the song was about to be released that he tells me Yung 6ix is calling me out.
Yung6ix had never called me out on any of his songs. Things became clearer when I found out that Pherowshuz was about to drop his mixtape.”
Hip-Hop is a competitive genre of music, and rap-battles are as old as the genre itself. Coupled with all the attention that goes along with it, its nothing unusual for rappers to start a beef just to create buzz, especially when there’s a music project around the corner. More often than not, controversy equals album sales or in Pherowshuz’ case, downloads.
So would Pherowshuz throw his ‘friend’ under the bus just to generate buzz for his mixtape? According to him, “I wouldn’t really say he’s a friend, just someone I know. I met him through Terry and he needed some hype on his mixtape, so I said a few things to help out.
Pherow also confirmed the story about letting Cyrus know about the track before it was released. “I called him up and told him so and so is saying this about you, do you have a problem with him? What he told me was ‘Aaah, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to get back at Yung6ix’. He’s the one that needs the buzz”
All parties have certainly been in the news of late, but so far Cyrus is one ahead on the scoreboard. His emphatic reply on “Black Flag” places him in the driving seat; waiting for either Pherowshuz or Yung6ix to respond.
We have no problems with rappers dissing each other. That’s the competitive nature of Hip-Hop. As long it’s all in the music, we can’t wait to be entertained.
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