Bobby Simmons, a DJ, producer, radio host, and a man of many connections expressed his expert opinion on melle Mel’s attitude towards hip hop beefs.
Earlier this year Melle Mel reacted to Marshall’s verse on his new artist’s single “Realest” with a diss that let many hip hop players embarrassed. But Melle Mel not the one to feel uncomfortable on this situation and Bobby Simmons who has been familiar with Mel for many many years explains why.
In a new podcast episode, presented by Math Hoffa, Bobby talks about a certain mindset some hip hop veterans,including Melle Mel, demonstrate.
OGs felt like you owed them homage to know who they were. Melle Mel, “I’m such and such!”, you know. OGs feel like you owe them homage because “what you’re doing is because of us”. We’ve had this conversation with Mel and all of them. And we understand why most of them do it because at that time hip hop was making its transition to a bigger and better thing. People looked at them like, “Who are y’all really? You ain’t P Diddy. You ain’t Irv Gotti”.
Of course, there are people in this generation who do not live off their past fame but adapt and evolve, Bobby points out. He brings KRS-One as an example:
KRS-One is a great MC. KRS-One stays with his pen. And he stays sharp on a lot of things. A guy like Mel just doesn’t stay sharp. Mel just feels like, “I’m here. You know I’m here, you see why I’m here. Respect it”. And that’s cool. Because I have to say this: Mel has one of the most respected record in hip hop history. I don’t care what anybody says. “The Message” is one of the illest rap records. I said, one of, I didn’t said the. One of the most respected records in hip hop history. It resonates today. The whole thing with Eminem… I don’t really wanna talk about that but I have to make it clear to people who listen. Let me explain this to people because I know Mel. Mel loves it when you talk about him. You don’t talk about him — you’ve got a problem with him. How many of y’all in this room really think Mel cared? That his battle with Eminem meant something? He didn’t care! Mel has been through this five times! He battled Big Daddy Kane. I was there when he battled KRS-One at The Latin Quarters. He lost! Mel lost every battle he had. Am I lying, Mel?
Mel lost every battle he had. It didn’t matter. When you talk about it, he was the one that bettled him! “Yes, I’m the one who battled KRS-One at the Latin Quarters”, that’s Mel. And at the same night Mel dissed Biz Markie. He called Biz Markie “a mcgilla gorilla looking dude”. He dissed Public Enemy when Public Enemy first came out. Mel has been through this millions of times. He lost to everybody! And he actually really don’t care. But let me clarify this. When he talks about Eminem he sits in the same chair Eminem is sitting in. Isn’t Melle Mel in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? So is Eminem. Don’t Melle Mel get Platinum records and Platinum albums? As a matter of fcr, Melle Mel gas got multiple platinum records. Him and Eminem sit in the same seat, what? Mel is like, “Yo, I’m enjoying my life”. Mel is probably saying everybody right now, “Yo, I don’t care if I lost to Eminem. As long as you say, who was the guy who has the nerve to battle Eminem?”
Talking about people who had the nerve to challenge Eminem recently, Bobby excludes The Game from the list because, in his words, for The Game it was not about hip hop, his motives were personal.
You might disagree with the comparison between Melle Mel and Marshall, but the insights Bobby Simmons has provided are fascinating, just like his stories.
Watch the video below:
