Sometimes, healthy competition can escalate in a blink — and given that we’re currently looking at a combined thirteen minutes of bars from newfangled rivals Royce Da 5’9″ and Lupe Fiasco, it would appear that this one is only getting started.
After finding themselves at odds over lyrical superiority among other factors, Lupe tested the waters with an Instagram freestyle, taking a few potshots at Nickle in the process. Royce then decided to take it to the booth, setting the stage with “The Silence Of The Lamba,” a highlight-reel rap clinic designed to make his foe second guess himself. Evidently, Lupe Fiasco is trained to tune out all distractions. Now, the martially-proficient has decided to match his competitor’s stride, though not without first dipping his blade in poison.
Enter “Steve Jobs,” a six-minute retaliatory track that directly addresses many of the claims made on Royce’s “Lambda.” Off the bat, it’s clear that Lupe is looking to pick his opponent apart. “I think that n***a scared, he never leave Heaven cause he already dead,” spits Lu, over a ghoulish synthesizer. “We both wear glasses,” he continues. “The difference is I was in school thinking it was cool, you were thinking of skipping classes / listening to your track record I can see you were skipping classics.”
There’s certainly more where that came from, as Lupe made sure to up the ante on a personal level. “I wish they would have left Biz here, and fuckin took you,” he raps, with a battle rapper’s energy. Give “Steve Jobs” a listen now, and don’t be surprised to see Royce square up for round two sooner than later.
QUOTABLE LYRICS
In seven minutes he did it,
If he knew how to freestyle he coulda rented Heaven for seven minutes
And been done what needed to be done by the second sentence
All this extra innings may come across as master — but my impression’s apprentice
Your penmanship has the fingerprints of a gimmick
An affection and an intimacy of impressions of that n***as you friends with
I ain’t gotta say it to say it,
I can’t even blame you, the n***a’s one of my favorites