The common knock against the Internet news cycle is that bloggersprioritize promptness over substance, racing each other to be the first to writeabout any news (or non-news) items in a reckless free-for-all for the most buzzand web traffic, but that same criticism also applies to modern rapmusic. In the digital age, rappers of all statures stumble over each other to be the first torelease a track about any current trend, controversy or meme.
It wasn’t too surprising, then, when Columbus rapperCopywrite, a moderately respected underground figure best known for hiscollaborations with producer RJD2, released a tribute track to Rhymesayersrapper Eyedea shortly after his death this weeksomebody was bound to do it. What was surprising, however,was the backlash.
Bloggers took Copywrite to task for writing a tribute song toan artist he’d never met, and at least two Rhymesayers rappers chastised Copywrite on Twitter. “If I die, donot make a song about me unless you know me,” Mac Lethal wrote. Psalm One wasmore direct: “Fuck anybody who tries to capitalize on the death of Eyedea.”
“It reeks of exploitation,” wrote the hip-hop blog Peak Street. “If he didn’tdo it for the media attention, why would he release it so soon though? He couldstill pay his respects a few weeks down.” The more confrontational blog Hip Hopand BS took issue not only with the song's intent, but also its content, since Copywrite strongly speculates, as manyon the Internet have, that Eyedea’s death was the result of drug use. “Theworst part of it all, is the suggestion of a drug related death, which no onehas the right to speculate or suggest,” the blog writes. “How in the fuck couldanyone issue a TRIBUTE to someoneelse and shit on their image by suggesting they were a drug addict?”
Copywrite has since pulled the song from his website, thoughit still is circulating on YouTube. It is not one of his best.
