These days, it's cool to beef with hip-hop greats. For a rapper, it seems like a quickest way to get some attention.
Jay-Z has become the target of attacks as of late. While Jim Jones has always disliked the Brooklyn rapper, The Game has been on the war path, dissing Jay at a string of concert appearances overseas, in which he calls Jay "old" and "washed up."
Jay has only responded briefly, calling the Game a "groupie," and most recently, via a coverstory for XXL, says he's the rapper's "idol."
"Game, I'm his f***in' idol," said Jay. "If you ask him and he's being truthfully honest with you ... it's just based off his insecurities and, for the most part, pretension."
The former Def Jam head said lyrical enemies like Game and Jim Jones do not serve as competition to him, and aren't even on his level, so why even respond?
"That type of competition doesn't do anything for me," Jay tells the mag. "It's almost like someone trying to set you up, and everyone knows they're to set you up, and everybody. It's just dumb. It's not in the spirit of competition, because he's not competition for me. He's not. Not then, not ever -- he'd have to improve considerably. Competition for me competition is Nas, Eminem.
"How do I respond to that? I can't win. If I win, then they'll be like, 'See. Now chill. You're a f***in' bully.' And if manages to throw a haymaker from the West Coast, then it's like 'Oooooh.' It's not even fun.," he continued.
Jay goes on to explain that he's moved beyond hip-hop beef ... well, simply because who has the time? Especially, when you're making that Jay-Z money.
"Like, before I did it, because I would diss anybody," he admits. "Now who has time to do this sh** everyday? But before, when I was running after the little fat nigga from Ma$e's camp, I was doing anybody. Anybody said anything. If I thought you said something. When I was running in the streets, I wanted all that type of activity. Nobody wanted nothing. Now everybody's a tough guy."
To read the full interview with Jay-Z, pick up the October issue of XXL, which hits newsstand September 15
via:rap