Marc Lynch posted a preposterously cool analysis of Jay-Z and The Game’s recent beef as a metaphor for foreign policy and power transition. Kenneth Organski would be proud… assuming he was able to draw the correct parallels between international politics and the rap game. (Marc Lynch, Wikipedia)
Power transition theory amongst rappers is an untapped academic field… and one that will inevitably result in some of the dopest dissertations ever.
“So what prompted him to finally cross the line and attack Jay-Z? …Maybe he really just wants to test himself … the way rising powers do…
Maybe he calculated that now was the moment to strike, and that the rest of the middle powers will ally with him to topple the tyrant…
But still, the timing is odd for a "power transition" narrative, given that Jay-Z is set to release his new Blueprint 3 album in September and has done a whole series of verses with other leading rappers in recent years (including Nas, Lil Wayne, and T.I.) which is to hip hop as "alliances" are to International Relations.
He may be old, but hardly looks like a declining power.... although perhaps Game simply detects weakness in Jay-Z's age… He clearly understands the extent of Jay-Z's structural power, daring a long list of influential DJs to play I'm So Wavy.” (Marc Lynch)
Abu Muqawama also gets props for following up the awesome blog post with an awesome blog post title “I Got 99 Problems But Global Hegemony Ain’t One” (Abu Muqawama)
UPDATE (7/15/09):
Follow ups from many folks. (Marc Lynch @ FP)
Power transition theory amongst rappers is an untapped academic field… and one that will inevitably result in some of the dopest dissertations ever.
“So what prompted him to finally cross the line and attack Jay-Z? …Maybe he really just wants to test himself … the way rising powers do…
Maybe he calculated that now was the moment to strike, and that the rest of the middle powers will ally with him to topple the tyrant…
But still, the timing is odd for a "power transition" narrative, given that Jay-Z is set to release his new Blueprint 3 album in September and has done a whole series of verses with other leading rappers in recent years (including Nas, Lil Wayne, and T.I.) which is to hip hop as "alliances" are to International Relations.
He may be old, but hardly looks like a declining power.... although perhaps Game simply detects weakness in Jay-Z's age… He clearly understands the extent of Jay-Z's structural power, daring a long list of influential DJs to play I'm So Wavy.” (Marc Lynch)
Abu Muqawama also gets props for following up the awesome blog post with an awesome blog post title “I Got 99 Problems But Global Hegemony Ain’t One” (Abu Muqawama)
UPDATE (7/15/09):
Follow ups from many folks. (Marc Lynch @ FP)
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