Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel is stirring up controversy once again. On Friday October 30, the MC went to New York’s Hot 97 radio to premiere his new track “Average Cat.”
In the song, the rapper accuses Jay-Z of letting him down while signed on Jay’s label Roc-A-Fella. He then claimed in his interview at the radio station that despite being successful for Roc-A-Fella as an artist, as well has owning a clothing line, he felt like Jay-Z could’ve done more to promote the whole roster including Memphis Bleek, Freeway and Peedi Crack.
Over the weekend, during a press conference in Canada, Jay-Z responded to the attacks by saying that Sigel was “driving two Bentleys, […] selling 800,000. I don’t know what more you can do for somebody.”
Sigel rose to fame with his hit singles “Feel It In The Air,” “Roc The Mic” and for his various appearances on Jay-Z’s tracks like “Reservoir Dogs” and “What We Do.” He released 5 albums but the latest (2009) “The Broad Street Bully” did not gain much public attention. Despite decent sales, none of these albums went platinum, a fact stressed by Jay-Z as a potential explanation for the MC’s bitterness.
In a joint interview on Tuesday November 3rd with 50 Cent on Philadelphia’s Power 99 radio station, Beanie went further into detailing the reason why he was going at Jay-Z. According to the rapper, the then Roc-A-Fella CEO let him down during his trial for weapon possession charges, which led him to spend a year in jail in 2004. That episode marks the split between the two artists, one going to jail and the other making his way to the top of Def Jam management.
But this ongoing feud over past issues might very well translate into a great situation for Beanie Sigel. Indeed, during this interview, Fifty made it clear he was interested in signing the Philly MC to his G-unit label. Although no details on the deal have surfaced yet, it seems likely that it will happen in the near future. The hip hop mogul also revealed he had tried to sign the rapper in the past but that Jay-Z would not let him go.
So will Beanie manage to accomplish with G-Unit what he couldn’t with Roc-A-Fella? Or will he vegetate in the shadow of his new boss like other
former legends Mobb Deep or MOP, whose signature on G-Unit has not really helped them recapture their past glory? Time will tell…
