The Game vs. Jay-Z Through an IR Lens
(wikimedia)
Mark Lynch brings an international relations perspective to The Game’s recent attacks on Jay-Z:
So what does Jay-Z do? If he hits back hard in public, the Game will gain in publicity even if he loses… the classic problem of a great power confronted by a smaller annoying challenger. And given his demonstrated skills and talent, and his track record against G-Unit, the Game may well score some points. At the least, it would bring Jay-Z down to his level — bogging him down in an asymmetric war negating the hegemon’s primary advantages. If Jay-Z tries to use his structural power to kill Game’s career (block him from releasing albums or booking tour dates or appearing at the Grammy Awards), it could be seen as a wimpy and pathetic operation — especially since it would be exposed on Twitter and the hip hop blogs.
The Realist advice? His best hope is probably to sit back and let the Game self-destruct, something of which he’s quite capable (he’s already backing away from the hit on Beyonce) — while working behind the scenes to maintain his own alliance structure and to prevent any defections over to the Game’s camp. And it seems that thus far, that’s exactly what he’s doing. We’ll see if that’s a winning strategy…. or if he’s just biding his time getting ready for a counter-attack. Either way, I’ve succeeded in wasting a lot of time so… mission accomplished!
One thing worth noting is that even when restraint can be identified as the best strategy, it’s often emotionally difficult to choose this path. When someone comes after you, you get angry. You want to respond in an intelligent and effective manner, yes, but there’s also a desire to do something that will make you feel better. And lashing out as per the Ledeen Doctrine (”Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business”) often can achieve that goal. And of course there’s a risk that members of Jay-Z’s camp who urge a policy of restraint will be accused of actively harboring pro-Game sympathies or otherwise failing to manifest a sufficient degree of loyalty.
21 Responses to “The Game vs. Jay-Z Through an IR Lens”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Matt YglesiasContact Me
Donate
July 13th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Los Angeles rapper the Game launched a blistering attack against the legendary New York blogger Jay-Z.
Oh no he di-in’t!
July 13th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I really don’t see what this has to do with infrared lenses.
July 13th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Great post, Matt.
July 13th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Maybe he really just wants to test himself (he says on his Twitter feed “I ALWAYS FELT I WAS GOOD ENUFF 2 GO BAR 4 BAR @ JAY IN A “LYRICAL BEEF”), the way rising powers do.
I wonder if the footnotes in future scholarly books will be full of such gems.
July 13th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
The Game can, must, and will be, destroyed. It is Hova’s duty, as the preeminent power in rapdom, to strike down this evil-doer. The Game and his sons…er, crew have 48 hours to leave hippety-hoppetyland. Dust yo’ shoulders off…indeed.
July 13th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Jay-Z doesn’t let these things go. He bides his time and responds with overwhelming force. Remember the beatdown of Soulja Boy after the LeBron/DeShawn thing?
July 13th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
I think calling The Game a middle power is giving him way too much credit. His dis track isn’t even good. Jay-Z definitely shouldn’t be responding to a weak dis. Another option that is available to Jay-Z is to have his allies jump all over The Game. Thank you, Lynch and Yglesias.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
I was making this exact point with a good friend vis-a-vis Israel and Gaza not too long ago. An interesting debate especially since both parties are American Jews with close personal ties to Israel. Though loyalties weren’t questioned, the debate became quite personal and heated, and threatened to permanently damage our friendship. Nothing really to add to this except to accentuate just how difficult it can be to even advocate for such restraint when people feel so fiercely.
It also reminds me of how pervasive tribalism is even amongst the educated. I was speaking not long ago with a Pakistani-American who was at the time a student at an elite university. We discussed the Israel-Palestine conflict, and they supported a diplomatic peaceful process in which both sides compromised for peace. I brought up China and Taiwan, and they advocated similarly. Then I brought up Kashmir, and their position amounted to “DESTROY THEM ALL.” It’s easy to imagine a Jewish-American student or a Chinese-American student in a similar position similarly lapsing in their advocacy of peaceful diplomatic conflict resolution when one of the parties is their party.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
So what you guys are saying is that Jay-Z is Obama, and “The Game” (sweet jesus is that the dumbest emcee name ever) is Hugo Chavez?
July 13th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
#7 alludes to the proxy war option, which is probably the best bet.
Jay Z can covertly send an ally with lower name recognition out to dis The Game in what appears to be an entirely unrelated incident. While The Game is distracted by this lesser conflict, and is revealed to be a sucka MC who can barely withstand a challenge from the proxy rapper, Jay Z remains aloof. A casual, but devastating put-down can then be leaked through anonymous sources, demonstrating that Jay Z doesn’t really care what some nobody punk like The Game says about him, but he’s amused by the Proxy Rapper’s dis.
The catch is that plausible deniability must be maintained, or else Jay Z loses face for sending someone else to do his dirty work.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I’m surprised that you made it through the whole post without mentioning that this approach applies the methods of… game theory.
Personally, I wouldn’t have been able to resist using that as the title. I guess that’s why they pay you the big bucks.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Lynch is post is excellent. But Jay adressed this on Kingdom Come:
- Dig a Hole
Read all of the lyrics because they pretty much mirror Lynch’s post.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Please, Jay-Z survived Nas. He’ll surely survive this punk.
July 13th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Jay Z did survive Nas but can’t look at Jay Z the same way after Ether, just brutal.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
“people said hova was over! such dummies! even if i fail i land on a bunch of money!”
nas>the game. jay-z survives. a very fun read.
July 14th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I’m just rather appalled to discover that there’s a Forbes annual list of the richest rappers.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Yes, people seek revenge because they think it will make them feel better. However, psychologists have demonstrated fairly convincingly that revenge actually makes us feel worse:
http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/06/revenge_is_sweet_but.html
July 14th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Re: The “Proxy War” Option – It’s not workable.
For it to be effective, the proxy would have to be of sufficient stature to credibly engage The Game, who is a mid-level power. Anyone more than a few tiers below him will simply not register on the radar – The Game won’t care, and neither will anyone else. A more substantial proxy will be known as, and perceived as, part of Jay’s camp, and unless the attack is a true ethering The Game can simply brush his shoulders off – “I’m beefing with the boss, not his puppies.” If the attack IS effective, on the other hand, it might harm The Game but it’ll also do damage to Jay, as Jay will be seen as unable to fight his own battles.
The trick in hip-hop is that force is strongly connected to self. While a country can secretly apply its military might, an attack in a beef requires a commitment of the personality – the identity is the source of power.
A more effective example of a “proxy war” would be from this recent Joe Budden/Method Man hullaballoo. Method Man has largely declined to respond to Budden’s comments, presenting them as laughable and not worthy of response; meanwhile, his Wu-ally Inspectah Deck launched a blistering assault on Budden. He’s allowed to legitimately involve himself, given the intimate alliance of the Wu-Tang members, but as a 3rd party he can challenge Budden’s disrespect without legitimizing it. Budden, meanwhile, is forced into a corner – if he plays his cards wrong he’ll find himself up against the entire Wu-Tang.
July 14th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
[...] foreign policy expert and hip-hop scholar Matt Yglesias explains: One thing worth noting is that even when restraint can be identified as the best strategy, it’s [...]
July 14th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Jay-Z is a legend and the Lame Game needs to learn to respect his elders. To disrespect a man’s wife is sooo low down and disrespectful. A stunt like this should end his career. I know he’s lost quite a few fans but he should lose all of them. He always picks on women: Mya, Vida Guerra, Beyonce and now Amber Rose! If any of them decided to retaliate they would have a field day on his girl. She looks like somebody’s grandmother, dress like somebody’s grandmother, ugly and old as hell too (while he calling Jay-Z old, she is about Hov’s age).
July 15th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
[...] Matthew Yglesias: One thing worth noting is that even when restraint can be identified as the best strategy, it’s often emotionally difficult to choose this path. When someone comes after you, you get angry. You want to respond in an intelligent and effective manner, yes, but there’s also a desire to do something that will make you feel better. And lashing out as per the Ledeen Doctrine (”Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business”) often can achieve that goal. And of course there’s a risk that members of Jay-Z’s camp who urge a policy of restraint will be accused of actively harboring pro-Game sympathies or otherwise failing to manifest a sufficient degree of loyalty. [...]