Beanie Sigel Concedes Defeat to Jay-Z

Although nearly two years too late, Beanie Sigel yesterday issued an apology of sorts to Jay-Z without actually saying the two words that matter most in this type of situation: “I’m sorry”.

During that time period he released at least five tracks** entirely devoted to discrediting and disrespecting Jay, not to mention doing the same in countless video and radio interviews.

Maybe Beans got himself off the pills long enough to clear his mind and realize what all of us have known all along – it is counterproductive for most rappers to challenge Jay-Z in damn near any arena, but especially in rap.

Or, more probably, Beans finally noticed that his pockets contained more lint than cash, and because of that he is willing to eat crow with a side of humble pie.

This seemingly last ditch effort of appealing to Jay for help/work through a false, disingenuous acknowledgement of his wrongdoing should be embarrassing to Beans. But, then again, Gator never felt any type of shame when he two-stepped for his parents in hopes of getting some cash for his next fix. Could this also be Beans’ song-and-dance?

During yesterday’s interview Beanie also admitted he had an album’s worth of songs dissing Jay, but that he “couldn’t put that out. It wouldn’t sit right with me.”

However, just admitting their existence is reason enough to cast doubt on the probability of Jay accepting this so-called apology. Especially because in today’s digital world, it is more than likely that the material will eventually surface with or without Beans’ consent, since, like with most if not all other new rap music, a studio engineer or a member of Beanie’s entourage probably made copies of the songs in hopes of cashing in on them at a later date. And as well all know Jay would NEVER put himself in a situation to lose.

In fact, the only rapper who ever effectively went up against Jay is NaS, and even the considerable rapping talents of Mr. Jones didn’t disrupt Jay’s steady ascent to the top of Hiphop and popular culture stratospheres, where he continues to rest to this day.

The truth of the matter is that Beanie wasn’t a particularly effective battle rapper when he faced off against Jadakiss and Dipset, so there was no way he could even put the smallest chink in Jay’s armor.

For some reason some rappers who were once down with Jay are now scorned at his lack of involvement in their careers, but the reality of the situation is that their work with Jay far outweighed the effectiveness of their work without him. In other words, these rappers owe Jay. Not the other way around.

But confidence can be a detriment, backfiring to the point that a career will find itself in shambles if it doesn’t rein in and control that confidence that can many times lead to bad decision-making.

It’s not Jay’s fault that Beans squandered most of his earnings on Bentleys and drugs when Jay put him in a position to build a similar type of empire (State Property the group, the film series and clothing line; Pro-Keds) that Jay now rules with an iron fist.

It is unclear what's next on the menu for Beanie. He's said in the past that he has no desire to return to making music but mentioned yesterday he's planning to release a mixtape in the near future.

Maybe now is the time for that long-rumored Beans & Bleek album, since both of their careers are currently on life support.

To his credit, though, Beans did [finally] take the high road and admit the truth of the situation: "Whatever I felt this dude Jay did wrong to me, it can’t outweigh the one thing he did do for me – he gave me an opportunity." It's just too bad that more rappers who have also been supposedly scorned by Jay can't bring themselves to do and say the same.

** In case you forgot, here are the songs in question:

What You Talkin' Bout (Oct. 2009)


I Go Off (Feat. 50 Cent) (Nov. 2009)


How I Can Kill Jigga Man (Nov. 2009)


Think Big (Nov. 2009)


Haters (Aug. 2010)