Berkeley Funk

This seems unlikely, but it was probably bound to happen.

Sirealz "Break it Down (Lil B Diss)"

I guess other Berkeley rappers are upset that Lil B is making their city seem soft? I think the hippies and Chez Panisse might have helped a little bit before kids from Berekely were even rapping.

It's interesting that this comes from Sirealz, of Team Knoc. If I were him, I'd be more upset over Lil B's total appropriation of the word "Based", not that he's making silly music. And certainly not that he's not in the hood enough.

After all, Sirealz has spent the last couple years singing a lot of auto-tuned songs, some of which are really great. Before that, he made "Fruity Pebble Punk Rock" and "Flintstone Bedrock", a song based on Chris Farley's "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" routine, and a song that sampled Dora the Explorer, all of which were great, but weren't gangsterish by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, they were the opposite. And, Lil B's music seems to stem from the same sort of "project" that Team Knoc and other groups like it started. It's a highly creative type of rap that doesn't focus solely on silly gangsterish posturing, because after all, you're from Berkeley, not Oakland.

For people like Sirealz, Lil B's work is a good thing. It opens doors for different types of rap that might otherwise not get the press or money that LCD rap can attract.

And this diss track seems like the very same posturing that Team Knoc had spurned, which is what made them so interesting to listen to. Sirealz - who is a Nation friend - will occasionally read this, which makes this much more awkward than writing about Messy Marv and San Quinn's beef. And he's more than welcome to share his thoughts here in the comments. I'd encourage him to drop the beef. What's the point?