The BasedGod got jumped at the Rolling Loud festival by A Boogie and his crew this past weekend, and he came out of the situation a winner. Below is a condensed transcript of his compassionate response to the unwarranted attack:
Hey man, A Boogie and his whole crew just jumped me in the back, man and beat me up in the back, man. That shit crazy, man. But I’mma tell y’all like this, it’s all love. I don’t promote violence, I’m never with the violence. So I love them and it’s all good, you feel me? It’s all good. I said something about Boogie’s music, and they all got mad and they jumped me about that so it’s all good…It’s all love though, like I said it’s all love…
This is just a testament to show just ’cause somebody do something to y’all don’t mean you got to retaliate. It don’t matter. God is good, I’m alive. We all alive! It’s your boy, Lil B shout-outs to the Based God! Hey, new Lil B music soon man. I’m about to hit this doctor make sure I’m all good, man. These n****s fucked me up. Let’s get it.
Just consider the humility required to say some shit like, “These niggas fucked me up. Let’s get it,” while forgiving sensitive youngins minutes after they put hands on you and still walk away with your dignity intact.
For years now, Lil B has promoted a strong message of peace, love, and the practice of compassion for all life forms. Every beef he has entered never ended with a grudge or a character assassination, and he’s been quick to forgive anyone who has disrespected, harmed, or slighted him.
To many, his gracious response to A Boogie in light of getting jumped by his team is a shocker. A rapper, a Black American rapper, a Black American male rapper, wished peace and success upon a fellow rapper several years his senior after getting assaulted in a fit of defensiveness and hypermasculinity. It’s not how the game is supposed to work.
But it’s how Lil B works. Between the music, the tweets, and the high-profile speaking gigs at universities such as Cal Berkeley and MIT, his fans have known this for a while now. I am one of those grateful fans, and the outpouring of love for Lil B on Twitter after this incident brought me back to my #TaskForce days.
Passionate, albeit borderline-idolatrous, my fandom for Lil B has aged almost as well as the BasedGod’s reputation. Below is my Twitter thread story of my experience at the only Lil B concert I’ve ever been to:
@MatthewOgbeifun and I went to a Lil B show at The Cabooze in Minneapolis five years ago in September. Trapped in BasedWorld recently dropped, all the #TaskForce shit was at its underground peak
— Zander Tsadwa (@Zandersagwa) October 24, 2017
The Cabooze is a pretty intimate space, so it was packed. Bunch of sweaty, thirsty fans in their late-teens trying to get as close as possible to the barely elevated stage. Around an hour and a half into his set, he invites as many folk as possible to hop on stage…
— Zander Tsadwa (@Zandersagwa) October 24, 2017
1. Bro endangered himself. People were grabbing on him and getting in his face and shit. 2. You could tell Lil B was happy to be in their midst. He didn’t mind disappearing into the crowd, he didn’t feel like he had to protect himself or his ego from his fans.
— Zander Tsadwa (@Zandersagwa) October 24, 2017
Shit was all good until, inevitably, someone couldn’t handle being around a famous person. Someone snatched Lil B’s chain and disappeared, and everyone got herded off stage. B was yellin’ into the mic condemning what just happened, then went backstage. We thought he was done.
— Zander Tsadwa (@Zandersagwa) October 24, 2017
15 minutes pass, no news about the show’s status. People (sans chain-snatcher) genuinely felt bad. There was no pride in hitting a lick on a Black man carefree enough to call himself the Pretty Bitch. We didn’t deserve more of Lil B’s time, but lo and behold, he came back out.
— Zander Tsadwa (@Zandersagwa) October 24, 2017
Not only did he come back out, but he spent more than an hour autographing shit for the fans who stayed. We wasted his time, took advantage of his kindness and pacifism, and he still gave it to us.
— Zander Tsadwa (@Zandersagwa) October 24, 2017
Say what you want about his lyrics and tweets not being PC, but his commitment to peace and love is real. Thank you, BasedGod. 🙏
— Zander Tsadwa (@Zandersagwa) October 24, 2017
If you were/are skeptical of Lil B’s brand, I hope this story validates the praise he has been receiving for his response to the Rolling Loud incident. His message is a powerful and a consistent one, and it benefits all of hip-hop to acknowledge and learn from it.
#TYBG