Talib didn't owe 3rd Rail tickets at any point.

3rd Rail did not owe Talib a radio guest spot at any point.

3rd Rail also does not owe Talib airplay on his show at any point.

So what we have here is two parties that expected something that wasn't owed them and got pissed about it, right?

Talib was heated about not being allowed to come on 3rd Rail's show. 3rd Rail did not owe him a guest spot. 3rd Rail did not have Talib as a high priority to be on the show at that point.

3rd Rail was heated about not getting free tickets to a show. Talib's priorities are apparently to get his "peoples" in ahead of 3rd Rail.

3rd Rail is currently exercising his very valid option not to play Talib Kweli on his radio show, just as Kweli is exercising his very valid option to continue screaming on 3rd Rail rather than accepting the previously proffered olive branch that would A. Squash the beef B. Stop the boycott.

Having read both sides of this, it's hard to see exactly where Talib's priorities lie at certain points. Let's start with the in-store no-show. Talib says he was on his way to do the in-store when he heard it was 3rd Rail's store. Upon hearing this, he decided not to go. Now, if hearing 3rd Rail's name was the deciding factor, that would mean that Talib at that point decided his dislike for 3rdRail made undertaking all of the negative fallout from pulling a no-show: disappointed fans, lost sales, ill-will with the store, etc., worthwhile. Which is a valid decision, although I personally think it can be considered a bad business move. Then he goes on to cite fatigue in his apology as the reason he stood up X number of fans who had nothing to do with the beef. Maybe I read that wrong, or perhaps the mere mention of 3rd Rail's name had such a Kryptonite-like effect on Talib that it sapped all of his precious autograph-signing strength and this is something most okp's were already aware of and I just found out about........

So either fatigue is the reason he stood peeps up, or hatred for 3rd Rail. Judging by when he had the car turned around, it seems to be the latter. If this is the case, he left innocent fans out in the cold and passed up potential sales by not showing up at the in-store. Considering he's concerned about food for his baby's mouth, I would argue that making the aforementioned decision as akin to cutting his nose off to spite his face.

Now, moving on, let's be honest about hip-hop being a business now. If so, profitable relationships must be cultivated to maximize success, correct? If DJ 3rdRail has all this clout, I would argue that the best thing for an artist such as Talib from a profitablity standpoint is to preserve at minimum a "quid pro quo" relationship with him. If we look at 3rd Rail's radio show/mixtapes, etc. as free advertising that reaches X,000 people, then the first guest spot on the show with no strings attached had significant value. One could argue that if 3rd Rail's promotion of Reflection Eternal resulted in even a one digit percentage of said population buying Train of Thought, giving 3rd Rail one ticket or a backstage pass is a small price to pay in comparison. Talib elected not to make said act of goodwill, and thereby lost access to the goodwill of 3rd Rail.

It's not a "bitch move" necessarily on either part, just two grown men with priorities that did not include cultivating a working business relationship between them.

The only things that I take issue with are:

1. Talib claiming 3rd Rail is taking food out of his baby's mouth. It's like this: if someone asks you for a favor, you decline, then turn right around and expect that same person to do you a favor, then scream on them when they are essentially doing you another favor, and they cut you off, chances are you MIGHT have brought it on yourself. At the point 3rd rail said, if we squash, there will be no boycott, and Talib says fuck squashing, he's starvin his own damn kid.

2. Talib blew off fans who had nothing to do with the beef. This also rolls back in to starving his kid, but at the point Jill Scott can brave the flu and do shows, in-stores, etc., we all know this was just his petty way of getting back at 3rd Rail and he didn't think beyond that. Or Jill Scott's a stronger person....

3. 3rd Rail taking anyone he knows playing Talib's music as a personal affront. I think it's unfair to expect everyone to jump in the boycott just because Talib's relationship management skills took a vacation.

My two cents.















AIM: nichet00

"Even when I say nothing, it's a brilliant use of negative space" El-P


Raeshika: i bought slum used today
Raeshika: returned it 3 hrs later.
nichet00: ha ha
nichet00: that should go in my sig
nichet00: putting it in now