Yesterday (August 28), Ultimate Rap League's
Beasley spoke with HipHopDX about
"Summer Madness 3" and Loaded Lux's "Bout My Money," a diss song towards the company. Today (August 29),
Loaded Luxresponded to Beasley's comments with a statement about the circumstances surrounding his not being scheduled to appear at the Battle Rap event, "Summer Madness 3;" his future plans with SMACK/URL; his own Battle Rap league, Lionz Den; and his SMACK diss track, "Bout My Money."
"The song ['Bout My Money'] was done without the SMACK verse," Loaded Lux said in an exclusive statement to HipHopDX. "Then, when SMACK jumped out the window with his blog, I took it personal because I always give 150% when I step in that box."
The blog that Lux was referring to featured comments from SMACK, the co-founder and host of URL, that pertained to a lack of preparation from some prominent battle rappers.
"It's not about the big names no more," SMACK said in the video blog. "Because a lot of the big names that actually perform on the stage ain't delivering the quality battles and the quality performances that we're looking for."
This didn't sit well with Loaded Lux, who says that he always tries to deliver a quality performance.
"For him to say that," Loaded Lux said, "I owed it to my real fans to respond. I want them to know the whole story. So I rewrote the second verse [of 'Bout My Money']. Also, when they revealed the money discussions, I thought they crossed the line. I had been promoting that I was gonna be on 'Summer Madness 3' based on five months of assurances from the URL camp that they would meet our financial requirements. We had a meeting in March 2013 to discuss 'SM3.' Everything was good. We had an agreement. Then in July, they tell me [there was] no deal. I sacrificed a lot waiting for them to get their act together. Now it seems like they just played me to keep interest until the last minute. So it was imperative that I have my say, so I put it in the song. It just seemed to fit the song. I felt I was standing up for the pioneers of our profession. If it wasn't for us, you don't have the up-and-comers. Older against the younger. That's a divide-and-conquer tactic, oldest trick in the book."
Loaded Lux Says URL Made "One Of The Poorest Business Decisions In Battle Rap History"
While URL said that Loaded Lux was asking for an amount of money that was beyond what they could afford, Lux said that not booking him for the event has repercussions.
"I say that was one of the poorest business decisions in Battle Rap history," Lux said. "Here you have a guy that has increased the fanbase 10 times over. Since my Calicoe battle, I've been on 'Howard Stern [Show].' What battle rapper has done that? You don't get more mainstream than Howard Stern. What battle rapper is quoted on 'NBA Today' on ESPN? What battle has ever gotten 3 million views? Can you even name the 'Summer Madness 2' card without thinking about it? What battle rapper is quoted or mentioned in mainstream songs as much as I have been? I'm not trying to blow my own horn, but if ever there was an opportunity to capitalize on this thing that we do, this was it.
"There is a worldwide audience for Battle Rap and they were watching and waiting with eager anticipation for Lux versus Hollow [Da Don]," Lux continued. "The Battle Rap audience is much larger than can fit in Stage 48. My management team came with a plan to reach that audience. We didn't come Goodfellas style, 'fukk you pay me.' We came to the table with two additional revenue streams that they were not considering. So we were essentially paying ourselves. Live stream pay per view. If one percent paid $20, that's $600,000. With proper promotion, one percent was attainable, maybe even more. That's what we were trying to negotiate. Then, [we suggested] pay-per-view on-demand for, say $2, after the battle. The income was there and we only wanted a 30% share. We were going to let them recoup 50% of my fee from the pay-per-view revenue. I think they were afraid to go get it.
"Let's be very clear," Lux continued. "This is a business and what battle rappers do is almost phenomenal. A recording artist can make hundreds of thousands of dollars off one song, doing the same show over and over, night after night and get royalties. Let a battle rapper repeat a bar, let alone a whole verse, he gets booed. We have to bring new material every time. Not only that, we have to memorize it and be on our toes for rebuttals. We just make it look easy, but it's not. The fact is we had others that wanted to promote the battle, but we wanted to show loyalty to URL. That is our family. I must mention that through all of this, Hollow was on point with the revenue potential of a battle between us. He's a businessman. We couldn't get URL to see it. As the story goes, scared money don't make money."
Loaded Lux Says "The 'Summer Madness' Situation Is 90% Dead
URL has worked with Loaded Lux for years, dating back to SMACK DVDs in the mid-2000s, where Lux's battles were featured. However, Lux doesn't feel SMACK needs to pay him back for any of their early work together, he said.
"I don't feel they owe me anything," Lux said. "Let's be clear. SMACK didn't make Loaded Lux. Loaded Lux made Loaded Lux. I put in a lot of hard work and a lot of hours into my craft. I would say we both helped each other. I gave the art form a hell of a lot, a lot of years. I brought a lot of interest. Let's be clear. There was Lionz Den before there was URL. [Murda] Mook, Jae Mills, [T-]Rex and others, we carried this thing for a long time while the rest caught up to it. Now they want to diss us."
After what has been seen as back-and-forth dissing, Loaded Lux says that he is almost finished giving thought to a performance at this year's "Summer Madness" event.
"I would say the 'Summer Madness' situation is 90% dead," Lux said. "I'm exploring new challenges. But yo, don't think I let Hollow off the hook. He's still gon' get that work. I'm just taking care of other business right now. Honestly, I'm trying to fry bigger fish."
Loaded Lux Says He Will Revive Lionz Den
One of the new challenges Lux discussed may include a mixtape he is readying, one hosted by Shaquille O'Neal. The tape is slated to feature Wyclef Jean, Redman and Method Man, among others.
Once the tape is released, Lux also has plans for his Battle Rap league, Lionz Den.
"We are going to revive Lionz Den," Lux said. "We have a club set for the venue and we're gonna get it in. I might battle Hollow on Lionz Den and we both retire after that. Who knows?"
Loaded Lux had one of the most acclaimed performances at last year's "Summer Madness 2" event, which was organized by SMACK/URL
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