*Rapper Ras Kass’ new song in the back-and-forth dis-fest with The Game contains a line referencing the recent death of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irvin that has deeply offended his manager.
Last week, the West Coast MC dropped “Gayme Over,” the latest shot in a beef that accelerated last month following their fight at a Los Angeles night club. Ras Kass raps in the song: "You're the waste of LA/get blast up in LA/face down, ass up in LA/you the Crocodile Hunter, I am the stingray"
"I just find it a bit sad that people have to stoop to that," John Stainton told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It is disappointing. I can't understand the point of it. There are other references they can make that will put the point across."
Stainton was on Irwin's boat, the Croc One, when a stingray's tail pierced Irwin's chest and fatally poked a hole in his heart.
"I just think it is a pity that people do have to use Steve or anyone who has died in tragic circumstances as a form of entertainment."
UPDATE
Rass Kass has issued a response/open letter to John Stainton via the Sydney Morning Herald. To read it, please scroll down.
In related news, “Gayme Over” also addresses The Game’s appearance on the dating show “Change of Heart,” where couples date other people and decide if they want to stay together.
During the episode, Game’s then-girlfriend, Sadita, said about the aspiring rapper: “All he [does] is smother me or cry like a baby. That's all he does." Then, she said, "I can't stand looking at his ugly nose . . . He's a scrub, he doesn't have a car, and I feel like I always have to drive him around."
The Game’s arranged date, Arana, told the show's producers: "He made a comment that he was going to show me what he has later on . . . which is nothing!"
At the end of the show The Game said he wanted to stay with Sadita – but she did not choose to stay with him.
RASS KASS' OPEN LETTER TO JOHN STAINTON:
Every person should be treated with an equal brush stroke, or no one should, and everything must be considered in context. I am a hip hop artist. Hip hop is like any other art form; nothing is sacred, nothing is off limits. As such, I have used historical events and current events as metaphors to express a greater perspective to certain ideas and points. At other times, I myself, have been referenced- be it in a positive or negative light. That is part of the creative process and the nature of what rap music is. I in no way have, or have had any ill will towards the late Steve Irwin. Sadly, I think this has been unreasonably blown out of proportion.
Steve Irwin who loved nature and had a pioneering spirit, knowing the dangers of nature, put himself in harms way consistently, understanding the risks involved in his passion/ job. He even requested that in the event of his demise that the show being recorded be aired in its entirety.
What strikes me as hypocritical is that in a six minute song (that literally starts out with gun shots) the only thing that stood out in Mr. Stainton's mind was a one-bar reference to a current event. Actually, a reference where there is no trace of malediction; I specifically used the metaphor neither making a positive or negative judgment or connotation about the late Mr. Irwin. Mr. Stainton doesn't seem to be the least bit concerned with other references that one could (mis)construe as homophobic or misogynistic, let alone is he concerned with the potential violence in hip hop or black-on-black violence. He only seems to be bothered by one line. I am just saying that consistency would be nice.
If you aren't from the hip hop culture and are not familiar with it then you are not qualified to judge it. Whether American or Australian, every human life is valuable; otherwise it makes it appear that Mr. Stainton thinks that only one man's is.
Sincerely,
Ras Kass