Rayce Aaronson / via publicist
At their core, rap diss songs are kind of immature. Is it appropriate for a grown man to let another man make him upset? But from the silly to the ultra-serious, beef has been the driving force behind enduring hip-hop anthems from “Ether” to “Not Like Us.” So consider “9 bitches” an audition tape for Ken Carson to be added to the canon.
Rage rap’s preeminent star has had implicit beef with other artists, but “9 bitches” dispenses with the subtleties, calling out Nine Vicious by name. For his part, Nine Vicious has been on a rage-baiting world tour since we last wrote about his dismal response to grooming allegations, alternately making up and falling out with everyone from Tezzus to OPIUM producer OPM Babi; lately, he’s been clipfarming at shows by waving the Israeli flag. I guess every generation gets their own 6ix9ine.
On the art of the diss track: oftentimes when evaluating rap beef, people get caught up in the lyrical sparring, breaking down bars for double and triple entendres. I relate to that impulse, but a quick survey of winners and losers over the past decade suggests that none of that matters more than making an insanely catchy song, the sort of thing fans might find themselves mindlessly humming at any random moment. Ken’s always had an instinct for percussive hooks that ingrain themselves in your subconscious, and so in that sense alone, “9 bitches” is an unqualified victory. Ken’s underenunciated chorus is matched by his hilariously bloodthirsty verses: “Pop it on the internet, we gon leave that boy on the concrete,” he raps. ”Bro don’t even tote no nines” (I love kayfabe).
But secretly, “9 bitches” is a showcase for ApolloRed1, the latest YVL signee who’s struck up a close friendship with OsamaSon. His verse is ridiculously nimble, skipping and crawling around the ominous pocket in a freeflowing torrent, saying he’ll take Nine’s ex-girlfriend to brunch and that Lil O had been all too close to confronting the 5’7” rapper in real life: “Osama had got through the gate, he was all at your spot / you better be quick on your feet.” And if you want a triple entendre, he flips Nine’s self-branded catchphrase “FN” a few different ways by the time his verse is over.
Part of what animates Apollo’s verse here is downright distasteful: threats to shoot any “bitch” associated with Nine Vicious and shortly after, a mildly homophobic bar. If you wanted to explain those comments away, you’d likely offer that he’s simply meeting Nine at his level, which isn’t an excuse by any stretch. But these are the moments that ApolloRed’s flow is at its most agile, breathlessly tracing out syncopated cadences. The way every “bitch” lands with a thud at the start of his verse, or how he squeezes every syllable of, “You can call Marlon Wayans, tell him that that n***a that his daughter with might be sus,” into a single bar – galvanized by his contempt, he’s rarely sounded so energized on a track. By the time Apollo wraps his verse up, repetitively taunting, “you ain’t nun,” you might find yourself reaching to rewind before “9 bitches” is even over.
