Up Next

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 7: Rich Homie Quan attends the VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail The Queens at avid Geffen Hall on July 11, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
2 min read

Rich Homie Quan had one job

… and he blew it

Justin Tinsley @JustinTinsley

Up Next From Culture

    12:28 PMCoogi (although it wasn’t “down to the socks“)? Check. Butter Timbs? Check. Lil’ Kim by his side ready to run through the 1995 Junior M.A.F.I.A. hit single, “Get Money.” Check.

    Monday night’s VH1 Hip Hop Honors should have been all about celebrating the genre’s heroines such as Salt-N-Pepa, Missy Elliot, the aforementioned Lil’ Kim, Queen Latifah and more. And, you know what? It absolutely was. But all anyone can talk about is rapper Rich Homie Quan’s gaffe that certainly has people — wait for it — feeling “some type of way.”

    Rich Homie Quan not only stumbled through the lyrics of The Notorious B.I.G.’s verse on “Get Money,” he straight forgot them altogether, leaving Lil’ Kim to pull double duty. I can understand dropping the ball on “Notorious Thugs,” or “Everyday Struggle” or “Who Shot Ya?” While they’re classics in their own right, those aren’t pop-culture staples the way the Junior M.A.F.I.A. banger is. But you absolutely cannot desecrate “Get Money.” Especially when they’ve got you on tape saying this before the damn show!

    To be fair, I get it, people make mistakes. Performing someone else’s songs isn’t as easy as it seems. And there’s a certain level of pressure that comes with spitting a legend’s lyrics. Lupe Fiasco caught flak in 2007 for a two-bar mishap on the late Phife Dawg’s verse from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation.” But with Fiasco, it was a minor fender bender compared to the 20-car pileup that was Rich Homie Quan’s.

    And, look, I like quite a bit of Rich Homie Quan’s music. That first Rich Gang tape with Young Thug was incredible. But a spade has to be called a spade — you can’t be out here having Biggie choke on his T-bone steak, cheese eggs and Welch’s grape up in heaven. Rich Homie Quan, you signed a damn contract. Know the damn lyrics!

    Needless to say, his blunder wasn’t lost on social media:

    Justin Tinsley is a senior culture writer for Andscape. He firmly believes “Cash Money Records takin’ ova for da ’99 and da 2000” is the single most impactful statement of his generation.