Here at the Blue Corner, we’re not entirely sure about the eligibility rules for next year’s Grammys, but we’re reasonably sure Jake Paul’s foray into the rap game will fall short of a nomination.
And probably by a lot. Paul dropped a rap song and video on his YouTube channel Friday. It’s cleverly titled “Dana White Diss Track.” And diss Dana White, it does, clearly the next step for Paul in his ongoing public feud with the UFC president.
The opening of the video features former UFC women’s featherweight champion and current Bellator champ Cris Cyborg in a dramatization of a fighter signing a contract at “UCF Headquarters” under pressure from a bald executive. The executive tells her it’s a three-fight deal for $12,000 a fight, then celebrates with other execs in the room after she leaves because they’ve locked her up for life.
Then a bat-wielding Paul arrives with a crew to take matters into his own hands.
Before the start of the song, a screen appears with a disclaimer: “The events and subject matter portrayed in this song and video are fictitious and should not be taken as factual reporting. All public figure or celebrity depictions, likenesses and voices are strictly intended to be impersonation and personality parody. This video and song are merely an opinion and artistic interpretation.”
The YouTube description for the song says “All proceeds from this video go to underpaid fighters in the UFC who get paid the $12k minimum.” But that probably should be taken with at least one grain of salt.
The lyrics don’t exactly start out very clever – though they improve a little bit later. The track opens with a chant of “Everybody from the UFC, put your motherfu*kin’ hands up and follow me.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s a pretty clear lift from Eminem’s rap battle against Papa Doc in the movie “8 Mile,” in which Shady warms the crowd up with “Now everybody from the 3-1-3, put your motherfu*kin’ hands up and follow me.”
Paul followed that bit of appropriation – or paying homage, if we’re being nice – with a few chants of “F*ck Dana. F*ck Dana White. F*ck Dana. F*ck Dana White.” From an originality standpoint, the first bit isn’t off to a great start.
After that, though, things occasionally turned clever. But we’ll let you draw your own conclusions about the quality of the lyrics.
The gist of the song hits on Paul’s assertion the UFC doesn’t pay its fighters enough and should provide better health benefits to them. Paul and White have gone back and forth in the media in recent months, and it ramped up after Paul knocked out former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in brutal fashion in mid-December.
Paul also rips Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz in the song.
You can see all the madness in the video above.
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