THE FINE ART OF DISSING: HOW NOT TO PUSH YOUR LUCK

Grab your gl..ks when you see 2pac,
Call the cops when you see 2pac, uh,
Who shot me but your pu..ks didn’t finish,
Now you ‘bout to feel the wrath of a menace,
n..gga I hit ‘em up

This chorus is from the 1996 song “Hit ‘Em Up” by the late 2pac featuring his outlawz. This song was particularly directed at the late Notorious B.I.G and Sean “Puffy” Combs (now known as P.Diddy or simply Diddy).

Fast-forward to Nigeria 2008 and hear:

baba dat baba, you not a father,
you got intellect myopia,
so when I dis [emphasis mine] a baba,
it’s not Ethiopia.

This lyrics form a part of a song titled “Talking to you” performed by popular Nigerian rap artiste Modenine and featuring another Nigerian R&B crooner Banky W. This song is believed by many Nigerians to be a diss song directed at fellow Nigerian rap artiste Rugged man (Ruggedy baba).

According to Urban dictionary, “diss is a shortened version of disrespect”. A diss song or tract primarily intends to attack or express a negative opinion at another person or (most commonly another artiste). This particular style of singing has found its way into the new age hip-hop genre and is constantly contributing to the hip-hop rivalry tension.

While many recording artiste may not be aware, a diss song if not done within the limits of the law, may actually incur liability for the disser for the Nigerian tort of Defamation.

Defamation is the tort or civil wrong of publishing a false and derogatory statement against another person without lawful justification. This publication tends to:
I. Injure his reputation in the opinion of right thinking members of his community; or
II. Expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or
III. To cause other persons to shun or avoid him; or
IV. To discredit him in his office, trade or profession; or
V. To injure his financial credit

Basically there are two types of defamations and a diss song is implicated in both types.
I. Libel is defamation by means of writing, print or some other permanent form. The lyrics contained in a diss song are considered to be in writing and hence would come within the meaning of libel if it meets the criteria for defamation.
II. Slander is defamation by way of spoken words (or in this case by singing). A defamatory diss song would also come under the meaning of slander since they are in fact addressed to the ear, while libel is addressed to the eye.
For the disser to become responsible for the tort of defamation, the aggrieved party must prove in the court that the (i) words in the diss song were in fact defamatory, (ii) that the word referred to him, (iii) that the words were published, that is communicated to at least one other person other than the aggrieved. For the disser the defences to enable him escape liability for defamatorily dissing are:
I. Truth: This is an absolute defence to a claim by the aggrieved only where the words complained of are in fact true in substance.
II. Fair comment which arises from our fundamental freedom of expression. In order to succeed on this defence, the disser must be able to establish that the words in the diss song referred to a matter of public interest (the meaning of this varies according to individual cases), the diss song must have represented an opinion and not an assertion of fact truly stated, that the words or comments from the diss song must have been honestly made and not borne as a result of malice.

All said, Nigerian artistes intending to engage in the fine art of dissing, always remember the limits of the law or you will be pushing your luck too far.

PS: Did you know that in 2007, American rap artiste 50 cent declared that if fellow American rapper Kanye West out sold him in the first week, he would retire from the rap scene, Kanye eventually did out sell him with 957,000 copies to his 691,000. Last time I checked 50 cent is still making music, his last album released in 2009 was titled “Before I self destruct”. I hear the working title of his album due to be released this year is “Black Magic”.