The budding genre known as “Bromance” may be fairly new, but the male bonds it represents are not. I Love You, Man has been a box office sensation and Jimmy Fallon even featured a few bromance novels on his new late night TV show. Bromances may strike you as very un-Hip-Hop, but you would be surprised. Check out the stories of some of Hip-Hop’s most dedicated life-partners below.
Jay-Z & Memphis Bleek
How can we forget hip-hop’s quintessential couple—the Big Homie and his doo-ragged apprentice? Jay-Z was a big-shot in Bedstuy’s Marcy Projects, back when Bleek was just a neighborhood kid with high hopes and great admiration. Nonetheless, despite the difference in status and age, their Cinderella story took root. On Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt he noted, “I got this shorty on my block always clockin my rocks / He likes the style and profile…He likes the way I walk…He wanna, run with me, I know this kid’ll be loyal.”
And life imitated art as Hov took Bleek from the drug-infested Marcy houses to the open road and riches. Though there was no formal ceremony, Bleek uttered the binding words “till death do us part” at the end of their duet “Coming of Age.” Bleek never met much success rapping, but Jay seemed perfectly happy to provide for his shorty as long as he accompanied him on tour and helped him finish his sentences on stage.
A certain Beyoncé Knowles may have sullied Memphis Bleek’s dreams of eternal bromance, but Jay reaffirmed his love for Bleek on the remix of Kanye West’s “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” saying, “Bleek could be one hit away his whole career / as long as I’m alive he’s a millionaire / And even if I die he’s in my will somewhere / so he can just kick back and chill somewhere.”
50 Cent & Tony Yayo
Tony Yayo and 50 Cent had been close for years, but just as 50 began his assent to fame and fortune, Yayo was knocked for a gun charge. Rather than turn himself in and miss the fun however, the two ran off together to enjoy the spoils of stardom. And when Yayo finally was sent upstate, 50 didn’t forget his lesser-half, shouting out his incarcerated man-bride more than Amy Winehouse mentions her abusive beau Bradley. 50 continued to tour with whichever G-Unit infantry he was feeling at the moment, but he missed the blind loyalty of his childhood companion.
Upon his release, the uninspired “Free Yayo” t-shirts were closeted and 50 showered his slow-witted boo with big bucks. In appreciation, Yayo bought 50 a huge diamond ring (with 50’s money) that they giddily fawned over on the Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman remarked that it would be a bit weird if Paul Schaffer gave him such a ring, but I guess 50 and Yayo are just that close.
It doesn’t matter how comically bad Yayo’s record sales are, or how many kids he smacks up in broad daylight, 50 holds him dear regardless. Fiddy is known to lose interest in his pals quickly and is devastatingly effective at ethering foes, but Tony doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
The Game & Dr. Dre (feat. 50 Cent)
This story is a classic love triangle replete with unrequited love, jealousy and drama. The Game was just another mixtape startup when Dr. Dre swept him off his feet with an Aftermath recording contract and introduced him to stardom. The Game, impressed by Dre’s revered status as a West Coast icon, became so smitten with the Compton OG that he even got “NWA” tatted on his chest in the infancy of their relationship.
Dre then introduced The Game to 50 Cent, another certified star, and together they put together The Documentary, The Game’s 5x platinum debut. But while Katie Holmes was granted her childhood dream of Tom Cruise, Jayceon Taylor lost Dr. Dre to another man—his label mate 50 Cent.
Curtis Jackson and Jayceon Taylor never were a great fit, and eventually 50 Cent kicked The Game out of G-Unit. Dre warned Game to keep his mouth shut, but pride got the best of the young gun and he fired back. Since then the good doctor hasn’t been so good to him. In fact, despite naming his second album The Doctor’s Advocate and name-dropping Dr. Dre upwards of 40 times on it, Dre has maintained his distance.
The Game has been moderately successful without 50 and Dre, but you can tell the rift still stings him. He continues to both bash and revere his former mentor—signs that his heart and pride have yet to reconcile. Maybe someday Dr. Dre will let Game back into his life. Maybe someday The Game will finally move on. Either way, it’s clear that 50’s former foe Ja Rule was right, “Pain is love.”
Lil Wayne & Baby
The saga of the Birdman and the Birdman Jr. is one of riches, but it is also one of kisses. Ever since a camera caught them locking lips in late 2006, their relationship has been forced into the open and ridiculed by homophobic rap fans in comment sections across the blogosphere.
They explain it as a loving father-son bond, but questions linger about the particulars of their relationship. Interestingly, they have fanned many of those flames themselves. For instance, when Baby, Weezy and Manny Fresh appeared on 106 & Park back during the reign of AJ and Free, Wayne claimed, “I’m the only one he (Baby) kisses.”
Their lasting dedication to each other is doubly endearing when you consider that Wayne could have left Baby for more lucrative label deals many times. Girls have come and gone, Wayne has transcended from a rat-faced nobody to a pop star, and the other Hot Boys have fallen from grace, but these two endure. Baby even sports a tat of Lil Wayne’s head on his chest, similar to The Game’s inked homage to NWA.
It’s unfortunate that their love has to mirror the age-old incestuous stereotype of the South, but I guess we can’t choose who we fall for.
-Lukas Brekke-Miesner
