“(Back in the day) we used to walk around”, laments eccentric hip-hop icon Kool Keith as he describes the contrasts between rap music’s golden age and its current, hostility-spiked incarnation.  “You used to see KRS, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul.  Everybody would be at the clubs together.  You’d run into anybody at that time.  Now you can’t make a record and walk around.  Why should I make a record to hide?  Now what you say (can be dangerous).  These guys can’t be competitive because they don’t know how to rap against each other and make it a sport.  Rap is a verbal sport.  It’s like tennis, like baseball, like basketball.  (During the game) the guys shove each other, push each other around. That’s what verbal combat is about.  Now it’s, ‘Oh, he said something about you, you need to see him’.  It doesn’t really make sense.”