Hip-hop stars turn to Twitter to speak their mind

But West’s feelings dump was only part of a busy week for hip-hop on Twitter. A couple of years past his most fearsome stage,50 Cent was foaming at the keyboard about groupies and the relationship troubles of his friend boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. And a war flared up between Soulja Boy and Fabolous,two minor stars.

Any of these artistes might normally have taken to the studio to express the same sentiments they did on their Twitter pages. But for now,140 characters has become the new 16 bars. More so than in any other genre,save for maybe teen-pop,stars of hip-hop have taken to Twitter. As a medium,it suits hip-hop’s instantaneity well.

“These tweets have no manager,no publicist,no grammar checking… this is raw,” West wrote,acknowledging the medium’s promise of highlighting artists in an unmonitored fashion.

Hip-hop has been quick to exploit new online platforms as they’ve developed,particularly for the promulgation of grudges. The standard for Internet-era rap conflict remains the flare-up between Soulja Boy and Ice-T in 2008,an exchange of hilarious insult-filled clips on YouTube. By comparison,the exchange this week between Soulja Boy and Fabolous,a far worthier adversary,was a minor dust-up.

Fabolous is the most amusing on Twitter,an originator of numerous humorous hashtags that become “trending topics”,Twitter’s category of popular subjects.

On Wednesday night,Fabolous and Soulja Boy reached a détente in a joint appearance on the New York radio station Power 105. By Friday,Soulja Boy appeared to have scrubbed his feed clean of any offending posts.

The biggest surprise of the hip-hop Twitterverse is how unsurprising these developments have been. Of course West is self-aggrandising,even in his most vulnerable moments. And of course 50 Cent is loose-lipped.

But each of these,for better or worse,seem like aberrations. By comparison,West has been true to form,unfiltered and scattered. His Twitter is endlessly fascinating and endlessly mockable,wholly lacking in irony,whether he’s boasting or confessing.

And though his emotional awakening was compelling reading,he doesn’t privilege the sincere over the petty. A couple of days after apologising to Swift,West was rambling about Prada suits. “How bout some good old fashion horrendous spelling and bad grammar… so you know it’s really me,” he wrote.