Beefs ain't what they used to be, and the world of hip-hop is honestly better for it.
But over the weekend, one California rapper was happy to have a war of words over social media -- and let some fists fly -- with one of Miami's local legends.
At the Nest, Lil Debbie and her entourage put a beatdown on hometown music man Otto Von Schirach when the latter jumped on the stage during her recent performance. What's less clear is why the fight went down.
See Also: Review & Photos: Lil Debbie and Otto Von Schirach - The Nest, Miami
However, Nest co-owner Anders Scherberger insists: "None of the 25 or so acts that played on that stage with that equipment had any sort of problems. All of a sudden, her opening acts and her DJ apparently were claiming that all of that equipment was faulty and all of it was breaking, when in reality, her DJ just didn't know what he was doing back there, I think."
Scherberger says Lil Debbie was tripping over her mic cord and unplugged it at least once, while one of her friends stumbled near the lighting equipment and knocked the light cords out of their sockets. Meanwhile, Lil Debbie was blaming the destruction on the venue.
"She just doesn't really know how to act onstage, I guess," Scherberger says.
It didn't help matters that the size of the crowd was underwhelming.
"When I got in there, there was like 30, 25 people," says Schirach, who joined the inside show after finishing up his own rowdy outside performance. "I've played shows where it's only like 20 or 30 people, and the energy is not the same when there's 100 or 200 or 1,000. The energy is at a minimal, and I think she was really complaining about that. She's maybe not used to doing shows where it's only 20 people, and she was upset."
See also: Miami's Five Best Music Venues for Local Acts
The real trouble started when Lil Debbie asked the crowd to "turn up," so Schirach and his friends started yelling in the back. To Lil Debbie and her management, it was heckling, but from Schirach's side of the story, he was just trying to help.
"Basically," Debbie's manager Dannie tells Crossfade, "there was an opener [Otto Von Schirach] that we didn't know, and dude was drunk in the crowd, yelling loud and crazy. The only reason we heard him was that the sound system in this club [the Nest] was horrible; it kept going in and out, and the lights cut off in the place.
"During the show, [Lil Debbie] was like, 'Man, y'all need to fix this shit.' While all this was going on, you could hear the dude yelling, and he's shouting a vulgar Spanish word [pinga], and people are like, 'He's sayin' penis, penis.'
"She's like, 'What? What the fuck is he saying that for?' And she's like, 'Dude, I can't hear you. I don't know why you're standing back there, yelling shit at me anyway.' Then the dude comes through the crowd to the stage and grabs the microphone.
"So Debbie's like, 'What are you doin'?' And he just pushes her and grabs the mic. And when that happened, we aren't gonna let no one push her, and that turned into that dude getting what needed to be got."
For his part, Schirach says: "We were screaming in the back because she was like, 'Turn up, you guys are sleepy,' so we were trying to turn up. I'm actually a fan; I was excited to see her," he admits. "She invited us onstage, like, 'Whoever is screaming come up to the front,' and I heard it like, 'Turn up, let's have a show.'"
Once on the stage, the misunderstanding became apparent.
"She shoves the mic in my face, and I was gonna say like, 'Yo, Lil Debbie, fuckin' Miami, what's up? Let's do this' or whatever, and all of a sudden, she pushed my face, and her DJ comes and starts swinging at me. Some other dude attacks me from behind, like from the side and behind, and I just start rolling to the back and tried to avoid punches. Then I did a back roll, and I took one of them down, and by that time, they broke it up."
Club co-owner Scherberger says: "All of our staff handled it in seconds. It was broken up, and we kicked them all out of the club immediately. The crowd helped too, to pull everybody apart. It was such a wonderful, positive night until she started screaming bullshit into the microphone."
See also: Miami's 25 Best Electronic Music Acts
The Nest addressed the incident with a post on facebook.com/TheNestMIA:
The show was immediately halted and the performers and attendees were ejected from the venue. The Nest has a zero-tolerance policy for negativity, violence or disrespect within our walls, whether on the stage or in the audience.The Nest prides itself in its conscious values and peaceful atmosphere. We're incredibly sorry that not everyone can uphold those values.
Of course, from Lil Debbie's side, it's a much different story:
Lol who wAs the punk I got beat up in the club lastnight
— Lil Debbie (@L1LDebbie) August 24, 2014
Don't ever try to dis my name cus a 40 year old man pushed me & grabbed a mic outta my hand & he got his ass slapped up by me & than beat up
— Lil Debbie (@L1LDebbie) August 25, 2014
Even rob banks & Pouya was talkin shit bout that club and them old heads in it.
— Lil Debbie (@L1LDebbie) August 25, 2014
All my shows go amazing I bring bitchs on stage we smoke turn up.The lights don't cut out on me or the sound.& 40 year old men don't push me
— Lil Debbie (@L1LDebbie) August 25, 2014
That club literally sucked. Ther lights broke in the middle of my performance ther sound broke and they had no AC ..Nbdy wanna mention that
— Lil Debbie (@L1LDebbie) August 25, 2014
It's so clear everyone at that show was over 35 and MADDDD .
— Lil Debbie (@L1LDebbie) August 25, 2014
Anywhere else I go .. I run my shows and everyone's professional unlike @thenest
— Lil Debbie (@L1LDebbie) August 25, 2014
Scherberger and his team at the Nest aren't letting this debacle get to them, and they're sure they'll welcome a "more conscious" breed of hip-hop act in the future, no matter what Lil Debbie has to say.
"She called us all chauvinistic pigs, and my girlfriend co-owns the place," Scherberger says. "I don't think we're chauvinists."
Meanwhile, Schirach would rather put the whole issue behind him, though he's concerned over rumors that he hit Debbie, rumors that she's reportedly threatened to publicize.
"She's saying that I hit her, and I didn't," he insists. "I'm Cuban; I was raised never to hit a woman. I've been beat the fuck out of by women, y'know, and I won't hit 'em back. I never hit Lil Debbie. If I would ever hit a woman, my grandma would come back to life and beat me."
Other than that, he's not trying to get involved.
"I don't retweet her, I don't engage messages with her, because it's like, I'm not gonna fight her on the internet; it's pointless," he says. "It happened. It was really stupid, and it sucks."
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Follow Kat Bein on Twitter @KatSaysKill.