Authorities have recently questioned rapper Bobby Ryan about his possible role in the alleged disappearance of fellow rapper Noah Wark this past January.
Rob Patla, Wark’s manager, refused to talk to the press in detail and would not confirm or deny Wark’s whereabouts. Patla nonetheless downplayed campus talk of a feud between the rappers: “That’s all hype from ******The Lawrentian***** and ******The One Minute Left,****** which just want to outsell each other. It’s just part of the biz.”
Anonymous sources contacted Dean of Students Nancy Truesdell last December with concerns that the alleged feud between Ryan and Wark was escalating.
The feud, which began backstage at the LU Live talent competition in September, escalated with a rhyming battle between the two one November night. Wark shouted from the Sig Ep steps to Ryan, who stood outside the ORC house.
Patla declared Wark the winner, throwing Ryan into a rage.
“You know how it is and how it’s gotta be / When you spin the rhymes from sea to shinin’ sea / They didn’t get you then and they sure won’t now / So why should I even tell you how?” Ryan freestyled, before spitting towards the Sig Ep house. Ryan missed and hit the Yuai house instead.
Patla never publicly acknowledged that Ryan may have had some role in Wark’s disappearance, but a brawl ensued backstage at LU Live 2.0 about Patla’s last-minute decision to bring in renowned rapper Common *********– at great expense to the university ********– to face off against Ryan in the evening’s rap battle, which offered the winner a $12,000 reward.
“You know how it is / You come in a winner like you ain’t a sinner / And just like that your future, it gets thinner / Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin’ to be so quiet? / Fool, be lucky you don’t see it when I start in to riot,” said Ryan.
Ryan’s head of security, Adam Minor, denied Ryan’s role in Wark’s disappearance. “He disappeared the moment he recorded ‘I Want to Thank You.’ Those were pretty whack lyrics. My boy can take him on the mic any day ********– we’re all peaceful people, anyway.”
Some fear that Wark, acknowledged as a talented rapper, may face opposition in the wider hip-hop community. Not just for his race, but for his name, which recalls a slang word for “narcotics officer,” will he find opposition. Narcotics officers are typically not “cool” people in the hip-hop world, even among non-drug users.
“Wark it now, yeah I’ll allow / but when the night is over, I take my bow,” Ryan concluded.
When asked of the controversy, former Bad News Jones rapper Jed Spiegelman nodded, grinned, winked, and shrugged in one relaxed, flowing motion.