A coproduction of the BET network and filmmaker-musical producer QDIII (aka Quincy Jones III, Beef: The Series offered insight and intimate detail vis-à-vis the many "celebrity conflicts" which permeated showbiz in general and the Hip Hop field in particular. Amoong those featured were the well-publicized (and sometimes not so well-publicized) feuds between Kobe and Shaq, 50 Cent and Ja Rule, R. Kelly and Jay Z, Li'l Romeo and Bow Wow, former Dogg Pound colleagues Daz and Kurupt, and--perhaps inevitably, since this was a cable series--the battle between Dave Chapelle and Comedy Central. Though viewers tuned in to watch the sparks (and insults) fly, producer QD3 insisted that it was not his purpose to "promote negativity", and went out of his way to bring many of the cobatants together on neutral ground to air their differences in a mature, level-headed fashion. Beef: The Series premiered on October 4, 2006.
by Hal Erickson
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