Edsel Dope has responded to Robb Flynn after the MACHINE HEAD frontman took a shot at DOPE in two separate Instagram posts earlier this week.
On Monday, Flynn dismissed the lyrical similarity between MACHINE HEAD 's new song "Do Or Die" , which features the line "Die, Motherfucker, Die", and DOPE 's 2001 song "Die MF Die" , insisting that it was actually inspired by the hip-hop classic "The Roof Is On Fire" by ROCK MASTER SCOTT & THE DYNAMIC THREE . He also closed out his post by asking the question, "Who the fuck listens to DOPE !!??" A day later, Flynn shared an Instagram photo of a fan who showed up to a MACHINE HEAD meet-and-greet wearing a DOPE t-shirt. He included the caption: "This was funny... today's meet & greet. I asked her to name a song... she couldn't"
Flynn 's social media posts caught the attention of Dope , who took to his band's Facebook page earlier today to address Flynn 's comments.
Edsel wrote: "Yesterday, Robb Flynn took to Instagram to publicly asked the question 'Who the fuck listens to DOPE ?' Then today, he fired another shot at our band by posting a photo of himself, posing with a fan who was wearing a DOPE shirt, with an unflattering caption.
"As a grown-ass man, I feel slightly obligated to acknowledge these 2 separate shots.
"Truth is, I like MACHINE HEAD . Killer band, big fucking draw!! If the two bands ever share the stage again, DOPE would undoubtedly go on before MACHINE HEAD . Much respect!
"That's not the question. The question was: 'Who the fuck listens to DOPE ?' Well, Robb , with Spotify being the place where the majority of the listeners go these days, the answer to your question is actually quantifiable.
"Check it out.
* DOPE monthly listeners on Spotify : 1,238,355
* MACHINE HEAD monthly listeners on Spotify : 1,208,667
"Pretty fucking close, brother.
"Only about 30,000 plays separate our two bands from month to month, so it's quite fair to say that a lot of 'mother fuckers' are listening to both MACHINE HEAD and DOPE on Spotify . Slightly more for DOPE , but I digress…
"I guess it would also be fair to mention that the DOPE song that everyone, including Robb is now talking about, 'Die Mother Fucker Die' has about 30 million more plays on Spotify than any song that Robb has actually written or released.
"I'm not talking shit! That's not who I am.
"I really don't have anything negative to say about Robb . These are just the facts.
"We never said that the new MACHINE HEAD song was derivative of DOPE 's 'Die Mother Fucker Die' . Actually, we never said shit!!
"I don't own the phrase 'Die Mother Fucker Die' . It is a commonly used arrangement of ignorant words that will continue to be recycled for years to come. Have at it, bro!
"In the end, I can't help that people associate the phrase with DOPE . DOPE 's 'Die Mother Fucker Die' has been around for almost 20 years and it has racked up more than 60 million plays on Spotify . The U.S. military adopted the song into training and tactical drills, so any soldier under the age of 40 is familiar with our jam, especially if they served in Iraq.
"It is what it is and DOPE certainly didn't instigate this nonsense.
" DOPE is on tour, in Vienna and we weren't even aware that MACHINE HEAD put out a new song until my phone started blowing up from people sharing Robb 's Instagram rant, which unmistakably and unnecessarily singled DOPE out at the end.
"I wasn't even gonna address it. Then he came at us again today. It's just silly.
"I've always had respect for Robb . He is a prolific artist and he says what he feels. I respect that. However, I'm not really sure what he hoped to accomplish by calling out DOPE , not once but twice in the last couple days.
"In closing, I hope that I've answered his question and I further hope that we've heard the last of this 'Die Mother Fucker Die' high school drama."
"Do Or Die" is available now on all digital platforms via Imperium Recordings / Nuclear Blast .
