For better or worse, beef in hip-hop has always been a part of the culture. In some cases they have gotten more personal than they should’ve, in others, they’ve stayed on wax.
Kendrick Lamar and Drake were just involved in what may be remembered as the greatest rap beef ever. Factor in the size of their fanbases and social media, it’s hard to deny. It’s become a cultural moment in music, unlike something we’ve ever seen before.
But let us not forget that there have been some other iconic rap beefs throughout history as well. Here are some of them.
Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake
Only time will tell, but Kendrick Lamar vs Drake may go down as the greatest rap beef of all time based on the status of the artists, the music that came out of it and the impact it had worldwide. Each artist produced some great diss tracks including, “Push Ups,” “euphoria,” “Family Matters,” “meet the grahams,” and most notably, “Not Like Us.”
Notorious B.I.G. vs. Tupac
The tension between these two began after Pac accused Biggie of having him shot while he was headed to record with him in Brooklyn. This led to an all-out feud between the East and West Coasts. While Big never took his issues with 2Pac beyond subliminals, Pac bombed on the entire East Coast with “Hit ‘Em Up.” Even Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound got involved when they released, “New York, New York.”
Nas vs. Jay-Z
These two New York MCs had a beef for the ages. Hov was on top of the game and Nas was coming off of one of his worst albums, Nastradamus. While someone had to lose in this battle, it cemented both as rap legends. Jay-Z started the war of rhymes with “Takeover,” and Nas ended it with “Ether.” Hov eventually came back with “Supa Ugly,” but we don’t like to talk about that one. At least the two eventually made up.
Ice Cube vs. N.W.A.
The way Ice Cube left N.W.A. left some members of the group frustrated. As a result, they aimed a couple of shots at Cube on “100 Miles and Runnin’.” Boy, was that a mistake, because Cube came back with the rawest diss track ever, “No Vaseline.”
Eazy E vs. Dr. Dre
The way Dr. Dre left Ruthless Records left a bad taste in the mouths of Dre and Eazy E. The Compton producer kicked it off with “Fuck Wit Dre Day,” which included a music video where an actor hilariously mimicked Eazy. Many thought the Compton MC did not have the chops to respond, since he wasn’t known for writing his raps. Nobody questioned him after he released, “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s.”
50 Cent vs. Ja Rule
These two still haven’t reconciled after beefing for nearly 24 years. I’m honestly not sure where this beef started, and I’m sure they don’t either. All we know for a fact is that these two MCs don’t like each other. The two have been trading diss tracks since 50 Cent’s 1999 song, “Life’s on the Line,” which was eventually included on his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. The story is that 50 was mad he wasn’t included in the music video for the song, “Murda 4 Life.”
The beef has gotten so petty that 50 Cent once bought 200 front-row tickets to a Ja Rule show just so the venue would look empty.
Drake vs. Meek Mill
Boy, I bet Meek Mill regrets starting this. The Philadelphia rapper started the feud after he accused Drake of having ghostwriters. The Toronto rapper came back with “Charged Up,” which did not give the fans what they wanted. He redeemed himself with “Back to Back,” which not only won Drake the battle, it became one of the biggest songs of the year. It even got nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards.
Drake vs. Pusha T
If you can give it, you gotta be able to take it. There are so many elements of this beef involving Lil Wayne, Birdman, Pharell, and the Clipse that I don’t even want to get into. All you need to know is that Pusha T felt compelled to go at Drake on “Infrared,” rapping,” How can you ever right these wrongs?/When you don’t even write your songs?”
Drake then came back with a great diss on “Duppy Freestyle” going at the Virginia rapper and especially Kanye West. But Pusha ended the whole feud with “Story of Adidon,” revealing that Drake was hiding a son.
Gucci Mane vs. Young Jeezy
This began as a dispute over money made on their 2005 collaboration, “Icy,” and the two went on to trade multiple shots over multiple songs. The beef got even more heated when four men broke into a house Gucci was at, and in self-defense, he killed one of the assailants. That person was Pookie Loc, who was an associate of Jeezy.
Ice Cube vs. Common
In 1994, Common rapped about how hip-hop is obsessed with gangsta rap over conscious lyrics on his track, “I Used to Love H.E.R.” Ice Cube took offense, as a gangsta rapper himself, and responded to the Chicago rapper on “Westside Slaughterhouse.” Common, who later revealed that he was happy that Cube knew who he was, retaliated with “The Bitch in Yoo.” A vicious and calculated track.
LL Cool J vs. Canibus
We all know who LL Cool J is, but do ya’ll remember Canibus? It began after LL thought Canibus took shots at him on his own track, “4,3,2,1” (which is a dope ass track). LL responded on that same 1997 track. In 1998, Canibus came back with “Second Round K.O.’’
Cool J responded with two diss tracks (not featuring Canibus), “The Ripper Strikes Back” and “Back Where I Belong.
50 Cent vs The Game
The beef between these two escalated after The Game was kicked out of 50 Cent’s crew, G-Unit. The two then traded so many diss tracks that’s hard to keep track.
MC Eiht vs. DJ Quik
This one featured two Compton rap legends. DJ Quik started by taking shots at N.W.A. and Compton’s Most Wanted (MC Eiht’s group) on his debut mixtape, The Red Tape, in 1987. The two then traded shots until 1996.
50 Cent vs. Jadakiss
50 Cent was originally cool with Jadakiss and the Lox. But after Jadakiss collaborated with Ja Rule on “New York,” all bets were off and 50 Cent aimed shots toward Ja and Jada.
KRS-One vs. Marley Marl
Better known as “The Bridge Wars,” this beef was a rivalry between KRS-One’s Boogie Down Productions and Marley Marl’s Juice Crew. It began when Marley Marl claimed that Queens was the birthplace of hip-hop on his 1985 track, “The Bridge.” KRS felt differently and responded in 1986 with the track, “South Bronx.” The two crews then began to trade tracks for over two decades, with the beef never really being resolved. Thankfully, it stayed on wax.
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