What a time to be alive. Drake and Kendrick Lamar gave us a rap beef for the ages and in the process gave us some memorable diss tracks that will live in the annals of hip-hop history forever.
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But which one will stand out and rank as one of the greatest ever? Kendrick has a few options including, “euphoria,” “meet the grahams” and “Not Like Us.”
Drake released some solid contenders of his own including, “Push Ups,” “Family Matters” and “The Heart Part 6.”
Which one will make the list?
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
Kendrick Lamar put himself in the diss track Hall of Fame with this one. Yes, claims that Drake is a pedophile are extremely serious and should not be taken lightly. But making a straight West Coast banger about it is nasty work. People will be screaming, “Certified pedophiles” “A-minorrrrrr,” and “OV-ho” all summer. He quite literally took Drake’s method of making a diss track a hit record. Master planning from K-Dot.
2pac – “Hit ‘Em Up”
I honestly don’t care what song you consider to be the second-best diss track of all time, as long as you have “Hit ‘Em Up” at number one, we’re good. Nobody has gone at another artist (and label) as hard as Pac. Some of the lines he said in the song are not even appropriate to repeat. The video for the track makes it even worse. This man said, “My .44 make sure all y’all kids don’t grow.” My goodness.
Nas – “Ether”
When the title of your diss track becomes a verb, you’ve done something right. Nas just straight-up clowned Jay on this track, going at him in every which way. Hov stans claim Jay won the feud because they claim “Takeover” is a better “song,” but Nas easily won the lyrical war between the two. The line that takes the cake for me is, “What you think you gettin’ girl now cause of your looks/ Negro, please.”
Ice Cube – “No Vaseline”
One of the rawest tracks on this list. Ice Cube just destroyed N.W.A. (who was already on the way out). The group didn’t go hard enough on “100 Miles and Runnin’” and they paid for it on a 5-minute diss track by Cube. The Death Certificate rapper later revealed that he never expected him to diss and that his beef with the group was with Jerry Heller, the manager of Ruthless Records. But when his former group members went at him, he had no choice but to bomb them.
Eazy-E – “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s”
Dr. De’s exit from N.W.A. left a rift between him and Eazy E. Dr. Dre kicked off the war of words on “Fuck Wit Dr Day,” but Eazy E ended it with “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s.” He assassinated Dre’s whole character on this track and shut down the notion that he didn’t write his own rhymes (anymore).
Jay-Z – “Takeover”
While “Ether” takes the cake, “Takeover” was a great diss nonetheless. Hov was on top of the game and he made it known by constantly saying, “We runnin’ this rap shit,” and he wasn’t wrong.
Dr. Dre – “Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’)
Prior to “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” destroying Dre, the Compton producer initially got the best of Eazy-E on “Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Ceberatin).” He even had his protégé get in on the action, aiming sum bars at Dre’s former boss. The music video is just as ruthless, with Dre hiring an actor to play a comedic version of Eazy.
Pusha T – “Story of Adidon”
“You are hiding a child.” That’s what ended the beef right there. Pusha T did some hardcore journalism on this track and revealed things about Drake’s personal life that even hardcore Drizzy fans did not know about. Pusha T was just heartless on this track going at the Canadian rapper’s mom, dad, baby momma, and best friend.
Drake – “Back to Back”
What rapper can say that their diss track was Grammy-nominated? On top of being a great diss toward Meek Mill, Drake made a banger of a song. This single ran the summer of 2015 and had everybody rapping, “Trigger fingers turned to Twitter fingers/You getting bodied by a singin’ nigga.”
Common – “The Bitch In Yoo”
It’s hard for rap fans to see now, but boy did Common have no chill back in the day. Common was surgical in his diss of Ice Cube on “The Bitch In Yoo.” The track was in response to Mack 10’s “Westside Slaughterhouse,” featuring Cube, and was one of the rare L’s the former N.W.A. rapper took.
Gucci Mane – “Truth”
No, Gucci Mane may not be as lyrical as other MCs on this list. But I guarantee he’s more intimidating. Guwop made it much deeper than rap on this track and took shots at Young Jeezy’s entire life.
50 Cent – “Back Down”
The beef between 50 Cent and Ja Rule is well-documented. There are a plethora of songs where each MC is going at each other, but this one is easily the best. This track was the beginning of the end of Ja Rule’s career as a major player in the hip-hop game.
Notorious B.I.G. – “Kick in the Door”
While this track was released just months after he died, it’s still one of the best diss tracks out. Biggie went at every New York MC who felt they had a legitimate claim as the King of New York. That included Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Nas, and anyone else who stepped to the plate. Biggie destroyed them all on this track.
Boogie Down Productions – “The Bridge is Over”
We ain’t forget about one of the most OG diss tracks, “The Bridge is Over.” During the height of the Bridge Wars between South Bronx’s Boogie Down Productions and Queen’s Juice Crew, KRS-One essentially ended the war with this one track.
LL Cool J – “To Da Break of Dawn”
First of all, I love the cover of Mama Said Knock You Out. It perfectly represents the energy LL Cool J was bringing on this particular track. He was going at countless rap veterans simultaneously, including Ice-T, Kool Moe Dee, and MC Hammer
DJ Quik – “Dollaz + Sense”
Do not let the hair fool you! DJ Quik will go at you and everyone you care about on a diss track. In one of the many songs aimed at rival Compton rapper MC Eiht, Quik did not hold back his disdain for the Compton’s Most Wanted rapper.
Canibus – “2nd Round K.O.”
Much respect for LL Cool J. He’s one of the legends in this hip-hop game. But I think Canibus got you with this one. After going at each other on the same song, “4,3,2,1,” Canibus came up with a great diss with a dope music video that featured the legendary Mike Tyson.
Mobb Deep – “Drop a Gem On ‘Em”
Tupac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” is etched in history as the greatest diss track of all time, but did you know that Mobb Deep responded? They weren’t the focus of the track, but Pac did take a shot at Prodigy when he said, “Don’t one of you niggas have sickle cell or something?!” The Queen duo did not take too kindly to that line and came with a good diss of their own with “Drop a Gem On ‘Em.”
The Game – 300 Bars N Runnin
This is the longest diss track of all time. If someone kind finds another one longer, then send it my way. The Game was not happy after 50 Cent continued to take shots after a press conference that was supposed to squash their beef. The Compton rapper had a lot to say on this damn near 15-minute track and made sure that fans heard everything he had to say.
Freddie Gibbs – “Real”
Man, a lot of people don’t remember this track and that’s okay. Although Freddie Gibbs was well into his career, he was just coming into his own and his 2014 album with Madlib, Piñata, really made people take notice. On “Real,” Gibbs went at the neck of his former boss, Young Jeezy, and let out all of his emotions and frustrations.
Kool Moe Dee – “How Ya Like Me Now”
I gotta give respect to the OG. Not the most lyrically complex diss, but it got the job done and was pretty good (for the time). He went at LL Cool J on this song, claiming that he stole his rap style and was disrespecting the legends of the genre.
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