Considering that Rap/Hip-Hop is a competitive art, there have been many instances in the past two decades that pitted artists within the community against each other. While some of these "beefs" have brought us some memorable tracks, there are certain moments when rivalries became about more than just the music.
1. The Notorious B.I.G. vs. 2pac
Recommended for you
How It Started: Prior to their beef, the two artists were actually relatively close and even did a couple of interviews together discussing their respective rises to fame. This was, of course, until 2pac was shot five times in a Midtown, New York, recording studio. Ironically, both Biggie and Puff Daddy were in the building during the incident.
What Happened: Assuming that Puff and Biggie were behind the ambush, 2pac immediately cut ties with B.I.G. and company. Soon after, a picture of 2pac and Faith Evans (Biggie's wife) began to circulate. Adding fuel to the fire, 2pac rapped in "Hit 'Em Up" that he slept with Faith. Surprisingly, the only "reply" given to 2pac by Biggie was the track "Who Shot Ya" — released almost a year after Tupac's death. However, many people have speculated that the track released by B.I.G. was actually not directed at 2pac, seeing as how it was written months before the Harlem rapper's death. As most of us know, it would not be too long until Biggie Smalls would fall into a similar fate by gunpoint.
Resolved?:No
2. Jay Z vs. Nas
How It Started: While there was initially speculation on what exactly caused this feud to spawn, time (and Nas' track "Last Real Nigga Alive") has revealed that the two rappers' involvement with the same woman (who was also the mother of Nas' child) caused this battle.
What Happened: One fault of Jay Z during this beef was not knowing who to focus on. While Jay was attacking the woman for being a "groupie," Nas was concentrating on destroying Jay Z lyrically. Despite Jay releasing "The Takeover," it would be Nas' "Ether" that caused so much damage that the track name is now a verb. Within the historic track, Nas downplayed Jay Z's "street" upbringing, accused him of being a misogynist, and called out Jay for not being a true supporter of Biggie.
Resolved?: Yes — In 2005, the two were able to come together for Jay Z's concert, entitled "I Declare War." As if that was not enough of a surprise, Nas would later sign to Def Jam, the label Jay Z was president of at the time.
3. Lil' Kim vs. Foxy Brown
How It Started: Like Biggie and 2pac, Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim started out as friends — they even did a magazine cover together. Both products of Brooklyn, the two divas redefined what it aesthetically meant to be a female rapper. Unfortunately, the media got the better of these two women and, soon after, a beef was formed.
What Happened: The first shot was thrown by Lil' Cease, a member of Biggie and Kim's group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. In his track, "Play Around," the rapper subliminally states that Foxy Brown is imitating Lil' Kim within her own raps. Lil' Kim later cosigned Cease's claims in her own song, "The Notorious K.I.M.," and even made light of Foxy's proneness to panic attacks. Not to be outdone, Foxy Brown came back swinging on Capon-N-Noreaga's "Bang Bang." In her verse, Foxy does everything from laugh at Lil' Kim's "street" image (stating she should go back to being a groupie) to assert that Kim is using Biggie's image for her own profit. Not long after the release of these tracks Kim's crew ran into Capone's entourage at Hot 97. Words were exchanged briefly before gunfire broke out. It was this altercation that landed Lil' Kim in jail and (in my opinion) ended her music career. With nobody to beef with, Foxy Brown also suffered in the music industry and although the two continued to release diss records against each other in future years, nothing could compare to the buzz created by their initial beef.
Resolved?:No — During this period of almost 20 years, Lil' Kim has gone under the knife multiple times and Foxy Brown even went deaf before getting a cochlear implant. However, this has not stopped the divas from extinguishing their hate for one another. Recently, when asked about Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim simply responded by saying that she "doesn't know who she is anymore," hinting at Foxy being mentally unstable. Foxy, on the other hand, has gone on the record saying that she would be happy to make amends with Kim if it were truly genuine.
4. 50 Cent vs. Kanye West
How It Started: This rap beef is a little more simple than the other cases. Rather than beefing over a woman or hearsay, 50 Cent and Kanye West clashed over release dates. Both vying for the spot of "king," Kanye proposed that he and 50 release their albums on the same day (September 11).
What Happened: Not one to back down, 50 Cent held his ground and, in true 50 form, poked fun at Kanye by hinting that he should change his release date in order to get more album sales. Unfortunately, the numbers did not work out in 50 Cent's favor. Kanye's album, "Graduation," sold approximately 300,000 more copies than 50 Cent's "Curtis." Although selling 600,000 albums is impressive, Kanye clearly came out on top and this moment helped propel him into the position of power he claims today.
Resolved?:Kinda — Despite this particular feud being over, 50 Cent has made some very harsh comments towards Kanye in the past few years, even calling his wife "trash." Like him or not, 50 Cent seems to always be the kind of guy to speak his mind (despite what it may do to his music career).
5. Azealia Banks vs. Iggy Azalea
How It Started: While it is not always fair to judge someone on their past actions, Azealia Banks was somewhat justified in calling Iggy Azalea out on her racist tweets and song lyrics from the past. If not for Banks, many people would have missed Iggy's "slave master" line (which is followed by a whipping motion in the "D.R.U.G.S." music video). This outing was not random, but moreover a response to XXL magazine naming Iggy a "2012 XXL Freshman," which is an honor given out to talented new artists.
What Happened: Outside of the Twitter realm, T.I. decided to take matters into his own hands and actually threatened Azealia Banks in hopes of putting an end to the feud. Banks, however, would stop at nothing to "expose" Iggy. While the Australian rapper barely responded directly to Azealia Banks, she did end up addressing her (via Twitter) in order to basically say that talent, not privilege, explains why she is "successful."
Resolved?: No — Iggy's time in the rap game is reaching an end, but Azealia's raw talent still has potential — when it is not being overshadowed by Twitter beef. Although nobody wanted to listen to Azealia Banks' claims earlier on, Iggy's past tweets and social media posts have, once again, come back to haunt her.
6. Drake vs. Chris Brown
How It Started: Despite being decent industry friends for a few years, conflict over Rihanna would cause the artists to feud. Once again, Twitter is the culprit for igniting this fire. While Meek Mill and Chris Brown were arguing over Rihanna, Drake decided to poke into the conversation by asserting that he also had relations with the barbadian singer.
What Happened: A month later, a fight broke out between Drake and Chris' entourages after an alleged "dissing match" over Rihanna took place. To prove his manhood, Chris thought it necessary to upload a picture of a his "battle wounds" to Instagram.
Resolved?: Yes (?) — The two have been civil with each other for some months now, but there is no clear guide to follow when it comes to erratic individuals such as Chris Brown.
7. Lil' Kim vs. Nicki Minaj
How It Started: Perhaps one of the most confusing beefs in recent years has been that between Nicki Minaj and Lil' Kim. When Nicki was still an aspiring underground artist, she cited Lil' Kim as one of her idols. However, once Nicki began to get bigger in the public eye, we heard less talk about Lil' Kim in her interviews. According to Lil' Kim in an interview with Power 105.1 (Breakfast Club), she was actually in talks to do a deal with Cash Money and Nicki Minaj. In fact, there was even a track entitled "Grindin' Makin' Money," by Birdman, which features both women. In Kim's opinion, Cash Money used her as nothing more than a style and musical blueprint for Nicki Minaj. While the truth of this is debatable, Nicki's early infatuation with Lil' Kim was noticed by many people. Additionally, Nicki seemed to be a very territorial female when it came to the rap game. In one of her early mixtape tracks, Nicki Minaj refers to her predecessors as "time machine bitches," because they lack the relevance of today. Did I mention? Foxy Brown is also very close to Nicki Minaj.
What Happened: Obviously not taking this entire situation as a joke, Lil' Kim decided to lash out at Nicki by releasing "Black Friday," which was a diss record playing off the of Nicki's debut album, "Pink Friday." Following this, there were quite a few subliminal disses towards Lil' Kim by Nicki on tracks such as "Hello, Good Morning," "Roman's Revenge," and "Tragedy."
Resolved?:No — While Nicki Minaj has not made any promises to reconcile, Lil' Kim has come out publicly to say that the only thing that could fix this beef is money.
Honorable Mention: Iggy Azalea vs. Papa John's
Click here for the complete story on Iggy and her pizza.
