Gucci Mane vs. Young Jeezy
Great rule of thumb: don’t do business with a crazy person! In 2005, Jeezy was prepping his debut album, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, which included “”Icy,” a dripped-out team-up with Gucci. Two friends, one track, except — ah, right — Gucci took the track and put it on his own project…which meant Jeezy couldn’t use it. And Jeezy never got paid. Things happen, right? Jeezy’s calm response was to offer to “cremate that motherfucker” on “Stay Strapped.” In 2005, Pookie Loc, a Jeezy associate, was murdered. Gucci was blamed, then acquitted, having acted in self-defense. After years of volleys and a splinter beef involving DJ Drama, the two MCs settled up, supposedly recording a couple of songs together. But Gucci went rogue, as he does, and recorded a song called “Worst Enemy.” By 2010, their respective camps were fighting at Walter’s Clothing in Atlanta. Later, Jeezy would describe the whole thing as a “misunderstanding” but would also refer to Gucci as “retarded.”
7. Lil Kim vs. Foxy Brown
Kim and Foxy started out getting a lot of the same comparisons: both are from Brooklyn, both rap confidently about sex, one was signed by Biggie and the other by Jay Z. They shared a cover of The Source in 1997 in matching white tank tops, both smiling. But some slumber parties end in hair-pulling and gut punches: Then the two biggest female rappers, they found themselves competing for stylists on top of sound. Tensions arose. Foxy might’ve leaked the Notorious B.I.G.’s version of “Big Momma Thang,” showing that Kim wasn’t writing her own verses. When Lyor Cohen, Def Jam’s CEO at the time, tried to throw a million dollars their way to record a joint album called Thelma & Louise, the two never showed up to sign the paperwork; Jay Z and Un Rivera just stood in the studio and waited. So when, in 1999, Puffy got on a song that features Lil Kim and said, “Stop trying to sound like her, bitches!” the message was clear: Kim was coming for Fox. (The Don Diva would respond soon after, on Capone N Noreaga’s “Bang Bang,” saying, “You and Diddy, y’all kill me with that subliminal shit” and telling her to “Let [Biggie] rest in peace/Hop off his dick.” This war of words continues. The closest it’s come to resolution was when, in 2013, Fabolous tried and failed to get them both to appear during his Summer Jam spot.
5. N.W.A vs. Ice Cube
N.W.A exploded onto MTV in Raiders hats and Jheri curls, flashing guns and an attitude. They became a phenomenon, accruing a huge and unexpected suburban audience. And yet, somehow, the money just didn’t add up. They’d signed an incredibly bad deal, with de facto leader Eazy E and manager Jerry Heller taking much of the cut (even though Ice Cube had written over half of the lyrics from their debut, Straight Outta Compton). Cube walked, immediately finding success on his own. The remaining members threw darts and Cube finally returned fire with the brutal four-minute dis track “No Vaseline”: “Yella Boy’s on your team, so you’re losing/Ay yo, Dre, stick to producing/Calling me Arnold, but you Benedict/Eazy-E saw your ass and went in it quick/You got jealous when I got my own company/But I’m a man, and ain’t nobody humping me.” And that’s just before the first chorus hits. It gets worse, which is to say, it gets better.
50 Cent vs. Ja Rule
For a time, 50 Cent’s marketing plan was simple: go at [enter name here]; go at them hard. In 2004, with “Piggy Bank,” he simultaneously sprayed at Jadakiss, Nas and Fat Joe (along with little darts at Lil Kim, Mobb Deep, Shyne, Kelis and others). In 2007, he sent black roses to Cam’ron’s label, around the same time he’d promised to retire if Kanye outsold him. It wasn’t always so inorganic. No, he actually hated Ja Rule and was intent on taking him and Murder Inc. down. As lore goes, the trouble started when an associate of 50’s tried to steal Ja’s jewelry, which in turn led to 50 getting stabbed at New York’s club Hit Factory. Not one to let hospital bills go unpaid, 50 set to dismantling Ja’s career, starting with mixtape tracks) and skits (“Ja Rule Duets,” where he mimics Ja’s gravel-voice singing over pop songs) and videos (“Wanksta”). Ja tried responding in kind, with “Blood in My Eye,” though it wasn’t nearly as effective. In desperation, his team left bullet holes in the Violator management offices, where 50’s reps worked. Later, Murder Inc. was run out of the 106 & Park studios. Minister Louis Farrakhan tried to get involved, but ha-ha-ha, they weren’t having it. By 2005, Ja Rule’s career had ground to a halt; in just two years, he’d gone from Number One to an afterthought. But there’s no bad blood…maybe: Ja acknowledged his loss and in 2013, the two were on the same plane and got to their destination without any problem.
2Pac vs. Biggie
The most notable rap beef is also the saddest. It’s the one that went too far, and that means there’s no way it could be considered “the best.” Biggie and 2Pac started out as friends, but in-clique rumors and media frenzy ruined a good thing. In 1994, 2Pac got shot while leaving New York’s Quad Studios. B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya?” came out soon after, and Pac — paranoid already — put the pieces together in his head. So he rode on his enemies, recording “Hit Em Up,” which opens with “I ain’t got no motherfucking friends/That’s why I fucked your bitch, you fat motherfucker.” So, he was pretty certain of what was going on. At the Source Awards in 1995, Death Row’s Suge Knight stood onstage and berated Puffy as a dancing, camera-hogging wannabe pop star. Things escalated quickly: Magazines called it an “East Coast vs. West Coast” war, without thought of the possible consequences. Tupac was gunned down in 1996, and Biggie, six months later. Both murders remain unsolved.
Jay Z vs. Nas
To think, Memphis Bleek was a central player in the greatest rap beef ever! Not that it was his fault — tensions existed before him — but on 2000’s “My Mind Right,” the Jay Z protégé raps, “Your life’s a lie, but here’s the truth/You ain’t hype to die, but you hype to shoot.” The insult seemed directed at Nas, who responded to both Bleek and Jay Z in subliminals on mixtape tracks. Jay escalated the conflict on 2001’s “The Takeover,” calling Nas “la-a-a-a-me” and dissecting his entire catalog, piece by piece. Nas responded with “Ether,” which opens pretty bluntly: “Fuck Jay Z.” This prompted Jay to respond with “Supa Ugly,” where he gleefully admitted to have been sleeping with Nas’ baby’s mother. (Right then, in a Hot 97 on-air segment, listeners voted “Ether” as the winning track, and Jay apologized for having gone too far.) Now, the two rap kings are friends, having recorded together a bunch of times after squashing their beef in 2005 at the “I Declare War” concert in Philadelphia. The biggest loss from all of this is that neither “The Takeover” nor “Ether” can be performed live anymore. So, friendship wins, the fans lose.