10 Iconic Rap Beefs That Rocked The World Before Drake & Kendrick Lamar

Drake and Kendrick Lamar's months-long feud has quickly become one of the most glorified rap beefs of all time.

Once Drake and J. Cole called out the "Big 3" on "First Person Shooter," Kendrick Lamar teamed up with Future and Metro Boomin to return fire on "Like That." From there, Drizzy and K. Dot traded insults, attempted to expose one another, and even dragged their families into the mess on a total of eight diss tracks. Drake responded to Kendrick with "Push-Ups" and an AI-generated "Taylor Made Freestyle." A few weeks later, Kendrick spent a week hurling tracks like "Euphoria," "6:16 in L.A.," "Not Like Us," and "Meet The Grahams."

Drake responded with "Family Matters" and "The Heart Part 6" — the latter tracks served as the final word on wax. Both superstars went at each other's throats and dissed each other online for weeks. Ultimately, the majority agreed that Kendrick came out victorious, and the numbers seem to prove it. While Kendrick's "Not Like Us" has remained on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, Drake recently removed all mentions of the beef from his Instagram account. "The Heart Part 6" is still live on YouTube with at least 1.5 million dislikes and over 750,000 likes, which kind of tells you everything you need to know.

Prior to Drake and Kendrick Lamar's high-profile rap battle, there were other timeless match-ups that fans still talk about to this day. JAY-Z vs. Nas and 2Pac vs. The Notorious B.I.G. instantly comes to mind for most Hip-Hop heads. 50 Cent has plenty of enemies but his years-long beef with Ja Rule is still going strong two decades later.

Here's a look at some of Hip-Hop's most eye-popping rap beefs.

50 Cent vs. The Game

At one point, The Game seemed to be on good terms with 50 Cent following their years-long beef. That all changed in March 2022, when 50 Cent made fun of the Compton native when he appeared to get snubbed by Jimmy Iovine at a basketball game. A few months later, The Game hit the stage in Houston, 50’s new home state, and dissed him like it was 2005.

"I still don't f**k with 50 Cent, he's a b***h," Game told the crowd. "He's a sucka. I'mma say it in Houston, I'll say it in New York, I'll say it anywhere...he’s a straight b***h.

50 shrugged off The Game’s rant and immediately taunted him on Instagram with his own infamous gif of him laughing and driving away. Their beef has returned with a vengeance after lying dormant for over eight years, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to patch things up anytime soon. The Game is just one of numerous rappers who has beefed with Fif in recent years. The "Power" creator has only targeted Ja Rule, Kanye West, JAY-Z, and Diddy on social media. Speaking of Diddy...

Diddy vs. Mase

Ma$e’s problems with Sean “Diddy” Combs have been brewing for decades, but it all came to a head this year. The Harlem World rapper’s first song in two years came in the form of a lengthy diss track aimed at Diddy. In the song, entitled “Oracle 2: The Liberation of Mason Betha,” Ma$e takes shots at Diddy’s recent name change and mentions his attempts at buying back his masters.

"We ain't gang, we ain't goals/We ain't family, we ain't foes/And we definitely not bros, We ain't nothin', n***a," Ma$e repeats in the chorus.

The diss track would set off a series of melodramatic events between both artists. Ma$e went on to blame Diddy for unfortunate situations that happened in his career like his “sabotaged” set at Lovers & Friends in Las Vegas and the dissolution of his 3 Headed Monster Tour with Cam’ron and Jadakiss before they even hit the road. Things got so bad that Diddy’s mother even got involved. Eventually, Diddy aired out his former artist during an explosive interview on The Breakfast Club. Ma$e has yet to fold in his criticism of Diddy, especially after multiple sexual assault lawsuits were filed against the Bad Boy mogul.

“Reparations is getting closer and closer,” he said on his It Is What It Is show.

Pusha T vs. Jim Jones

Pusha T finally responded to Jim Jones on Wax following months of disrespect. Their issues erupted after Jones claimed Pusha was “overrated” in a few interviews last year. The Virginia native had enough and took aim at Jones in an unreleased Clipse song he dropped while he walked the runway at Pharrell Williams’ first fashion show as Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Creative Director.

“Beware of my name, that there’s delegate/You know I know where you’re delicate," Push raps. "Crush you to pieces, I’ll hum a breath of it/I will close your heaven for the hell of it, You think it’d be valor amongst veterans/I’m watching your fame escape relevance, We all in a room but here’s the elephant/You chasing a feature out of your element, And those lab diamonds under inspection/The question marks block your blessings, It’s no tombstones in the desert/ I know by now you get the message.”

Pusha T didn’t mention Jim by name, but he didn’t have to. Fans already knew who he was referencing in his verse. The Harlem native laughed off the diss and returned fire on his own “Summer Collection” freestyle. Push hasn’t responded since, but if his beef with Drake has taught fans anything, it’s that their issues are nowhere near over yet.

Ashanti vs. Irv Gotti

Fans who forgot the tension between Ashanti and Irv Gotti got a rude awakening this year. Irv Gotti reignited old flames when he told his version of how their relationship unfolded in BET's Murder, Inc. docu-series. Throughout the series, Gotti described how he seduced his artist and even cooked up some of her classic songs after they slept together. Before the doc even premiered, Gotti appeared to gloat about their sexcapades and insisted he was telling the truth during public appearances like his Drink Champs interview for example. That’s when he shared how he found out about Ashanti dating Nelly.

"I can get passed you wanting to be with Nelly," Irv said. "At the time, it happens any man is hurt. The chick you're f**king in love with is with this n***a."

Ashanti did not participate in the docu-series nor did she immediately come out and denounce it. Instead, she let some time pass by before she claimed that Gotti lied about several aspects of their relationship. She continued to call out Gotti by dissing him on the remix to Diddy’s “Gotta Move On” with Yung Miami.

"I'm finished with your s**t, had your little d**k," Ashanti raps. "It's givin', 'Obsessed,' it's givin', 'You stressed,' it's givin', 'You pressed'/It's givin', 'This n***a missin' the best'/But it's been twenty years, n***a, please, say less/We can see all your tears while you beatin' on your chest/Got a new man, yeah, you got move on."

Irv hasn't been a thought in Ashanti's mind ever since, especially now that she's happily engaged to Nelly. The couple are expecting their first child together this year.

Nicki Minaj vs. Latto

Nicki Minaj turned the Internet upside down when her gripe with the Recording Academy in 2022 turned into a war of words with an artist who respected her. After the Grammys reportedly only considered her song “Super Freaky Girl” in the pop category, Barbie lashed out by dragging Latto’s “Big Energy” into the debate.

“I have no prob being moved out the RAP category as long as we r ALL being treated FAIRLY,” Minaj wrote on X. “If SFG (‘Super Freaky Girl’) has 2B moved out RAP then so does Big Energy! ANY1 who says diff is simply a Nicki hater or a troll.”

That tweet sparked an epic back-and-forth between both artists. Minaj fueled the fire by sharing her DM’s with Latto, revealing her thoughts on the debate. Latto returned fire by calling out Minaj for her previous subtweets, which led to a series of disses between both artists. Latto used the hashtag #40yroldbully and brought up her brother, who was convicted of predatory sexual assault in 2020. Minaj labeled her as “an entitled Karen” and nicknamed her “scratch off.”

The argument eventually subsided but it had the Internet buzzing for days. They still have yet to publicly bury the hatchet either.

50 Cent vs. Ja Rule

50 Cent has said his beef with Ja Rule started in 1999 after one of 50's associates robbed Ja of his chain. Ja Rule previously said he believes his tension with 50 stemmed from him unknowingly snubbing the artist during a music video shoot in New York. The pair dropped several diss tracks aimed at each other. Multiple scuffles led to 50 and Ja Rule getting into an altercation at a nightclub in Atlanta in the early 2000s. 50 was also stabbed during a fight between his crew Murda Inc. members at the Hit Factory in New York City.

The beef between 50 and Ja continues today, with 50 constantly trolling and clowning his challenger. In 2018, 50 purchased hundreds of front-row tickets to one of Ja Rule's concerts so the seats would look empty. 50 also trolled Ja for tying himself to a wooden column during a show in Miami.

"Look at this sh**head, is he supposed to be Jesus," 50 previously wrote on social media.

Drake vs. Meek Mill

Drake and Meek Mill's beef started in the summer of 2015 over accusations that Drake used a ghostwriter. Drake responded to Meek's accusations on "Charged Up" and "Back to Back."

Drake said he believes he was targeted by Meek because he didn't attend a scheduled show and the father of one was in a bad place.

“I don’t like to glorify the situation or talk about it too much,” Drake said during the conversation with Elliott Wilson and Brian “B. Dot” Miller. “Meek’s really about that. I know, obviously, he’s made a change in his life, but I’ll be the first to tell you that Meek’s that guy for real. I wasn’t beefing with no punk. For us to be able to turn that around, [it] was a big thing. I think we both felt an obligation because we know how far it was going and almost went.”

Nas vs. Jay-Z

Nas and Jay-Z, both rappers from New York, were seemingly friends until Nas reportedly declined Jay's request to feature on the song “Bring It On” for his debut album Reasonable Doubt.

Jay's team went forward, dropping the album in June 1996 and including a Nas sample in the song "Dead Presidents ll."

The two took subtle shots at each other in interviews and verses from 1996 to 2001. The beef came to a head in 2001 when Jay-Z made a direct jab at Nas in a freestyle performance that would later become the song "Takeover."

Nas responded with "Ether," a diss track that many say re-cemented his greatness in hip-hop. Hov shot back with his track "Supa Ugly," but later apologized for taking the beef too far at his mom's request.

“Mom put in a call and said, ‘That went too far.’ And she’s never, ever called me about music. So I was like ‘Okay, okay, okay. I’ll go shut it down,'” Jay-Z said in a 2001 appearance on Hot 97. “Once again, I apologize,” he said. “I felt like I didn’t think about women’s feelings or [Nas’ former girlfriend’s] feelings, or even my mom. It was really like, ‘Let me meet your level of disrespect with this level of disrespect.’”

The apology seemingly ended the beef between the two.

Notorious B.I.G. vs. Tupac

Tupac and Biggie started as friends and collaborators in the industry in the early 1990s. As their careers progressed, tensions grew between the two. The situation between the two boiled over in 1994 after Tupac accused Biggie of having him shot as he was headed to record with him in New York. The incident started a feud between the East and West coasts.

Pac dissed Biggie in multiple tracks "Hit Em Up" and "Against All Odds," where he accused his former friend of becoming a traitor. Biggie shot back with diss tracks “Who Shot Ya?” and “Long Kiss Goodnight." Other artists, including Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound eventually got involved in the feud, releasing the track "New York, New York." The former collaborators took their beef even further, taking shots at each other in interviews and press conferences.

The beef between the two ended tragically when Tupac was fatally shot in Las Vegas in September 1996. Months later, Biggie was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in March 1997. While motives and suspects in the killings remain unclear, many believe their beef boiled over tensions between East and West Coast hip-hop.

Gucci Mane vs. Jeezy

Gucci Mane and Jeezy's beef reportedly started over a money dispute from their 2005 collaboration "Icy." The pair went back and forth taking shots at each other on multiple tracks. Tensions rose between the two after a group of men broke into a house Gucci was at. In self-defense, Gucci killed one of the suspects, Pookie Loc, who was one of Jeezy's associates.

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