Of the many things that old heads will insist "were better back in the day," diss tracks are among the few that most younger rap fans can also agree upon. Even if you didn't live through them, the 2Pac / Biggie, Eazy-E / Dr. Dre and Jay Z / Nas beefs all produced shot-firing tracks that still loom large today-- Notorious' "Who Shot Ya" is still referenced by rappers all of the time, and Nas' "Ether" is now so baked into the foundation of rap that its title is now synonymous with a devastating diss. Rap was still evolving from its more battle-centered days back then, so it's no surprise that MC's bars were more frequent and potent with the shots at rivals, but even years removed from Kool Moe Dee Vs. Busy Bee Starski, rap beef will still occasionally spill from the online world onto a track or two.
After remaining silent while Meek Mill went on a Twitter rampage last week, Drake clapped back this weekend with "Charged Up," an unmistakeable diss track that was far from his first, despite his somewhat soft reputation. That's only the most recent example, though. Purists will argue that diss tracks today are pettier, more sneaky and less legit, but there are a select few that manage to find crucial gaps in their enemies' armor and attack accordingly, and that's what we're looking at today.
Hopsin - "Hop Is Back"
Who's dissed: Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne
Choice bars: "I gotta problem yo, I was ecstatic to buy Yeezus / But I burned it first, heard it and snapped in 5 pieces"
Disses are a dime a dozen for Hopsin, who has earned a reputation as one of the most confrontational MCs around, so this tends to water down his content, but if you sift through all of it, you'll find some sharp gems. Chief of these is "Hop Is Back," the 2013 track with a third verse that took aim at three of rap's titans in one fell swoop. Hop starts off sharing how dissatisfied he was with Yeezus (different strokes, I guess), then compliments Kendrick's abilities while mocking his height, and caps things off with the line "I spill the blood of rappers and use Weezy's dreads to soak it up." SHEESH!
Tyga & The Game - "ChiRaq To L.A."
Who's dissed: Lil Durk, 40 Glocc
Choice bars: "You too small like Smeagol / I’m swatting the mosquito," "Tyga hit me like 'Durk dissing' / Dirk Nowitzki? Dirk who nigga?"
Like many short-lived beefs, the one that erupted between Tyga and Lil Durk last year seemed pretty baseless and shallow, but it did end up producing one of T-Raww's finest moments ever. He's surprisingly witty in his lengthy verse, and calls upon Game (the go-to if you're looking for someone willing to jump into any beef) to give us an even more impressive round of shots. Durk's retorts lacked the punchlines and potency that "ChiRaq To L.A." still has.
Lil B - "Fuck KD"
Who's dissed: Kevin Durant
Choice bars: "You said that I'm whack, see me on the court / Score on me if you talking bout points / I like Roc Nation and I love Jay Z / But I'm west side I'm screaming fuck KD, bitch"
Alright, this is the only track on the list that's not aimed at another rapper, and it's got arguably the least complex lyrics, but there's no denying that "Fuck KD" is one of the most important diss tracks of our era. Its reverberations have been felt by sports fans who would otherwise have no idea who Lil B is, and it helped pave the way for his curse-happy streak during the NBA playoffs this year. Durant still doesn't have a championship ring, despite playing for one of the consistently best teams of the last five years, and personally, I blame Based God.
Joey Bada$$ - "Don't Quit Your Day Job"
Who's dissed: Lil B
Choice bars: "You pink flame ass nigga, lame ass nigga / Publicity stuntin' for the fame ass nigga"
Joey Bada$$' crusty conservatism gets very tiring (see his recent "hot take" on Bill Cosby), and with homophobic shots at Lil B's flamboyant personal style, "Don't Quit Your Day Job" is guilty of this too. That being said, Joey's bar-for-bar rapping is much more polished than Based God's, and on this quick track, he makes that readily apparent. His points about B's "publicity stuntin'" are also pretty valid.
Meek Mill - "Repo"
Who's dissed: Cassisdy
Choice bars: "Body Cass, put 'em in a body bag / Broke nigga, we should put you in a bodycast"
A few years back, Meek was beefing with feloow Philly native Cassidy, who he ethered into oblivion with the track "Repo" (seriously, when was the last time you heard a Cassidy track?). We've yet to hear Meek's musical retort to Drake in this recent hubbub, but tonight we should learn whether or not it's good enough to hang with this one.
Drake - "6PM In New York"
Who's dissed: Tyga
Choice bars: "I heard a little little homie talking reckless in Vibe / That's quite a platform you chose, you should've kept it inside, oh, you tried / It's so childish calling my name on the world stage / You need to act your age and not your girl's age."
By now, it's safe to say that Drake's the king of the sneak diss (even his very-obvious Meek diss doesn't mention him by name), but none are more biting than "6PM In New York." Released just after Tyga dissed Drake in VIBE magazine, Drizzy's track took aim at a sore subject: the L.A. rapper's relationship with underage Kylie Jenner. Better than "Stay Schemin'"s Common diss or the "Real quick, you couldn't have made it that" aimed at Diddy on "Used To," "6PM In New York" has Drake at his cockiest and harshest.
The Game - "Bigger Than Me"
Who's dissed: The entire 2014 XXL Freshmen class
Choice bars: "Old lost ass niggas, voice crack when you talk ass niggas / Rolling blunts for the boss ass niggas / I came in with 'Ye, Jeezy and boss ass niggas / Your Freshman cover a whole bunch of soft ass niggas"
Another headline-baiting Game diss track, "Bigger Than Me" succeeded by actually being a decent song in and of itself. It was kind of unfair to blindly diss the entirety of the class, but fairness has never seemed like Game's strong suit. In an interview with DJ Skee, Game said the following about the track: "Every now and then, man, I just gotta give my input on the state of hip hop. I don't have no reservations about everybody doing they thing, it just gets a little soft at times … it kinda pissed me off."
Gucci Mane - "Truth"
Who's dissed: Jeezy
Choice bars: "A ten thousand dollar bounty put on my neck / I hope you didn't pay them cause they didn't have no success"
In an era when more beef occurs on URLs than IRL, Gucci's shots at Jeezy on "Truth" ring out even more powerfully. As most of you know, Jeezy allegedly put a hit out on Gucci in the mid-00s, and when a gunman entered Gucci's house shooting, Gucci returned fire and killed him. He really didn't air it out on a track until this 2012 cut from Trap God.
Pusha T - "Exodus 23:1"
Who's dissed: Lil Wayne, Drake, Cash Money
Choice bars: "You signed to one nigga that signed to another nigga / That's signed to three niggas, now that's bad luck"
Pusha's words about Weezy's label situation on this 2012 track seem oddly prescient now that Wayne himself seems to have finally recognized Birdman's often-predatory business tactics. He keeps this one classy by not taking any low blows at his targets, instead shedding light on shady industry moves that are much more worthy of a diss than skinny jeans, fake gangster posturing, or any of the other things usually cited in diss tracks.
Kendrick Lamar - "Control"
Who's dissed: J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electronica, Tyler The Creator, Mac Miller
Choice bars: "Who tryna jump and get it? You're better off trying to skydive / Out the exit window of five G5s with five grand / With your granddad as the pilot he drunk as fuck trying land / With the hand-full of arthritis and popping prosthetic leg / Bumpin Pac in the cockpit so the shit that pops in his head / Is an option of violence, someone heard the stewardess said / That your parachute is a latex condom hooked to a dread'
Big who? Jay who? This is Kendrick's song. In his own words, "It's funny how one verse can fuck up the game." And fuck the game up it did, with responses on response tracks dominating the weeks following its release, many taking offense to K Dot's "King of New York" line. Some may argue that "Control" isn't specific enough to hang with other diss tracks, but the mere fact that it dominated hip hop conversations for the better part of a year is reason enough to win it the top spot.
