beef

topic: beef

if you don't listen to or like rap music....this post is not for you.

this past week, beanie sigel released a diss record towards jay-z. he states jay-z never came to visit him in jail, he did not receive a fair share of the profits from the state property clothing line from damon dash, and a laundry list of other complaints and grievances about his time spent at rocafella records....i blame beanie sigel for his situation. he has been in prison twice since 2004, and he has been given several chances to be further along in his rap career. instead, sigel chose to not be an adult and take control of his situation....however, the point of this article is not about who's right or wrong in this situation. i looked at this a great opportunity in rap for a good beef. i love a good diss record. it makes me laugh; the fact that someone is talking shit about you in rhyme is hilarious to me....for an interesting beef in rap music, you need two things: talent and motive. if you suck as a rapper, your record will suck. if you are dissing someone without a valid reason or off of hearsay, your record will suck. today, i will countdown my five favorite beefs in hip-hop. i hope you enjoy; if not, click the red x in the right hand corner.


5. 50 cent vs. ja rule: personally, this was the most entertaining of the rap beefs. i have never seen someone fall from the spotlight so fast...ja rule was a legitimate player in the rap game. from 1998-2002, the main two people on def jam were jay-z and ja rule. although i was never a ja rule fan (the holla holla video is classic), i give respect to people when they deserve it and ja rule was doin his thing. enter 50 cent. enter wanksta. from that moment, ja rule's LIFE was never the same. white teenaged boys had a new hero, his name was 50 cent....the history of their beef is well documented; therefore, i won't get into that. over the next year, 50 cent talks about ja rule's kids, wife, record label, and turns his career into dust. it was a beautiful thing. 50 cent had respect until he became what he mocked. he mocked ja rule for his sing-song approach to rap songs, and for singing on his hooks....50 cent now does the same thing...eventually, ja rule also dissed busta rhymes, snoop dogg, eminem, and dr. dre. as a result, they all helped to end his career.

the best diss record from 50 cent during this time was back down. the first verse from back down is truly some harsh shit. if i was ja rule, i would find 50 cent and kick him in the throat. my favorite ja rule record in life is loose change. in that line, he dissed eminem something serious. the beat drops, and ja goes in on eminem's daughther (hailey) and his wife (kim): em you claim your mother's a crackhead and kim is a known slut/so what's hailey gon' be when grows up......shit was serious. i didn't know ja had it in him.


4. ice cube vs. nwa: this was before my time; however, this is an excellent case of the effective diss record. when ice cube left nwa over money issues, nwa felt as though cube turned his back on the group. they began dissin' cube on their 2nd album. at first, cube was quiet. he didn't release anything, but nwa kept talkin shit...fyi: nwa was not the same without ice cube. mc ren was a decent writer, but he was no ice cube. eazy-e and dr. dre did not write their own rhymes, and yella was just the dj. so ice cube really was being nice about the situation....in 1991, ice cube released death certificate. to this day, it remains the 2nd best diss record off all time. the record was so good, nwa broke up after it was released.



3. the lox vs. puffy: if you are an aspiring rapper, please know your business and understand the importance of your publishing and royalty residuals. the lox signed over their publishing and royalties to puffy. being the smart businessman that he is, he made them honor the contract they signed. they complained like children, and threatened to kill puffy by throwing a "stainless steel, double door refrigerator" off a building....the interview occurred at hot 97 and it remains the greatest hip-hop interview ever. hands down, not even close. its educational, entertaining, and exciting.



2. common vs. ice cube: on the song i used to love h.e.r, common refers to hip-hop as a woman. he talks about how the pro-black nationalist mentality was no longer popular in hip-hop, and the focus turned to the west coast. the line: now black music is black music and it's all good/i wasn't salty she was with the boys in the hood....ice cube took offense to this as a west coast artist. at the time, ice cube was the man. he single-handedly killed nwa, and he was the reigning lyricist in hip-hop. ice cube and his group westside connection released westside slaughterhouse. a decent diss record at common... common was a nobody, but since he was challenged, he had to respond. common came with the best diss record ever recorded in hip-hop. the bitch in yoo goes at ice cube HARD. from every angle. one day i'll do an article breakin down each reference in this song, but........yo, this shit is lyrical as fuck.



1. jay vs. nas: the videos of the day it explain it all.......the battle was a tie;
jay-z won the war. he was president of def jam (the label nas was signed to), he married beyonce, and he's paid. nas is paying $55k a month in child support for a two month old baby with kelis......nas lost. smarten up nas.