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Hip hop rivalries

Feuds and rivalries have always existed in hip hop, which arose in 1970s United States. Originally, it came to block parties, where DJs would play records and isolate the percussion breaks for the dancing masses. Soon, MCs began speaking over the beats, usually simply exhorting the audience to continue dancing. Eventually, MCs began incorporating more varied and stylistic speech, and focused on introducing themselves, shouting out to friends in the audience, and boasting about their own skills, and criticizing their rivals'. While this is often done in good humor, it occasionally develops into offstage feuds that occasionally become violent. Many observers have claimed that the media feeds on rivalries for headlinings and escalates otherwise minor conflicts, especially in the case of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry.

One prominent example used as contrast by those who feel the media manipulate and intensify hip hop feuds is the 1980s hit "Roxanne" by U.T.F.O., which sparked several hundred "answer records" in response, some of them quite vituperative. Since, at the time, hip hop was nowhere near the level of fame it would eventually achieve, there was little media response at the time, and no violent feuds erupted; many observers feel that, if something similar happened today, violence may be the result.

A video game was released by EA Entertainment in conjunction with Def Jam and featuring animated likenesses of rappers like Method Man, Ludacris, DMX and Ghostface Killah wrestling to settle grudges WWE style. This video game is called Def Jam Vendetta.

East Coast vs West Coast

Probably the most famous rap feud is the early to mid-1990s rivalry between East Coast and West Coast industry members. Hip hop had begun in New York City, which remained the undisputed capital of hip hop until 1992, when Dr. Dre's The Chronic became one of the biggest-selling hip hop albums in history. Dre was on Death Row Records, headed by Suge Knight, and he soon built up a roster of stars like Warren G, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dogg that reigned on the charts, and Los Angeles replaced New York as the center for hip hop. The biggest stars on East Coast were Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records crew, which included Busta Rhymes, Mase and the Notorious B.I.G.. Puff Daddy had founded Bad Boy in 1993, and it soon outsold Ruthless Records. The rivalry intensified as hip hop continue to enter the mainstream in the United States and abroad; more money entered the industry and raised the stakes. The focal point soon came to a head with Tupac Shakur on the West Coast and Notorious B.I.G. on the East. Shakur claimed to have slept with Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G.'s wife and herself a rapper, and he responded with "Stupid niggaz mess wit Big Poppa/motherfuckers get roasted if you fuck wit B.I.G.".

On September 7, 1996 Tupac Shakur was shot several times in Las Vegas, dying a few days later. On March 9, 1997, the Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed in California. Both murders remain unsolved, and numerous theories (some of them conspiracy theories) have sprung up. These include, most notoriously, that Shakur's death was faked.

In 1997, several rappers, including Bizzy Bone, C Low, Doug E. Fresh and Snoop Doggy Dogg met at the request of Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam and pledged to forgive any slights that may be related to the rivalry and deaths of Shakur and Biggie.

Soon after the death of Shakur, Death Row Records folded as Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, sued the label for allegedly cheating her son out of millions. Label head Suge Knight ended up in jail for unrelated probation violations. Lady of Rage and Nate Dogg have also filed suits against Bad Boy with similar allegations. Puff Daddy has also had multiple legal troubles, including a much-publicized case resulting from a shooting in a New York club; he has been acquitted, though fellow rapper Shyne was not.

Boogie Down Productions vs Mr. Magic, MC Shan, and Marley Marl

Boogie Down Productions, led by KRS-ONE, were involved in a long-running feud with Marley Marl's production crew during the late 1980s and early 1990s. This was predominantly a dispute over boroughs of New York, with the Queensbridge-based Marl helming a track entitled "The Bridge" hymning the praises of his home borough. BDP's response was entitled "The Bridge Is Over", in which KRS-ONE named many of Marl's associates as being weak rappers.

Dr. Dre vs Eazy-E

Dr. Dre and Eazy-E were part of one of the first hip hop superstar crews, the group N.W.A., along with Ice Cube. After the group broke up, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E began a war of words and a rivalry between their record companies, Death Row and Ruthless Records, respectively; it never turned violent, and Eazy-E died of AIDS a few years later. The two reconciled shortly before Eazy-E's death.

Dr. Dre, Eminem and Xzibit vs. Canibus and Jermaine Dupri

On "What You Say" from Eminem's The Eminem Show, Dr. Dre insulted Jermaine Dupri, claiming "over 80 million records sold/And I didn't have to do it with 10 and 11 year olds/Fuck Jermaine". The reference to 10 and 11 year olds is to Dupri's record label, which has made millions off child pop acts like Kris Kross and Lil Bow Wow, who was actually jumpstarted into rap by Dre's protege Snoop Doggy Dogg. Eminem and Xzibit similarly insulted Dupri (and Canibus) on a DJ Kay Slay mixtape, where Eminem raps "I gave Jay-Z a beat for free, you want one tell me, unless your canibitch, then you get Dr. Dre's fee". Dupri has responded by accusing Dre of taking credit for others' work, "I know you don't do half the work in the studio, plus your little niggas play with your booty hole", and also insulted Eminem with "I left you out deliberately, you know why, to me you're like a character in Disney world, known for dissin' pop groups and Justin's ex-girl, shit, ain't no one take you seriously".

Eminem vs Benzino

In 2003, Boston-area rapper Benzino released a song which included the lyrics "You're the rap David Duke/The rap Hitler... I'm the rap Malcolm, the rap Martin", directed at superstar white rapper Eminem. Eminem responded quickly, calling Benzino an "83-year-old fake Pacino". Benzino has explained in interviews that he fears Eminem's fame is the beginning of the end for the African-American domination of hip hop; he has also linked Eminem with the consumerism of modern hip hop, complaining that he has to "talk about bling-bling because that's all the people who control the images want to hear from us", while Eminem is allowed to rap about deeply personal issues. Benzino is an up-and-coming rapper, and some have accused him of criticizing hip hop's biggest star solely to raise his own status.

Eminem vs Everlast

On a Dilated Peoples album, hip hop/rock musician Everlast (formerly of House of Pain) insulted Eminem, who responded with "I Remember", which controversially attacked Everlast for his religion, Islam. Everlast has responded on a track called "Whitey's Revenge". Eminem quickly shot back with the single "Quitter", spitting vicious lyrics with the help of D-12 over the beat to 2pac's "Hit 'Em Up".

Foxy Brown vs Lil Kim

Former friends Foxy Brown and Lil Kim are the most famous female rappers to engage in a bitter rivalry, with Brown accusing Kim of slavishly imitating her style and Kim responding soon after on "Quiet Storm" with Mobb Deep and getting at Foxy on other appearances claiming that she doesn't write her own rhymes.

Ja Rule vs DMX

DMX began a feud by claiming Ja Rule is a bad imitator of his style (both sound extremely similar with very rough voices, and this was during an era where there other also similar rappers being played on the radio at the time); Ja responded by bringing up DMX's drug abuse and questioning his sexuality. This so called "beef" stems out further than X and Ja. In the late 1990s DMX, Ja Rule, and Jay-Z all had an alliance. They were to be known as Murder Inc. Irv Gotti was to be their manager, and this is where things went wrong. Jay-Z was already on the "homemade" and successful Roc-A-Fella Records making his own money his own way. DMX was gaining attention as a new Def Jam artist and as the frontman for the new Ruff Ryders entourage. And Irv and Ja were already partners before this alliance started. Basically, it comes down to money. The "not-yet" group disbanded before making an impact as a whole on the rap game. Jay-Z of course went on to enjoy commercial success, as did Ja Rule. DMX had success too, but since Ja was rewarded with more success, DMX claimed that Ja Rule got rich off of his style.

Ja Rule vs Eminem and 50 Cent

The origins of Ja Rule and Eminem's rivalry is not known for certain. MTV claimed it began after Ja Rule and his label head, Irv Gotti, were involved in a physical altercation with 50 Cent. 50 Cent reportedly took out a restraining order against Gotti, and several other performers have attacked him for "snitching" as a result. After Ja Rule insulted Eminem in a song, he responded on a mixtape by DJ Kay Slay with a freestyle collaboration with 50 Cent. "Irv Gotti, too much Bacardi in his body/You ain't a killer, you a pussy/ That ecstasy got you all emotional and mushy/Bitches wearing rags in photos/Ja's word being quoted/In The Source, stealing Pac's shit like he just wrote it" to the beat of Tupac's "Hail Mary". Eminem also appeared on a DJ Green Lantern mixtape, with Busta Rhymes, insulting Ja, Murder Inc. (Gotti and Ja Rule's label), Benzino and

Jay-Z