Well after last week’s beef between Eminem and MGK, which is just heating up; it has brought up conversation about other hip-hop beefs, who has made the best diss tracks and who has ended whose career. Now its too early to tell whether Eminem has lyrically killed MGK yet as that is an ongoing battle, however Eminem fans will tell you that MGK won’t be around for much longer. This is shown by Eminem’s past track record, he’s gone up against other artists such as: Mariah Carey, Ja-Rule, Everlast, Limp Bizkit, Benzino, Iggy Azalea and Canibus. Now who have you heard of, and who is still putting out music? Its safe to say who won those battles; so maybe MGK should look back at the past to see what his future will be.

So, who had the biggest beef in hip-hop? Tupac vs Biggie, Ice Cube vs NWA, Dr Dre vs Eazy E, Nas vs Jay-Z, The Game vs G-Unit, 50 Cent vs Ja-Rule, Eminem vs, well anyone? Well, arguably I would say the biggest beef in hip-hop has to be Tupac vs Biggie because even after more than twenty years since they were both killed they still dominate the sound of old school hip-hop, their fans are still arguing over the two of them and still pick sides of the war. These two were both kings of hip-hop in their own ways and most hip-hop fans will have either one of them in their top three rappers of all time which goes to show the impact they have had on the industry. It is impossible to say who won this war between them as it is more of a subjective argument to who you prefer as they are both on the same lyrical level. Me, I prefer Tupac 100 percent, but that’s just my personal view due to who I grew up listening too. The facts here are that neither of them could end the others career because they both had so much talent and passion behind what they were doing.

The same cannot be said for rap beefs nowadays. When someone old school like Remy Ma comes at (new school) Nicki Minaj in a beef, she comes strong with two diss tracks. But the way Nicki fires back is by getting her friends on a track to diss Remy. This is pathetic, it destroyed all her credibility in my eyes (not that I respected her in the first place). But how can you enter into a rap battle with someone, thinking you’re the best and can out-rap them, when you can’t lyrically take on someone on your own? The difference here is that would kill her career in the eyes of true rap fans, however the rap fans of today don’t seem to care about that or respect the unwritten rules of hip-hop, battle rap, and diss tracks.

Out of these rap beefs over the years come some lyrical geniuses, and some great diss tracks. Now everyone’s got a different opinion on which is better, but it always brings a good debate! One of my personal favourites is by The Game. His song 300 Bars and Runnin’ is a fifteen minute long diss against 50 cent and his group G-Unit. Its just shot after shot at them, its non-stop lyrical bars, its not focused on being a top 40 hit or making a perfect song, it’s about what its meant to be. You would struggle to find many other rappers who can do this for fifteen minutes straight, so I have a lot of respect for The Game since he made this.

I also can’t miss out Eminem’s song Nail in the coffin, it completely buried Benzino! There was no way for Benzino to come back in the rap game after that song. I then have to give a special shout out to Tupac’s song Hit ‘Em Up, Ice-Cube’s song No Vaseline and Nas’s song Ether. To me these are all classic diss tracks that represent the true meaning of lyricism and battling for the crown! These are all songs made by true rap legends who have earned their place in the game through their skill and rhymes. They all fought the hard way to get to the top and have never had anything handed to them unlike the rappers do nowadays.

What do you think?