Despite how many Rap beefs have played out over the decades, not all were rooted in personal attacks. Many of Hip Hop’s most cherished lyricism arrived in a diss track, and several were slung in the 2000s when Jadakiss and Lloyd Banks were actively involved in a scathing back and forth. These days, Jada and Banks have moved past any disagreements expressed on wax, even appearing on one another’s records for years. The two celebrated New York emcees have mutual respect for one another, and in a recent conversation with HipHopDX, Banks revisited that time in his career.
“I view that time from two different aspects because I was fans of these guys before I even came into the game,” he said. “And that’s not just for them, that’s for anybody who was in the game before us.”
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Banks continued, “I think the momentum that G-Unit had coming into the game, you wouldn’t know that unless we spoke on it. It takes a certain level of confidence and just blatant ignorance and audacity to just feel like we the hottest n*ggas in the game.”
There have been ongoing conversations about how “beef” and the spirit of lyrical competition are often conflated, especially recently. After The Game dropped a 10-minute diss track to Eminem, people are once again talking about battles and lyrical responses.
“That was a hell of a time because, like I said, the new artists now, they don’t necessarily challenge themselves lyrically,” Banks reportedly said. “Back then, it was like competitive nature was on a whole different level. You had mixtapes, whether it be DJ Envy, DJ Clue, or whoever it was, and you had to really get out there and say some shit and be prepared for that competitive nature, and whatever was coming.”
Listen to Banks and Jadakiss collide below.
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