rap beefs

Snoop Dogg Gave Eazy-E’s 1993 Diss Track About Him His Seal Of Approval: ‘That Sh*t Be Knocking’

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Snoop Dogg might have done his best to stay out of the biggest beef of the decade so far (to varying success), but that might just be because the old soldier already has his fair share of battle scars. Some of them were accrued during the fallout of the contentious breakup of NWA, which resulted in Eazy-E‘s 1993 diss track “Real Muthaph*ckkin G’s.” The Compton native had a few not-so-nice things to say about Snoop after linking up with Eazy’s former bandmate Dr. Dre, but it sounds like Snoop doesn’t mind.

Appearing on a new episode of The Bootleg Kev Podcast while promoting his new LP, Missionary, Snoop recalled the impact the song had when it came out after admitting that his internet radio station plays the song every day. “I got a station called ‘Cadillac Music.’ Every day, at about 1:30, two o’clock, walk down the hall. Eazy-E, Dresta, and B.G. Knocc Out be playin’. That sh*t be knocking, and you hear me singing it. ‘Motherf*ck Dre, motherf*ck Suge, motherf*ck Death Row!’”

While he did acknowledge how they initially didn’t like Eazy’s diss records, that one was undeniable. “We was busting them upside the head, but when they dropped that motherf*cker, we felt that one,” he admitted. “Eazy was going in on a n****” He also noted that it “ain’t that serious” for Dr. Dre at that time, who was “damn near neighbors” with Eazy at the time. Snoop said the difference in mindset stemmed from their respective upbringings; while Dre felt it was “all business,” Snoop and the other younger members of Death Row were taking things personally. Fortunately, he’s since grown out of it and is passing on his wisdom.

You can watch the full interview above and the “Real Muthaph*ckkin G’s” video below.

Drake Has Doubled Down On His Legal Dispute With UMG, Accusing The Label Of Defamation In A New Filing

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Drake has doubled down on his current legal dispute with Universal Music Group, accusing the label of defamation in a new filing. According to Billboard, after filing a pre-action petition accusing UMG of promoting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” through underhanded means, Drake is now accusing his and Kendrick’s shared parent label (Drake licenses his music through Republic, while Kendrick licenses through Interscope, both subsidiaries of UMG) of defamation for not blocking the song’s release, because of the line(s) in which Kendrick accuses Drake of being a pedophile.

In the new filing, Drake’s attorneys (by way of Frozen Moments, LLC) claim UMG “could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed. But UMG chose to do the opposite. UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”

While Drake has yet to file an actual lawsuit against Universal, these “pre-action” petitions ask the court to order UMG to turn over any records pertaining to the diss and its promotion ahead of any potential lawsuit. A judge will still need to review the paperwork to determine whether or not to grant this petition, although Drake’s legal team claims to have enough evidence to proceed with a lawsuit anyway. UMG has already denied the claims in a response of its own, saying through a representative, “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

Drake Has Filed A Lawsuit Accusing UMG Of Colluding With Kendrick Lamar Against Him

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Drake doesn’t think the success of “Not Like Us” was totally organic. Months after Kendrick Lamar’s Mustard-produced diss track dominated the charts and utterly derailed Drake’s plans for 2024 — which he was supposed to take off, anyway — Drake has filed a complaint in Manhattan court, claiming that the song’s streaming success was the result of collusion between Universal Music Group and Kendrick at his expense. The suit alleges UMG violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and New York state laws against deceptive business practices and false advertising in the process.

Frozen Moments LLC, Drake’s corporate entity filed the suit today, arguing that UMG — which represents both rappers through licensing agreements — employed bots and payola schemes to inflate the numbers for “Not Like Us.” According to Frozen Moments attorneys, UMG “paid” Spotify — by charging “30 percent less than its usual licensing rates” — to recommend “Not Like Us” to users who weren’t even searching for it (or even similar songs), and did the same with Apple, so listeners requesting Drake songs via Siri would instead hear “Not Like Us.” In order to hide these practices, UMG supposedly fired employees perceived as loyal to Drake.

While it’s unclear why UMG would favor Kendrick Lamar over Drake, the roots of Drake’s dispute appear to stem from legit consumer complaints about DSPs pushing popular songs to listeners who don’t even want them, such as Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” which received pushback for appearing on auto-generated Spotify playlists even after fans took steps to stop the app doing so. However, opening that particular can of worms might not be to Drake’s benefit, even if he thinks it’ll gain him some vindication after waving the white flag in his war of words against the Compton prophet.

The Report That Claimed Future And Drake Squashed Their Beef Is False, According To Akademiks

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Fans of Drake and Future’s reconciliation celebration parade was short-lived. According to Uproxx’s Elliott Wilson the former collaborators mended their friendship.

During The Bigger Picture‘s latest episode (viewable here), Wilson claimed that the hip-hop heavy weights’ feud was official over. “I have it on good authority that Drake and Future have at least gotten on the phone and resolved their differences,” he said.

However, shortly after HipHopDX posted the confessional clip (viewable here), another industry figure came out to refute the remark. On his own platform, online commentator Akademiks shared insider knowledge to the contrary. “I’ve spoken to extremely credible sources on both sides, and Drake and Future have not been on the phone,” he said (viewable here courtesy of NFR Podcast).

Both Wilson and Akademiks have deep ties to rappers and their close affiliates. So, this has quickly become a case of he said, he said. Users across X (formerly Twitter), have expressed their frustration with these opposing recounts.

“See now this is what we aren’t gonna do, have two different stories over and over again. We need answers,” wrote one user.

Others have begun to question why Drake and Future were at odds to begin with. Hip-hop fans can understand Drake’s disdain for Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar, and Asap Rocky. But the supposed tension between Drake and Future has some stumped.

Punch Dispelled Rumors Of Beef Between TDE And Dreamville Artists After A Viral Fan Theory About J. Cole’s ‘Pi’

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Ever since Future and Metro Boomin added Kendrick Lamar to their combative single “Like That,” the rap game has been in shambles, with bloodlust among rap fans fueling pernicious rumors of beef between their favorite entertainers. Case in point, the song “Pi” from J. Cole’s new mixtape, Might Delete Later, has been the center of rumored beef between rappers affiliated with Kendrick’s former label, TDE, and J. Cole’s label, Dreamville. However, TDE President Terrence Henderson — aka Punch — stepped in to dispel that myth before it spread any further.

After a rap fan on Twitter (never calling it “X”) wrote, “Ab-Soul threw jabs at J. Cole after Cole did him dirty by adding him & Daylyt to a song with a verse dissing Kendrick on ‘Pi’,” Punch did some fact-checking on the inaccurate speculation. “I hate to clear up rumors,” he wrote in response. “I usually let them fester and see how far they go, but ALL verses on ‘Pi’ were recorded long before ‘Like That.’”

It’s fair to say that fans have let their excitement get the best of them in the past. That, combined with the vagueness of some rappers’ battle raps, gives plenty of room for conspiratorial thinking and jumping to conclusions. However, there’s a big difference between fan theories on the internet and what really goes on behind the scenes — and Punch’s tweet is a reminder that many of those theories are usually missing key pieces of information. In this case, the fans in question appear to have overlooked the fact that Daylyt and J. Cole have collaborated since on “Plate Of Collard Greens,” and that even Ab-Soul appears to be rooting for Drake to have a soft landing.

Did Future Diss Gunna On Ferg’s ‘Allure?’ Some Fans Think So, And Here’s Why

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Future puts on one hell of a performance on Ferg’s new single “Allure,” but some fans think that his verse has a particular target in mind with one line in particular: Gunna, who some rap fans still see as a supposed snitch after the Alford plea that helped him avoid the seemingly interminable trial against his YSL Records boss, Young Thug.

“I’m just a street n****, just rappin’, my day ones went fed / You done took a plea on my slime, won’t be surprise if you ended up dead,” Future raps. Some fans have interpreted this as a shot at Gunna, who has faced criticism from several former collaborators like Future, including Lil Baby and Lil Durk.

Fans who think Gunna and Future have beef — you know, the ones who learn about hip-hop culture on the internet instead of from real life — are overlooking a great many details, though, including that many, many, many rappers make the same generic threat in their music, and most of them don’t even know Gunna (and, if we’re being completely honest, aren’t even from the lifestyle they portray on their songs).

Gunna himself isn’t really sweating the speculation; after supposedly being removed from Future’s new album, Mixtape Pluto, Gunna denied any personal friction between the two. “It’s not personal,” he wrote on social media. “It’s just business.” Does that mean we’ll never see a sequel to “Pushin’ P” featuring the two? Listen, if Gucci Mane and Jeezy can put their differences aside — even if only temporarily — then their spiritual successors ought to be able to, as well.

Metro Boomin Believes ‘Stan Culture’ Is The Main Reason For Today’s ‘Weird’ Rap Beefs

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Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s track-for-track rap war dominated hip-hop discussion. Although Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” eventually became the standout (and chart-topping) song from the feud, many have already forgotten another song that kicked things off.

Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That” could easily be considered the launch point. Despite gaining the support of Kendrick Lamar’s massive fan base, Metro Boomin isn’t exactly a fan of stan culture. Yesterday (September 23), during a Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit panel, Metro Boomin seemingly cited stan culture as the root cause for today’s “weird” rap beefs.

“I feel like the competition is great for the game,” he said. “Hip-hop has always been more of a competitive genre even if just keeping it on music, and it’s not serious how everybody tries to make it. Because also with Hip Hop, there’s a lot of ego involved. You’re supposed to feel like you’re the best. Everybody from the highest to the lowest guy is supposed to at least feel like you’re the best. So when two of the top dogs in the game and you both feel like you’re the best, it’s like okay, now we gotta have a showdown.”

Metro Boomin then referred to Jay-Z and Nas’ infamous diss tracks before turning his attention to stan culture, saying: “But I just feel like more today with stan culture, it makes it kind of weird. Because back in the day, JAY-Z and Nas went at it. But I was a fan of both of them. And most people were! And it was like, it’s okay. It was like not I hate this side [or] I hate that side. The internet just makes it a little too wild now.”

I’m not sure those he were alive to witness Jay-Z and Nas’ clash remember it quite this way (myself, included).

The Kendrick Lamar Mural In Compton Was Vandalized With Gang Graffiti That Was Mistaken For A Pro-Drake Message

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According to XXL, a video has surfaced on social media of someone vandalizing a Compton-based mural of Kendrick Lamar with gang graffiti. While the tags represent a local Mexican-American street gang, the graffiti was mistaken for a pro-Drake message after some fans interpreted the “CVTF” as an “OVO.” (A reminder, some of you are really not like us, and should keep out of hood politics, thinking it’s entertainment.)

The mural, on the wall of Honduras Restaurant Mi Sabor, depicts Kendrick being honored with the key to the city in 2016 and accepting his Best Rap Album Grammy for his album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers in 2023, along with a reference to his Good Kid, MAAD City cover. It’s easy to see why some fans — perhaps the ones who should be wearing 50 SPF sunblock at all times, even in the winter — would want to interpret the vandalism as the latest extension of the rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. After all, it’d be fair to say that plenty of Drake fans are still sore about the drubbing he received at the hands of his former collaborator.

However, it seems, although Kendrick is very much a hometown hero, even he isn’t bigger than hood politics — or ratchet ass kids trying to make a name for themselves.

Did ASAP Rocky Diss Drake On ‘Ruby Rosary’?

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ASAP Rocky said he wasn’t going to worry about his Drake beef on future releases, but fans believe they’ve detected some shade in his new song. “Ruby Rosary,” the new ASAP Rocky song produced by The Alchemist and featuring J. Cole, has a few lines on it that some fans believe are references to Drake and the ongoing friction between the two former friends. So…

Did ASAP Rocky Diss Drake On “Ruby Rosary?”

In his second verse, Rocky raps, “Who dared me to die? / You a dead man walkin’, like you barely alive / Cut everything but the family ties / Cut the shit, cut the lies, word to the wise / Who in your top five? / I don’t get fresh to death, bitch, I’m buried alive / I heard dawg talkin’ funny, like it’s Family Guy.”

One of the more obvious potential Drake references is “Buried Alive,” the Take Care interlude on which Drake invited Kendrick Lamar to rap, increasing Kendrick’s popularity early in the Compton rapper’s career. Obviously, the two stars’ career paths diverged greatly, culminating in this summer’s beatdown, wherein K. Dot cooked Drake repeatedly over the course of several songs.

In some of those songs, particularly “Family Matters” and “Meet The Grahams,” the two foes expended several lines referring to each others’ families, hence, a potential meaning for the “family ties” reference in “Ruby Rosary.” Of course, all this is circumstantial and thinner than a toad’s toupee, but after Drake bowed out of his rumble with Kendrick, bloodthirsty rap fans have been grasping at whatever straws they can, hoping for a crumb of conflict.

Megan Thee Stallion Doesn’t Know ‘What The Problem Is’ Between Her And Nicki Minaj

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Megan Thee Stallion can’t explain how to reconcile her beef with Nicki Minaj, because she doesn’t know how it started in the first place. In a new interview with Billboard, Meg admitted she doesn’t know why Minaj turned on her, and that she only spent the early part of the year exchanging diss songs with her former collaborator because she “knew what I had to do and what I had to say.”

“I still to this day don’t know what the problem is,” she confessed when asked about a potential reconciliation between the two rappers. “I don’t even know what could be reconciled because I, to this day, don’t know what the problem is.”

For what it’s worth, Meg and Nicki certainly started their relationship on a good note, teaming up to rap together on Meg’s 2019 single “Hot Girl Summer.” The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the US Rhythmic chart — Meg’s first and Nicki’s eighth. However, in 2022, Nicki recalled taking umbrage at a joke Megan made during a party, which ultimately led to their falling out (although, I gotta say… that’s the sort of thing you have a conversation about, not hold onto for five years and make a slew of diss tracks about).

Meanwhile, some fans believe Nicki actually turned on Meg when her 2020 collaboration with Nicki’s rival Cardi B, “WAP,” turned out to be much more successful, spending four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, and becoming one of the most buzzed-about songs of that year. Minaj took some apparent shots at Meg on her 2023 single, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze.”

Nicki and Meg opened 2024 with back-and-forth diss songs, beginning with Meg’s lead Megan single, “Hiss,” which addressed a number of her other detractors at the same time. Nicki responded with “Big Foot,” but the lukewarm response to the song — and Nicki’s accompanying days-long Twitter rant — caused the “beef” to fizzle out quickly. Still, it set the tone for the year, which has seen skirmishes between Ice Spice and Latto, and Drake and Kendrick Lamar.