rap beefs

There’s Only One Way Drake Can Redeem Himself After His Kendrick Lamar Beef, According To Ab-Soul

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At this point, it’s pretty firmly established that Drake took the L in his back-and-forth with Kendrick Lamar earlier this year. Only Aubrey himself (or his staunchest online supporters) could make the argument that Kendrick did NOT run roughshod over Drake’s reputation with his flurry of aggressive diss tracks, which included the presumptive song of the summer, “Not Like Us.”

Fortunately for Drake, there is a path to redemption — at least, according to former Kendrick Lamar labelmate, Ab-Soul. The Carson artist, who is still signed to Top Dawg Entertainment and appeared in the “Not Like Us” video alongside the other original members of the label, shared his theory on Twitter (back to not calling it “X”).

“If Drake is the MC I imagine he can be,” he wrote. “Redemption is not off the table.”

Of course, this is pretty much the crux of the divide between the two rappers, as well as being the main case against Drake from the majority of his critics over the past decade and a half. Drake spent his first two mixtapes, Room For Improvement and Comeback Season, courting the underground before blowing up seemingly overnight after the leak of a reference track of Drake’s song, “Brand New,” which he’d written for an unnamed R&B singer.

Since then, Drake has split his time on recordings between harder-edged, tough guy-style rapping (because the backpacker thing was never all that profitable) and brokenhearted crooning. In an effort to appeal to the zeitgeist, though, both his raps and his singing have taken on a manosphere-inspired, Red Pilled outlook, which has alienated a bunch of his most dedicated fans. Ab-Soul’s comments reflect a general vibe on rap discussion forums like Twitter that there’s a version of Drake that could potentially earn back his lost respect as a rapper, but he’d have to reject some of his biggest defenders, ditch the toxic attitudes, and start writing like his old rhyme heroes Phonte and Lupe Fiasco again.

It’s a bold theory, and I’m not sure it’d hold true in practice, but therein lies the rub: If skills sold, truth be told…

Rick Ross Is Actually Amused After Seemingly Being Attacked By Drake Fans In Canada

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Kendrick Lamar took a few hefty swings at Drake’s OVO Sound’s mascot in the “Not Like Us” video. But last month (June 30), it appears Drake fans decided to throw a few punches of their own—at Drizzy’s foe Rick Ross.

While performing in Montreal, the “Champagne Moments” rapper and his crew were seemingly rushed after playing the chart-topping Kendrick track. Yesterday (July 4), Ross finally issued a response to the brawl.

“Aye man, I’m thinking about the event that happened over there,” he said. “When the first dude stepped up to Rozay, the lil’ short fat one that looked like Bam Bam Bigelow from wrestling. When he stepped up, I squatted down, and his eyes had told him what I said. Basically, ‘Boy, if I hit you, imma see everything you ate for the last two days.’ His balls dropped out of his ass. He never said another word, he did never did nothing. He was a straight busta. Then the n**** behind him said, ‘I know MMA!’ And then I got hit with a drink. I’m still convinced ain’t no n**** punched me. Somebody said, ‘Rozay, the n**** tried to punch you, he hit you!.’ I said, ‘Nah, he had to throw a drink.’ ‘Cause throwing a drink would have been way more disrespectful than screaming, ‘I know MMA!’”

Typically, being attacked would rattle anyone. But not in Ross’ case. In fact, he seemed amused more so than anything else.

Watch the full video below.

Latto’s Rumored Album Title May Have Been Inspired By Ice Spice And Naturally, Fans Are Losing Their Cool About It

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Oy vey. Just when you thought Kendrick Lamar’s Pop Out concert in LA finally brought the fractious energy of early 2024 to its natural conclusion, another one of the many, many examples of rap beef this year resurfaced over the weekend to potentially keep the bad vibes rolling into the summer.

According to fans attending Latto’s Birthday Bash concert in Atlanta, the “Big Energy” rapper teased the title of her next album during the show. It’s supposedly called Sugar Honey Iced Tea, and here’s why fans think it has to do with Ice Spice and her beef with Latto. Latto later seemingly confirmed that she does have something by that name “OTW” and with a CD emoji attached, it does appear to be an album.

Obviously, the phrase “sugar honey iced tea” has long been used as an acronym for a certain bad word referring to poop. This is significant here because Ice Spice’s most successful Y2K! single this year so far has been “Think U The Sh*t (Fart),” which the Bronx native admitted is a diss song about Latto. While Latto already addressed Ice Spice with her own combative single, “Sunday Service,” fans have interpreted Latto’s album title as a direct response to Ice’s accusation, acknowledging that yes, she does think she is “the sh*t.”

Naturally, everyone is being very chill about this… oh, wait. No. Of course, they aren’t. In any event, you can watch Latto’s Birthday Bash in full up top, and check out just some of the reactions to her album’s potential title below.

Kendrick Lamar Was Spotted Filming The ‘Not Like Us’ Video, Which Means His ‘Drake Victory Lap’ Isn’t Over

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The person who coined the phrase, “all you need is love,” didn’t meet Kendrick Lamar. Although the “Euphoria” rapper receives more than enough praises from fans and peers alike, users online have joked that he’s currently running off of his pure hatred of Drake.

Today (June 22), Kendrick was spotted in his hometown Compton, California, reportedly filming a music video for “Not Like Us.”

The chart-topping Drake diss track has been unofficially declared the “song of the summer,” and Kendrick’s The Pop Out: Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert presented by Amazon Music, demonstrated why.

Despite being filmed in the public, details surrounding the video shoot have remained under wraps. However, if it is anything like his June 19 show, you should expect to see tons of guest cameos from across industries, including the song’s producer Mustard, Kendrick’s former Black Hippy collaborators (Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Schoolboy Q), basketball stars LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and DeMar DeRozan, plus so many others.

Of course, none of this has been confirmed, but that hasn’t stopped folks from wishing for it. Users online have also speculated that YG is set to appear in the visual after he posted clips with controversial podcaster Bobbi Althoff in the city.

As of today, the video’s release date hasn’t been shared with the public. But given the speedy turn around of the song, it won’t be vaulted much longer.

Drake Seemingly Moved On From The Kendrick Lamar Beef By Deleting The Diss Songs From His Instagram Page

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Yesterday marked one month since hip-hop fans received the last entry in Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s rapid fire rap beef that took a turn for chaos starting at the end of April. That last entry was Drake’s “The Heart Part 6,” which references Kendrick’s long-running freestyle series. Since that diss was released, fans and critics alike crowned Kendrick Lamar as the winner of the rap as he also went on hit No. 1 with “Not Like Us.” It remains to be seen if either rapper will toss out another diss, but it seems likely that it won’t be Drake after he removed all his Kendrick Lamar disses from his Instagram page.

Fans noticed that Drake quietly removed the diss songs, which include “Push Ups,” “Family Matters,” and “The Heart Part 6,” from his Instagram page on Wednesday. The move also came with a new post and cryptic message. “The only yes man around me is my Rolex dealer,” Drake wrote under pictures of himself in his Toronto mansion. It’s not the first time that Drake deleted a song during his beef with Kendrick. Back in April, Drake was forced to remove his “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which featured AI rap verse from Tupac and Snoop Dogg, after the former’s estate issued a cease & desist letter that threatened to sue Drake for using Tupac’s voice without permission.

Coincidentally (or maybe not), Drake deleted the Instagram posts the same day that Kendrick Lamar announced “The Pop Out — Ken & Friends” concert with pgLang and Free Lunch at LA’s Kia Forum on June 19, aka Juneteenth. That performance could add another page to Kendrick Lamar-Drake rap beef story.

A Timeline Of The Beef Between Cardi B And BIA

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2024 is clearly hip-hop’s year of beef. Ice Spice and Latto, Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion, Drake and Kendrick Lamar — this year has so far been full of friction among some of rap’s top performers, and there are no signs as yet that rappers as a collective will find any fraction of chill anytime soon.

The latest acts to join the fracas are Cardi B and BIA, who spent the weekend trading shots in what appears to be the latest iteration of 2024’s Rap Beef-ocalypse. Here’s a timeline of their beef, so you can get caught up and explain to your friends, family, and co-workers just what the heck is going on.

July 2023: BIA Releases “Fallback”

Like most feuds in hip-hop, this one started off seemingly innocently enough. “Fallback” wouldn’t be considered a diss track by most — in fact, in the second verse, BIA specifically says, “I’m havin’ no beef, these bitches won’t say my name” — but in hindsight, it’s the song fans point to as the lit fuse for everything that came after.

March 2024: Cardi B Drops “Like What (Freestyle)”

Cardi B Serves Look After Look In Her Lavish New ‘Like What (Freestyle)’ Video

Here’s where things begin to get spicy. Fans noticed that Cardi’s first single of 2024 interpolated Missy Elliott’s 1999 hit “She’s A Bitch” — the same song that BIA sampled on “Fallback.” Now, this wouldn’t normally be notable — lots of hip-hop songs sample the same classics (for instance, Bob James’ “Nautilus” is one of, if not the most-sampled song in hip-hop) — but for Twitter stans, this was tantamount to a declaration of war. Cardi’s combative rhymes on the track certainly helped the perception along for fans who look for hidden meaning in well-established hip-hop tropes.

However, where once upon a time, those conspiracy theories were confined to the insides of superfans’ heads, these days, those fans have direct access to the artists themselves. Alerted to the similarities between their songs, BIA subtweeted Cardi with a string of woozy face emojis. Cardi herself appeared to respond with a tweet of her own, writing, “Bitches make a fool of themselves every single time.”

May 2024: Cardi B Appears To Directly Diss BIA On GloRilla And Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be” Remix

Cardi seemingly delivered on her promise to “show ya something when I release this song” on the remix of her frequent collaborators GloRilla and Megan Thee Stallion’s new single “Wanna Be.”

“Guess I’m a teacher since you wanna sub me / She did what? Had no idea / Thought she was on the shelf, Ikea / Hope she talk like that when I see her / B*tch, please, don’t nobody wanna be ya,” Cardi rhymes in her verse, with the final two words strong resembling the pronunciation of BIA’s name. Meanwhile, her reference to being “on the shelf” seemingly takes a dig at BIA’s relative lack of chart success since her breakout 2020 single “Whole Lotta Money,” which was a viral hit on TikTok and climbed to the No. 16 on the Hot 100. Since then, only “London” with J. Cole has reached the Hot 100, peaking at No. 62.

June 2024: BIA Claps Back With “Sue Meee”

Absolutely no ambiguity here. BIA goes in on Cardi in her new track released on Sunday. In the song, BIA accuses Cardi of the usual shortcomings (seriously, can y’all find some new stuff to talk about? YAWN.), including the rumors that she and her husband Offset spent the duration of their marriage cheating on each other and that she uses ghostwriters. “Do I beef with you or do I beef with Pardi?” she taunts on the song-ending bridge. “You been scrapping projects since 2019.”

The song’s title, meanwhile, came from an Instagram Live stream in which Cardi threatened legal action against BIA for insinuating she’d ripped off “Fallback” for “Like What.” In the caption of an Instagram post teasing the track, though, BIA wrote, “Sue me? That’s not hip hop 😂.”

We’ll see if Cardi responds either way; she noted after her confrontation with Nicki Minaj in 2019 that beef is “bad for business.” But if it inspires her to finally get around to dropping that long-awaited follow-up to Invasion Of Privacy, I can’t say it’d be completely bad.

What Did BIA Say About Cardi B On Her Diss Song ‘Sue Meee?’

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Bia 47th Annual McDonald's All-American Game 2024
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The next track-for-track rap beef is on the grill. Cardi B and BIA’s once subtle online dust ups have now become full-on diss records.

On May 31, Cardi B took the first direct shots on GloRilla and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be” remix. Today (June 2), after teasing a snippet on Instagram Live, BIA dropped the official audio to her response record, “Sue Meee?,” despite Cardi B’s threat of legal action.

So, what exactly did BIA say on the record? Continue below for more information.

What Did BIA Say About Cardi B On Her Diss Song “Sue Meee?”

Before BIA even rapped, she subtly shaded Cardi with stock audio, referring to Cardi B previously recording and sharing private telephone conversations online, reportedly including their exchange.

In the record’s opening, BIA, claimed that Cardi cheated on her husband Offset, speculated about her alleged gang affiliation, and subtly mentioned her best friend Star Brim.

“You a f*ck girl I see right through yah / Put it on your gang that they didn’t f*ck you in / Put it on your name since you so gangsta like your f*cking friends / Put it on your hubby since you love lying on your f*cking vows / I write all my verses I can do this sh*t for hours”

Then, BIA clowned Cardi for staying with her husband after he supposedly had sex with another woman in their shared home. She also attempted to poked fun at Cardi for allegedly out earning Offset.

“I’ll be damned if I let a n**** f*ck a b*tch inside my house / Your money long and you split that / Your n**** saying, ‘That’s ours’”

Next, BIA take aim at Cardi’s past cosmetic procedures and self-esteem while naming dropping her children, daughter Kulture and son Wave (who she shares with Offset).

“Put it on God that you ain’t change your face to mine / I’ll get on your ass hoe I don’t have to waste no time / Say you love yourself, but you won’t put that on your kids / All that surgery and how your body look so mid / Thought your ass was for the culture (Kulture) / You just trying to ride the wave (Wave) / You should be home with your kids ’cause you speak like second grade”

Lastly, she referenced Cardi B using outside songwriters such as Pardison Fontaine to allegedly write her biggest records.

“C-A-R-D, cry on IG / Catch another ‘tude ’cause she couldn’t catch a beat / Do I beef with you are beef with Pardi (Pardison Fontaine) / You been scrapping projects since 2019 / Weak ass b*tch

Listen to the full track below.

BIA Subtly Responds To Cardi B’s Jabs On GloRilla And Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Wanna Be’ Remix

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Just when you thought the wave of rap feuds were over, another duo has reentered the fray. Cardi B and BIA’s ongoing beef is sizzling.

After several subliminal online spats, yesterday (May 31) Cardi B took to the booth with a direct jab at BIA via her verse on GloRilla And Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be” remix.

Following the track’s release, it appears BIA subtly responded to the call on. “B*itches is wack,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “B*tches is trash. I should hang b*tches right over my knee, the way I be puttin’ my belt to the ass 😂😂😂.”

Days before, it seems that BIA shaded Cardi B over her use of songwriters on her records. “The quality of features I have, shows how much of a fan I am of real writers ✍🏽,” she wrote.

Read Cardi B’s lines on “Wanna Be” remix directed at BIA below.

“Guess I’m a teacher since you wanna sub me / She did one had no idea / Thought she was on the shelf Ikea / Hope she talk like that when I see her / B*tch please don’t nobody wanna be her (BIA) / Cheap lookin’ ass ho, weak lookin’ ass ho / Great Value me lookin’ ass ho / Girl, these bitches be pussy
Delete every tweet lookin’ ass ho”

Did Cardi B Diss BIA On GloRilla And Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Wanna Be’ Remix?

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The much-anticipated Cardi B-featuring remix of “Wanna Be” is here, and on the track, she’s out for blood.

Did Cardi B Diss BIA On GloRilla And Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be” Remix?

Towards the end of Cardi’s song-opening verse, she raps, “Guess I’m a teacher since you wanna sub me / She did what? Had no idea / Thought she was on the shelf, Ikea / Hope she talk like that when I see her / B*tch, please, don’t nobody wanna be ya.”

The beef between Cardi and BIA seemingly started earlier this year, after Cardi released “Like What (Freestyle).” The song samples Missy Elliott’s 1999 single “She’s A B*tch,” as does BIA’s 2023 song “Fallback.” Some online pointed out the similarity and BIA subtly stoked the flames by acknowledging it. Shortly after, Cardi tweeted, “B*tches make a fool of themselves every single time [crying laughing emoji].. ima show ya something when I release this song tho.”

As for what Cardi’s saying on the “Wanna Be” remix, the line about being “on the shelf” is seemingly a dig at BIA’s relative lack of chart success despite having been active as a rapper for over a decade, with three singles hitting the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also, when Cardi says “don’t nobody wanna be ya,” it would appear that “be ya” is meant to be a reference to BIA.

Yasiin Bey’s Freestyle Over ‘Like That’ Has Fans Thinking He Dissed Drake, Kendrick Lamar, And J. Cole

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During a recent livestream on Instagram, the rapper now known as Yasiin Bey appeared to take shots at some participants in a recent rap beef as he freestyled over one of the songs they battled with. Over the instrumental from Metro Boomin’s “Like That” beat, Bey raps, “Greedy, seedy, and creepy/ Corny, horny, and boring/ Bougie, goofy, and moody/ Foolish, ruthless, and clueless/ Variations on a petty Big 3/ A whole lot to look at, but not much to see.”

The mention of the Big 3 has fans thinking the verse is a disappointed reference to Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar, after repeated mentions of their grouping as a unit on records wound up touching off the battle between them. It was on “Like That” that Kendrick first yelled “motherf*ck the Big 3,” sparking the conflict between them. After J. Cole dropped out of the feud for personal reasons, Drake and Kendrick’s back-and-forth became increasingly noxious to the point that even the fans who egged them on quickly became disgusted with the vitriolic rhetoric.

It probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that Bey was equally disgusted with the beef. Back in 2003, the April 9 episode of Chappelle’s Show featured musical guests Yasiin Bey (then known as Mos Def) and Talib Kweli — collectively known as Black Star. The two Brooklyn rappers performed a new song called “What’s Beef.”

Over the course of his verse, Bey decried various high profile rap beefs, contrasting them with more dire current events. He even name-checked the conflict in Gaza, which goes to show how long people have effectively ignored what Bey would consider “real” beef in favor of WWF-style rap antics. “Beef is not what Jay said to Nas,” he said. “Beef is when working folks can’t find jobs / So they try to find n****s to rob / Try to find bigger guns so they can finish the job.” Bey later released a solo version on a mixtape, Mos Definite .

20 years later, it seems his opinions about rap beef he expressed in that verse haven’t changed, even though his name has.