2024 will surely be looked back upon as the year beef dominated hip-hop.
Almost fittingly,Eminem kicked things off by dissing Benzino on the song “Doomsday Pt. 2,” which prompted lyrical responses from ’Zino. The same month, Megan Thee Stallion shaded Nicki Minaj on the song “Hiss,” which prompted the vitriolic response “Big Foot.” However, it was Kendrick Lamar’s verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” that really got the ball rolling. Aside from jumpstarting beef with J. Cole and igniting an epic battle with Drake that some are calling the best hip-hop has ever seen, K-Dot has seemingly signaled the starting bell of rap’s battle royale.
Rick Ross threw his hat in the ring by dissing Drake on “Champagne Moments.” Chris Brown soon after put his beef with Quavo on wax by throwing shots at the former Migos member on the song “Freak,” leading to them exchanging blows. Since then, several more rappers have followed suit by airing out their grievances on wax. The volume of diss songs released this year has been unprecedented.
Everyone in the hip-hop world is not supportive of rap’s royal rumble. Back in April, Boosie BadAzz called fans out for gassing up beef.
“EVERYBODY GASSING UP RAP BEEF SMH ALL EXCITED SAYING THIS HIP HOP WELL EVERYONE N THE CREW NOT GO SEE IT THAT WAY,” Boosie posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “N WHEN IT POP OFF ‘IT REALLY GOES DOWN.’ SO WHEN SOMEONE FROM ONE OF THESE CREWS DIE,DONT SAY THEY STUPID SMH.”
He continued: “GO SUPPORT THEM N COURT LIKE YALL SUPPORTED THE RAP BEEF HOW WOULD U FEEL IF YOUR FAMILY MEMBER DIED CAUSE OF HIP HOP RAP BEEF IM FROM LOUISIANA EVERY RAP BEEF IVE SEEN PEOPLE DIE YALL SO HAPPY ABOUT WHO GO WIN R LOSE BUT A MAMA GO LOSE HER SON n ain’t none of yall going to the funeral smh.”
Artists like The Roots‘ Questlove and rapper Fat Joe have agreed. However, now that the worms are out of the can, it looks like things will only get slimier.
See the complete list of every hip-hop diss song released in 2024 below.
