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When Biggie Smalls asked, “What's beef?” popped the question at the height of the East Coast/West Coast rap rivalry that would eventually result in the deaths of the Brooklyn MCs — as well as Tupac Shakur.
But does beef always have to end in death? Most Hip-Hop fans would hope not. The very nature of culture is competitive, and rivalries can be exciting and fun when they stay on the candle.
The recent rivalry between Kendrick Lamar and Drake was one of those feuds revitalized the culture and entertained Hip-Hop fans in a way not seen for years.
SlotsUp Online Casino and Media Lab Insights statistics detailing the legacy of the rap beef have recently been prepared and shared—separating the stats and songs into eras marked by a major event.
“These timelines were used to better understand the evolution of conflict, success and demand for performance in the hip-hop industry,” the report notes. “Their comparison focuses on three main points: the technical aspect (the average tempo of the tracks (which can be calculated from the amount of bars and the length), the profitability (the amount of platinum albums) and the risks involved (percentage deaths)”.
The researchers at SlotsUp commented on the study. “Until our present day, the more beef there was, the more successful the artists were. Our current era goes against this pattern, with the same number of deaths and diss tracks as the first era, but with more platinum albums. Over the years, Hip-Hop became less technically demanding, especially after 2004. This study shows that conflicts are not always profitable and violence can be avoided.”
The first era was marked by what researchers called “The Roxanne Wars” in the mid-1980s. Two of the most prominent songs were “Roxanne, Roxanne” and “Roxanne's Revenge.” However, cultural commentators say there were as many as 30 beef-related songs. The only major death to result from that time was Scott La Rock – whose murder has not been directly attributed to the beef. The clear winner of this battle was Roxanne Shante, who went on to a long career and is credited as one of the seminal female MC's.
The second season was one of the deadliest. From 1992 to 1997, the beef sparked the real rise of the diss track. Research shows that diss tracks and deaths more than doubled while platinum albums soared to 35. The era had 10 deaths, with three being the most prominent—Eazy E, 2Pac and The Notorious BIG This era's winner could be considered as Sean “Diddy” Combs was recently dishonored as his Bad Boy imprint enjoyed some of its biggest hits since the death of B.I.G. This era also marked Hip-Hop's biggest foray into the pop genre with a surge in record sales that would last for more than a decade – before the proliferation of streaming.
The third era, which ran from 1998-2004, featured the beef between Jay-Z and Nas. This era was also the most financially successful with more than 50 platinum albums. “Eminem was important in this era,” as the study shows the Detroit rapper released nine diss tracks. The winner of this era continues to be debated. However, the culture benefited from the end of the beef with Jay and Nas doing many concerts together.
Source: Bethany Mollenkof/Getty
The fourth era: 2005-2008, is largely an era of peace – which began with the end of the beef between Jay-Z and Nas – two titans of New York rap. It is also worth noting that the average length of rap songs would start to decrease with many falling under 4 minutes. The fifth season of 2009-2012, marked by the release of Kendrick Lamar's Good boy, MAAD city. It would be Eminem's second time dealing with multiple beefs, including Benzino and Mariah Carey. It was during this time that the beef would escalate in the southern states with a notable death being that of Slim Dunkin.
Season number six was from 2013 to 2019. The most significant beef was between Drake and Meek Mill. However, the two would eventually collaborate (again, after being cool before Meek's Twitter fingers) on “Going Bad.” This era was also characterized by continued financial success with more than 40 platinum albums. Nipsey Hussle's assassination would mark the end of that era.
Our current era began with the coronavirus pandemic, which affected the entire world, but also highlighted the importance of “beef”, with good-natured but often tense musical battles as part of Verzuz series. But without a doubt, Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” is by far the most powerful diss song of the era — but whether or not it's over is still up for debate, and so is Drake. Luckily, K. Dot took his victory lap by bringing the gang members on stage as a show of unity at the end of his Juneteenth pop out concert.
