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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Best (wurst) 'beefs' of recent history

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Erin Rice | The Observer
Erin Rice | The Observer


“What’s beef?” East coast rapping legend Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., once posed in 1997. Almost 20 years later, we have (un)fortunately seen it all: rappers beefin’ with rappers, rappers with R&B singers, R&B singers with athletes and — just to bring things full circle — athletes with rappers. Let’s face it, as uncomfortable as animosity and confrontations are, when we’re simply looking from afar, we can appreciate and judge the top three beefs of recent history, as such.

  1. Lil B vs. James Harden
For those that don’t know, the one person you do not want to mess with in the hip-hop world is Lil B, former member of the rap group “The Pack” and current key figure to whom every athlete needs to pay homage and respect. What happens when they don’t? They get the Lil B curse. Silly? Made up? Defying the laws of physics? It absolutely does not matter. James Harden of the Houston Rockets recently had an absolutely phenomenal NBA season this past year, good enough for NBPA’s MVP and runner-up to Stephen Curry for the regular season MVP award. However, on a fateful night against the Brooklyn Nets, Harden committed an act deemed unforgivable by The BasedGod himself: he stole Lil B’s “cooking” dance and, when confronted about whether or not he got it from Lil B, allegedly pretended to not know who Lil B was. As soon as video of Harden claiming ignorance of Lil B surfaced, the Twittersphere erupted, warning and urging Harden to rethink his decision. (Un)fortunately, Harden’s exceptional regular season ended in postseason heartbreak and frustration. Blame it on The BasedGod curse. Winner: Lil B.
  1. Big Sean vs. Justin Bieber
It’s no secret that Justin Bieber is not the innocent, bowl haircut that he once was. He is a bonafide bad boy nowadays, and (un)fortunately, Big Sean was one of the latest victims to realize what a mistake it is to beef with the Biebs. As the story goes, during a duet performance by then-Big Sean’s girlfriend Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, Bad-Boy Biebs got a bit handsy and racy with his dancing, to which Grande seemed quite receptive. Big Sean took exception to this, tweeting out, “This kid is about to learn not to touch my girl like that. Beliebe [sic] that." However, that kind of bravado on Big Sean’s part did not last forever, as the tweet was deleted shortly after. Not suggesting this is what happened, but it is not difficult to imagine a scenario where Ariana Grande insisted Big Sean delete the tweet. Meanwhile, Bieber comes out of that hot mess smelling like roses. Winner: Justin Bieber.
  1. Drake vs. Meek Mill
Finally, the hottest beef of recent history. The Ali and Frazier championship heavyweight bout of rap, if Ali and Frazier were a sensitive, hopeless romantic and a B-list rapper, respectively. As everyone probably very well knows by now, Meek Mill recently released an album, “Dreams Worth More Than Money,” on which Drake was featured. However, as time passed Drake was silent on promoting his supposed friend’s album. Mill took exception to this, and started the onslaught of Drake attacks: Mill does not want to be compared to him, and furthermore Mill accuses Drake of the cardinal sin of rapping — ghostwriting, or the act where an individual has someone write their work for them. Drake, to his credit, was quiet at first … and then he wasn’t. He drew first lyrical blood with his diss song, “Charged Up,” a humblebrag rap/spoken word song which was decent, though maybe a bit hit-or-miss. However, Drake erased any doubt about who won the fight with his immediate follow-up, “Back To Back.” The internet seemed to unanimously agree that Drake was the winner of the fight, before Mill even had a chance to respond. (Un)fortunately for Mill, he did respond with the song, “Wanna Know.” Long story short, not good. Since the beef, Mill has been the constant subject of ridicule and scorn by the internet, and countless memes have consequently made at his expense. Winner: Drake.