This Week: The Greatest Diss Tracks of All Time 🎤 

If you’ve been anywhere on the internet in the past month, you’ve probably heard something about the ongoing feud and numerous diss tracks between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. And if you haven’t, you better strap in… 🥴

Considering Drake and Kendrick are two of the most high-profile hip-hop artists of the past decade, it’s understandable why this moment has already become such a cultural touch point. As of the writing of this newsletter, the beef has spawned a whopping 15 individual diss tracks from dozens of prominent rappers and producers.

With this beef also reigniting the debate about the role of diss tracks in hip-hop culture—their origins, efficacy, and implications—we dug back into the archives to review nearly 100 diss tracks across the past 50 years 💿

EVERYONE WHO HAS HELD THE CROWN 👑

Before we award our picks for the Top 10 Diss Tracks of All Time or dive into the murky waters of the Drake and Kendrick beef, we want to indulge in a little rap beef history lesson 📜

Join us as we track every major feud and diss track “crown-holder” from 1984 to the present day…

THE 1980s

👑 Roxanne Shante - Roxanne’s Revenge (1984)

We think most hip-hop historians would agree that the first ever diss track crown-holder was a fourteen-year-old girl from Queens, named Lolita Shante Gooden, who took up the name Roxanne when she recorded one of the first major disses with Roxanne’s Revenge.

The diss was aimed at an up-and-coming group called U.T.F.O., who were ascending with a modest hit called Roxanne, Roxanne about a (fictional) girl named Roxanne who was too stuck up to pay them any attention. In her response, Shante addresses each member of the group directly over the beat of their own song (using established beats for diss tracks has since become a staple of this sub-genre).

Shante’s neighbor was legendary producer Marley Marl, who sampled U.T.F.O.’s track as the backing beat while the 14-year-old recorded her nearly five-minute verse in a single take. Roxanne’s Revenge was an overnight hit, overshadowing Roxanne, Roxanne and inspiring somewhere between 30 and 100 response tracks from other artists, including U.T.F.O. themselves. It was (no joke) referred to as “The Roxanne Wars” and it is regarded by many as the first publicized rap beef of all time. All that smoke started with a little girl from Queens?

That’s why Roxanne Shante was the first to hold the crown.

🥩 The Roxanne Wars (mid-80s): WINNER — Roxanne Shante

👑 KRS-One (Boogie Down Productions) - The Bridge is Over (1987)

Released as a response to Marley Marl and MC Shan’s track The Bridge, which suggested their turf of Queensbridge was the birthplace of hip-hop, The Bridge is Over finds KRS-One defiantly asserting that his turf of the South Bronx should hold that title.

Though the rapper’s group, Boogie Down Productions, had released a more immediate diss in 1986 titled South Bronx, KRS-One’s crown-snatching moment came in the form of The Bridge is Over. Calling out MC Shan, Marley Marl, the entire Juice Crew (including Roxanne Shante), and basically any and every rapper hailing from Queens, KRS landed the blow that ended one of the hip-hop’s OG beefs… and he even did it with a little Billy Joel flare.

That’s why KRS-One was the second to hold the crown.

🥩 The Bridge Wars (mid-to-late-80s): WINNER — South Bronx

THE 1990s

👑 Ice Cube - No Vaseline (1991)

Another iconic diss track released as a response to a prior diss, No Vaseline probably earned Ice Cube the crown the moment he entered the booth. On this vicious, five-minute takedown, Cube doesn’t just fire back at his old group N.W.A. and manager Jerry Heller, he drops the rap equivalent of an A-bomb. The 80s were pretty tame compared to this unapologetic hit piece, so we can only imagine how brutal this must have been at the time… almost like how an old scary movie is still kinda scary even though you’ve seen modern scary movies that are wayyyy scarier.

The diss features loads of threatened violence, accusations of the group’s exploitation by Heller, numerous homophobic and anti-semitic slurs, and pointed references to Eazy-E’s attendance at a dinner (in actuality, it was a lunch) alongside George H. W. Bush. We won’t go so far as to say this diss was the only factor in N.W.A.’s break-up, but the group broke up before they could respond to Cube, soooooo…

That’s why Ice Cube was the third to hold the crown.

🥩 N.W.A. vs. Ice Cube (early-90s): WINNER — Ice Cube

🥩 Dr. Dre vs. Eazy-E (early-90s): WINNER — Eazy-E

👑 2Pac - Hit ‘Em Up (1996)

There have been numerous effective diss tracks from the late legend 2Pac amidst his iconic coastal battle against The Notorious B.I.G. and the East, but Hit ‘Em Up is unquestionably the greatest.

Partially responding to Biggie’s Who Shot Ya?, a nameless diss released just a month after 2Pac’s non-fatal shooting in 1994, Hit ‘Em Up begins with one of the most memorable opening lines of any diss, implying that Pac slept with his rival’s girlfriend. Shakur’s aggressive delivery anchors the track in his legitimate hatred for Biggie, Mobb Deep, Sean Combs (prophetic much?), and Lil’ Kim.

2Pac also committed some classic diss track “war crimes,” including threatened murder, naming names, shooting strays, and invoking one’s mama. It’s a shame these two former friends were never able to reconcile and that their feud ended within a pair of fatal shootings, but looking strictly at the music, 2Pac won the battle of words.

That’s why Pac was the fourth to hold the crown.

🥩 2Pac vs. Biggie (mid-to-late-90s): WINNER — 2Pac

THE 2000s

👑 Jay-Z - Takeover (2001)

Rapping over an early Kanye West beat that samples both The Doors and one of our own diss track crown-holders, KRS-One, Jay-Z made his beef with fellow New York rappers Nas and Mobb Deep globally known on Takeover.

On the track, he calls Nas a “fake thug” who is fame-hungry (utilizing a wicked David Bowie sample), while also implying he slept with the mother of Nas’s child. While Takeover didn’t necessarily reinvent the diss track, it signaled the first shot in one of hip-hops most famous beefs and remains one of the catchiest disses to ever hit the airwaves.

That’s why Jay-Z was the fifth to hold the crown

…but most rap fans will tell you he didn’t hold it for long…

👑 Nas - Ether (2001)

With the lyrically devastating Ether, Nas didn’t just steal Jay’s thunder, he set the diss track standard for hip-hop’s new guard—period. Now two decades later, many still use the word “ether” in reference to any artist who gloriously humiliates their opponent through rap. Like many of the disses that came before it, Ether is full of overt threats, homophobic slurs, and a memorable chorus (pointedly declaring “I Will Not Lose”) all over a now-iconic beat.

The question of who won this beef is hotly debated to this day, with Nas releasing the nastier diss but Jay-Z (arguably) releasing the better song. Considering the cultural cachet of both rappers, and the enduring popularity of their disses, we’re inclined to call this one a draw. Still, the fact that Ether had club-goers excitedly yelling along with its “F*** Jay-Z” sample indicated a victor to many.

That’s why Nas was the sixth to hold the crown (and he would hold it for over a decade).

🥩 Jay-Z vs. Nas (early-00s): DRAW

🥩 Eminem vs. Benzino (early-00s): WINNER — Eminem

THE 2010s

🥩 Nicki Minaj vs. Lil’ Kim (early-10s): WINNER — Lil’ Kim

👑 Kendrick Lamar - Control (2013)

Can a single feature earn you the crown? In this case, we think it can. Before Kendrick ever targeted Drake directly, he invoked the Toronto rapper’s name among many on the song Control. Officially a Big Sean track that also features rapper Jay Electronica, Control has become infamous for Kendrick’s energetic verse, in which he asserts his own dominance on the rap game by calling out any and all rappers who may have thought they were the best in the came—including Big Sean and Jay Electronica!

It’s certainly not the most creative or damaging diss of all time, but its release sent shock waves throughout the industry in a way no diss had in a long time. The song may have been most damaging to Big Sean, as Kendrick’s verse overpowered his own and made him look weak in the eyes of many rap fans. Perhaps this placement on our list holds a bit of recency bias now that Kendrick has a proven track record in the game, but the fearlessness with which he fired this first warning shot was bold.

That’s why Kendrick was the seventh to hold the crown.

👑 Drake - Back to Back (2015)

Though he is not generally known for his exceptional lyrics (in most cases a requirement to hold the diss track crown), Drake made an inarguable impact on the world of disses when he quite literally went back-to-back during his feud with Meek Mill.

Released a mere two days after his initial diss Charged Up, Back to Back was a catchy, chart-topping bop that signaled a new diss track strategy in the current age of the internet and social media. Drake hit Meek Mill with the proverbial “double-tap” before the Philly rapper even had time to respond, all but solidifying his win in the eyes of the general public (even if the disses themselves are not as memorable).

Meek did respond with a diss on his SoundCloud, which went largely unnoticed and was later deleted. Though the concept of going “back-to-back” in a diss battle has lived on long enough to bite Drake in the butt, he was certainly the first to do it in this way.

That’s why Drake was the eighth to hold the crown.

🥩 Drake vs. Meek Mill (late-10s): WINNER — Drake

🥩 Remy Ma vs. Nicki Minaj (late-10s): WINNER — Remy Ma

👑 Pusha T - The Story of Adidon (2018)

Our penultimate crown-holder was not directly involved in Drake’s beef with Meek Mill, though he has had his own beef with the Toronto native dating back as early as 2012. Flash forward to the summer of 2018, where Pusha T and Drake had already traded disses on tracks like Infrared and Duppy Freestyle, respectively.

What came next was one of the most brutal and revelatory diss tracks in The Story of Adidon. With cover art featuring an authentic photo of Drake in blackface, the diss features Pusha taking numerous shots at Drake’s private life over the excellent beat from Jay-Z’s The Story of O.J. The diss has many devastating bars, with none more infamous than his accusation that Drake was hiding a child. With that one line, Drake was forced to reveal his son Adonis to the world and Pusha T cemented his place in the annals of diss track history.

That’s why Pusha is the ninth, and latest, to hold the crown. That is, until last week…

🥩 Pusha T vs. Drake (late-10s): WINNER — Pusha T

🥩 Eminem vs. MGK (late-10s): WINNER — Eminem

THE 2020s

Even though this decade has already seen diss track-generating feuds involving Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj, Lil Durk and NBA Youngboy, Eminem and Benzino (again), Drake and Kanye, and Chris Brown and Quavo, it seems we’ve already decided that the defining hip-hop feud of the 2020s will be Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake.

Since this beef has generated more diss tracks than any since The Roxanne Wars in the mid-80s, here’s the timeline of everything that has gone down so far.

👑 Kendrick Lamar - Meet the Grahams / Not Like Us (2024)

So with the timeline in order, we definitely think Kendrick Lamar has once again earned himself the diss track crown, and he becomes the second in a row to hold it because of a beef with Drake. We could have made a case for any of Lamar’s five disses to be the one that earned him the crown, but the double-tap of Meet the Grahams and Not Like Us, using Drake’s own diss release strategy against him, stands out at the most fatal blow in this war.

Since the feud may not technically be over, we’re not going to declare a winner just yet. But given everything we’ve experienced thus far, and the fact that Lamar is officially our tenth diss track crown-holder, we believe he currently has the higher ground.

🥩 Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake (2024): ADVANTAGE — Kendrick Lamar

TOP 10 DISS TRACKS OF ALL TIME

Excluding tracks from this calendar year to avoid any recency bias, Ice Cube’s No Vaseline tops our list, followed by a smattering of other crown-holders in 2Pac, Pusha T, Nas, Jay, and Kendrick.

Lauryn Hill’s Lost Ones, which takes aim at Wyclef Jean, may not be your typical diss track, but it’s groovy and certainly doesn’t mince words. 2Pac becomes the only artist with two songs in our Top 10 with Against All Odds, and disses aimed at Donald Trump (FDT) and Machine Gun Kelly (Killshot) round out our list.

A few other notable disses you should check out:

• Kick in the Door by The Notorious B.I.G. (dissing 2Pac and others)

• shETHER by Remy Ma (dissing Nicki Minaj)

• Nail in the Coffin / The Sauce by Eminem (dissing Benzino)

• Black Friday by Lil’ Kim (dissing Nicki Minaj)

• Infrared by Pusha T (dissing Drake and others)

• Get At Me Dog by DMX (dissing 2Pac and K-Solo)

• That’s How I Beat Shaq by Aaron Carter (dissing Shaquille O’Neil)

• How to Rob by 50 Cent (dissing everyone and their mama)

• F*** Wit Dre Day by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg (dissing Eazy-E and others)

🚨 BONUS LIST ALERT 🚨

…and that’s all folks!