The music industry is populated by so many feuding stars that you’d think it was a boxing ring. Proving that the pen is mightier than the fist, however, musicians often save their grievances for their lyrics, taking aim at their enemies with fiery finesse for the whole world to enjoy.
We were made aware of the cultural impact of the diss track recently amid the ongoing beef between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar, but their respective tracks are merely part of a long lineage of disses that span decades and genres.
In the spirit of Lamar and Drake, we’re having a red hot crack at sifting through the ten best diss tracks of all time. Shots fired!
“Euphoria” — Kendrick Lamar
The most recent entry on this list, Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” takes square aim at his long-running rap adversary, Drake. The six-minute song, released in response to Drake’s earlier diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle”, sees Lamar fire off a laundry list of insults, question his skills as a lyricist and father, and label him, among other things, as a “scam artist”, “master manipulator”, “liar” and “a b***h”. Ouch.
“Back to Back” — Drake
While “Taylor Made Freestyle” doesn’t rank among the best diss tracks (most fans agree it was quite terrible), Drake did make up for it with “Back to Back”, aimed at fellow rapper Meek Mill and released in 2015. Responding to Mill’s claims that Drake uses ghostwriters (an accusation also leveled by Lamar), Drake hit back by mocking Mill’s then-relationship with the more successful Nicki Minaj. “Back to Back” would go on to be nominated for a Grammy, which is a pretty impressive feat for a diss track.
“Roman’s Revenge” — Nicki Minaj and Eminem
Who said boys get to have all the fun? On her 2010 song “Roman’s Revenge”, now-notorious diss track writer Nicki Minaj tapped Eminem for a searing takedown of Lil Kim, who she describes in the track as a “has been”. Both Minaj and Eminem adopt their alter-egos in the song — Roman and Slim Shady, respectively — making for an engaging listen that brims with personality. Lil Kim would later respond with “Black Friday”, though the punch didn’t quite land the same.
“Lost Ones” — Lauryn Hill
Laying the groundwork for Minaj, Lauryn Hill’s 1998 track “Lost Ones” sees the rapper take square aim at her ex-bandmate and ex-boyfriend Wyclef Jean, waxing poetic on about betrayal, grief and self-reliance. “Lost Ones” was nominated for a Grammy, and appears regularly not just on best diss track lists, but best hip-hop songs lists. “A groupie call, you fall from temptation,” Hill raps in reference to Jean’s lovers, “You might win some but you just lost one.”
“Like That” — Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar
Lamar’s verse on the 2024 song “Like That” that erupted his current feud with Drake, and it isn’t difficult to see why. Within the space of just a few lines, Lamar sets his sights on both Drake and fellow rapper J. Cole, calling the former “goofy” while saying the so-called Big 3 of rap (Lamar, Cole, and Drake) is really just “big me.” You best be on your A game when mounting an attack on a lyricist like Lamar, and “Like That” might just have sealed the coffin — though we wouldn’t be surprised if Drake fired back.
“Arrest The President” — Ice Cube
Though he isn’t directly referenced by name, there’s no mistaking that former President Donald Trump is the target of “Arrest The President”, the political song released by Ice Cube in 2018. Alongside the repeated titular refrain, “Arrest The President” sees Ice Cube call out the alleged Russian collusion in the 2018 election, as well as Trump’s indifference to issues affecting the African American community.
“Wah-Wah” — George Harrison
Hip-hop might’ve mastered the art of the diss track, but its spirit transcends genres. On “Wah-Wah”, George Harrison takes aim at his then-former band The Beatles, specifically airing frustrations around the atmosphere created by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. There are mentions of his former bandmates making him “a star” and his desire to “keep himself free,” with many critics taking “Wah-Wah” as Harrison’s creative emancipation from The Beatles.
“thanK you aIMee” — Taylor Swift
It’s been eight years since the beef between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian began, but Swift still has some thoughts. On the Tortured Poets Department track “thanK you aIMee” (whose capitalized letters spell out the reality star’s name), Swift reimagines Kardashian as Aimee, lamenting the headlines borne from their beef and even admitting to “chang[ing] your name and any real defining clues.” It follows “Bad Blood” as Swift’s second diss track, though I suppose any songs directed at her ex-boyfriend could be disses, too.
“Cry Me A River” — Justin Timberlake
It’s the song that made Justin Timberlake a solo star and brought unprecedented attention to his relationship with fellow pop star Britney Spears. Released in 2002, “Cry Me A River” tells the story of a romance tainted by an affair, mirroring reports at the time that Spears had cheated on Timberlake with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst.
Adding further speculation, the woman who appeared in the accompanying music video closely resembled Spears, who eventually responded with the much more lovelorn track “Everytime”. Of course, Spears’ 2023 memoir would shed a new light on her relationship with Timberlake, but “Cry Me A River” was the song that set the scene.
“Hit ’Em Up” — 2Pac and The Outlawz
2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up”, released in 1996 and featuring The Outlawz, was specifically made to flare up tensions between the hip-hop worlds of the East Coast and the West Coast, a feud which would later result in 2Pac’s murder. In that way, “Hit ‘Em Up” lives in hip-hop canon as a diss track with fatal implications, but the song itself holds up with its infectious bravado and laid-back beat. The song specifically calls out the likes of Biggie Smalls and P. Diddy with direct threats of violence, while the accompanying music video featured impersonators of Smalls and Lil Kim.
