From Tupac to Kendrick: The Evolution of Rap Beef

By: Gabrielle George

Rap beef has always been a part of hip-hop, from heated diss tracks to rivalries that have dominated headlines. As social media and streaming develop it has changed the ways artists are able to interact with fans, making rap beef more instant and easier for audiences to follow in real time. Examining how rap beef has evolved from Tupac v. The Notorious B.I.G to Kendrick Lamar v. Drake shows how rap beef has evolved over time. 

The beef between Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G also known as Biggie, is labeled as one of the biggest rap beefs of all time because it featured a West v. East Coast battle. Before the beef  Tupac and Biggie became friends in 1993 and on Oct. 24,1993 they even performed together at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The friendship all took a turn on Nov. 30,1994 when he was robbed and shot at Quad Studios in Time Square. In an interview with VIBE Magazine he infers that the robbery and shooting was a set up by Andre Harell, Sean “Puffy” Combs, and Biggie. 

On Feb. 21, 1995, Biggie dropped “Who Shot Ya?” which was perceived by Tupac as a diss to his shooting that happened a few months prior. This song escalated the situation, creating the West Coast vs East Coast divide. On the West Coast, Tupac was backed by his label Death Row Records and the co-founder Suge Knight along with other West Coast artists. While on the East Coast, Biggie was backed by his label Bad Boy Records, his manager Sean “Puffy” Combs and other East Coast artists. 

On Sept. 7. 1996 the beef ended tragically when Tupac was killed in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas. A few months later on Mar. 9, 1997 Biggie was killed in Los Angeles in a drive by shooting. This beef transformed the way rap beef is viewed, expanding the beef beyond local rivalries to national competition. Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef shows how these tensions show up in modern time with social media as a tool to connect with the audience first hand.

The beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake started off very similar to Tupac and Biggie’s beef, they weren’t always enemies. Early in both the rappers careers they both were featured on each other’s albums. In 2011 Kendrick Lamar was featured on Drake’s “Take Care” album on the song “Buried Alive Interlude.” Then in 2012 Drake was featured on Kendrick Lamar’s album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” on the iconic song “Poetic Justice.” From 2013 to 2016 this is when tensions started to rise as they both were establishing themselves as prominent rappers.During this era nothing revolutionary occurred from the jabs at each other.

The turning point in this beef was during Oct. 2023 when Drake dropped his album “For All The Dogs” which featured a song called “First Person Shooter” featuring J.Cole. During the song J.Cole says “ Love when they argue the hardest MC, Is it K-Dot, Is it Aubrey, Or me?” J.Cole then proceeds to say “We the big three like we started a league.” This lyric sparked the rap battle.

In Mar. 2024 Metro Boomin & Future dropped “WE DON’T TRUST YOU”, the album featured a song with Kendrick Lamar titled “Like That.” In the song Lamar says “Motherf–k the big three,n–a, it’s just big me.” During his verse he continued to make jabs at Drake and Cole. 

After “Like That” dropped, Drake and Kendrick began dropping back to back diss tracks about each other. The turning point in the rap beef was on May 3, 2024 when Drake dropped his third diss track “Family Matters.” In the song Drake also disses his other opps like Metro Boomin and Future. 

On May 4, 2024 Kendrick replied with his diss track “meet the grahams.” Between both of the artist dis tracks the common theme of family was the main topic of the beef. Less than 24 hours after “meet the grahams” dropped Lamar also dropped “Not Like Us.” This song highlighted many alleged issues that Lamar claims Drake has. Lamar says “Certified Lover Boy, Certified pedophiles.” Claiming that Drake is an alleged  pedophile. 

Despite Drake trying to clear up rumors that were stated in “Not Like Us” the internet chose their winner. The song spent 3 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In Sept. 2024 Lamar was announced to be the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show performer. In Feb. 2025 “Not Like Us”, won 5 Grammy Awards. Throughout the beef social media helped fuel the beef by providing extra information, creating memes, and amplifying the overall audience. 

Social media’s intersection into rap beef has evolved the culture by allowing the audience to participate in real time.

Rap beef is about more than who has the better diss, it’s about who can shape the culture with their diss.