CEITEDMOFO
Banned
Being an artist in rap is unlike participating in any other musical genre, if only for the possibility of being goaded into directly testing your mettle and going up against the very peers you’re competing with for attention. Much like boxing or football, rap is a contact sport and if you stick around long enough, chances are that you’re bound to get lyrically hit sooner than later, or, in some cases, to be the one doing the swinging. And while direct jabs like KRS-One’s takedown of MC Shan, or 2Pac’s tirade against The Notorious B.I.G. and the rest of the Bad Boy Records family may get the most shine and are among the more infamous instances of heated warfare between two acts or crew, rap has long been littered with broadsides that require a bit more decoding to decipher.
As of late, the amount of subliminal disses in rap has been trending upward, with any and everybody being susceptible to being broken down in just a few bars. Such was the case with Drake’s recent diss record “Two Birds One Stone,” which saw him throwing thinly veiled slights at the likes of Pusha T, Kid Cudi and possibly Meek Mill as well. Though the OVO leader didn’t directly call out any names, he quickly drew the attention of critics and fans alike, who attempted to make sense of the lines and figure out the intended targets.
With the recent uptick in subliminal disses flying around in rap, XXL highlights 20 of the more notable instances of a rapper getting all Di Vinci Code on us.
1
“Kick In The Door”
The Notorious B.I.G.
“Ain’t no other kings in this rap thing/They siblings, nothing but my children/One shot they disappearin’/It’s ill when MCs used to be on cruddy sh*t/Took home Ready to Die, listened, studied sh*t/Now they on some money sh*t, successful out the blue”
2
“Set It Off”
Big Daddy Kane
“Feel my blood fist, or my death kiss/The rap soloist, you don’t want none of this/Supreme in this era, I reign with terror/When I grab the mic believe you’re gonna hear a/Fascinatin’ rhyme as I enchant them/So let’s all sing the Big Daddy anthem”
3
“4, 3, 2, 1″
LL Cool J
“When young sons fantasize of borrowing flows/Tell little shorty with the big mouth the bank is closed/The symbol on my arm is off limits to challengers/You hold the rusty swords, I swing the Excalibur”
4
“Name Callin'”
Queen Latifah
“And all you rappers sellin’ more sex than skill, chill/I’ll rip your style, all the while keep my sex appeal/Don’t get it twisted yo, I never really favored you/And I was raised by my nikkas from the Flavor U/So fu*k givin’ props where they ain’t due, fu*k you/And that nikka who wrote the rhyme for you too"
5
“Bang Bang”
Foxy Brown
“Why’s you frontin and kickin that street sh*t/Please, impress me, go back to that freak sh*t/While your broke-ass was guzzlin’ nuts and sh*t/I was choppin the weights, leak and O.Z.s and sh*t/A decoy bi*ch, like the Feds lie in you/Ain’t you supposed to have a little bitta Bed-Stuy in you?”
6
“The Summer’s Mine”
Rick Ross
“You nikkas pathetic, leave you paraplegic/You throwin’ up sets but you really from Cleveland/fu*k boi, fu*k boi, fu*k boi, fu*k boi/See I broke it down like a quarter ki/bi*ch I run the south, I’m what you wanna be/This how you wanna live, this what you wanna drive/Be honest with yourself I’m who you idolize”
7
“Real nikkaz”
MC Ren
“Styles that kept them full of bull/’Cause the vocals were local in nightclubs and not getting paid in full/They got the nerve to cuss/Only reason nikkas pick up your record is cause they thought it was us”
8
“Dumb Out”
Joe Budden
"And these young motherfu*kers is about to fu*k up/Like leaving they whole career in some bi*ch car/No name, but it’s no sublime/nikka, you know who you are, I’ll end it before it goes too far/Your buzz still fu*ked, you a liar money/I’m still spending ‘Pump It Up, ‘Fire’ money”
9
“What Up, What’s Haapnin”
T.I.
“Just to whom it may concern and who so ever may tryI’m forever Westside and the featherweight dies/Tell them take your best shot, goin’ get yourself hot/’Cause I yell Bankhead and you felt left out I ain’t mention yo name/That’s what all this bout?”
10
“King Kunta”
Kendrick Lamar
“I can dig rappin’, but a rapper with a ghost writer?/What the fu*k happened?/I swore I wouldn’t tell/But most of y’all sharing bars like you got the bottom bunk in a two-man cell/Somethin’s in the water/And if I gotta brown nose for some gold/Then I’d rather be a bum than a motherfu*kin’ baller”