A Brief History of Hip Hop Rivalries and Why They're No Longer Relevant
The first well-known rivalry was birthed out of a 1981 rap battle between Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee at the Harlem World Stage. At the time, Busy Bee was known as a “party MC” because of his style of rapping and ability to hype crowds. He was also a very funny person, oftentimes comparing himself to Muhammad Ali, calling people “bums” and taking photos with the trophies he was sure to take home that night.
Busy Bee. Image via Genius.
A heckler in the crowd repeatedly said that Busy Bee could not defeat anybody, especially not Kool Moe Dee, who was also in the crowd that night, to which Busy Bee responded, “I don’t care who it is. Anybody who get in here is gonna be suicide.” Kool Moe Dee felt slighted that he wasn’t acknowledged by name, so without warning, he added his name on the list of the competition. While Busy Bee was downstairs partying, certain that he had won this battle, Kool Moe Dee called him out, saying that while he knew how to rock the crowd, he didn’t know how to rhyme. Battle rapping in this style was new to everyone, and tapes were distributed around the world.
It was in this moment that rapping changed from being a party genre to one focused on lyrics. This was also the birth of battle rap, and any battles since then can be attributed to this event.
Kool Moe Dee. Image via Hip Hop Golden Age.
HISTORY
As hip hop became a more popular genre in New York, the boroughs began battling over who could take the most credit. In order for a rapper to gain some semblance of power from the people, they had to prove themselves worthy through the use of lyrics. If a rapper bragged about being the freshest, the dopest or the best, they would have to battle to prove it, as the nature of being the best is there can only be one.
Competitions between New York City boroughs were nothing new, as DJs within the boroughs would compete for who had the loudest speakers and sound. “Biting” became increasingly more common, which originally started as the act of people recording DJs’ live performances, selling them, and other DJs passing them off as their own. This evolved into rappers accusing others of copying or stealing the way they rapped. Busy Bee had even been accused of taking people’s styles, but because he was known as a party MC, people were willing to look the other way. Queen’s The Juice Crew and the South Bronx’s Boogie Down Productions would frequently spar after The Juice Crew’s creator, Mr. Magic, refused to play Boogie Down Productions’s music. And while these could oftentimes get aggressive, the rivalries were seen as more friendly than violent.
The Juice Crew. Image via
However, as West Coast rap came to prominence, there was much more of an emphasis on the street than the lyrical content or art itself. While New York rap certainly did mention crime and drugs, it was told more from the perspective of a cautionary tale than actively participating in it. Rappers from the West Coast also were understandably upset that their music wasn’t getting played on East Coast radio stations. Their sales were skyrocketing, and they demanded respect.
The media used this as an opportunity to hype up tensions. Media sensationalism would attribute everything to rivalries. Interviews of artists were often centered around talking about not liking other artists, in hopes of stoking flames. Younger artists who didn’t understand how to navigate the industry would inadvertently start rivalries. This hype caused the culture to become less about the music and more about the physical altercations – especially with Tupac and Biggie. Record executives had also used this as an opportunity to drive sales.
Biggie and Tupac via Slate.
WHY IT’S NO LONGER RELEVANT
Although still ongoing, rivalries are much less prevalent than decades before. One of the reasons is that rivalries do not necessarily boost sales. Social media content, such as memes and GIFs, may be made, and conversations started, but this doesn’t necessarily translate to sales. There are many more ways for artists to make money, gain notoriety and traction.
Losing a rivalry doesn’t necessarily lead to a dent in one’s career, either. It can be argued that during the Pusha T and Drake feud, Pusha T is a better lyricist, but since Drake is a bigger star globally, there wasn’t much of an impact on his career.
Drake and Pusha T from XXL
Another element is how many rivalries are now seen as manufactured. Social media has turned feuds into spats over Twitter and Instagram rather than diss tracks. It’s also much easier to delete posts; once a track is released, it’s out there forever.
Because of social media, rivalries require fans to act less as spectators and more as participants. If they see that one party isn’t participating, they tend to die out. And due to the rise of social media and smartphones, there is an element of instant gratification. So if artists take their time to respond, fans will begin to lose interest. In previous times, artists had time to craft responses. Now, taking a week or longer to respond would be a stretch. Fans will be looking on to the next thing.
Due to social media, fans also want to participate in everything. They participate and push other artists against each other, which sometimes causes artists to respond. Still, though, they may not necessarily respond through music. During the Nicki and Cardi B feud, Nicki might have addressed issues through her radio show, but not in her music.
As rap became more of a business than an art form, rap began to transition from who had the best skills to who made the most popular music. Subjectively better music translates into more sales. It can also be argued that people do not necessarily care about who has better lyrical skills, but rather whose music simply sounds better.
