Why beef in music?

If you have been in music as an artist for some time or a fan of it, the word “Beef” is not new in your outer ear, I mean, you are probably familiar with it.

Beef is slang that basically refers to deep hatred for someone or a thing. I hope you heard it right, yes, it exists in music and very often though.

But why beef in music? Give me your hand and let me take you to the place that you have never been to. I am glad you agreed.

When someone says Tupac and indirectly thinks B.I.G Notorious in one way or the other. This is not because they are only artists Hip Hop’s history but their story of mystery.

 These icons who used to be close friends had an all-the-time beef in the music industry around the 90s. As Ben Westhoff says in his book “Original Gangstas” that Tupac used to consider Biggie” a dope rapper” and they met in a movie shooting of Poetic Justice and this is where Tupac even gifted Biggie with Hennessy. It clarifies the good relationship that was once between these rappers.

This beef took it to another level at the extent that people suspected B.I.G of having a hand in Tupac’s death basing on the gunshots that occurred. 

This rivalry of East and West Coast rappers wasn’t the same because not only the rappers had feuds but also their fans.

East Coast of B.I.G Notorious, Puffy, and Bad Boy Records as a whole was very allergic to the West Coast of Tupac, Suge Knight, and Death Row Records as a whole. 

The beef obviously raised after Tupac’s gunshots in 1994 when he was going to record some of his projects in Quad Recording Studios in Times Square in New York City and it was said that Biggie and P.Diddy were upstairs where Pac was shot. West Coast suspected Biggie of the role in the shooting. 

Later on, Biggie couldn’t wait to rub salt in the wound of Tupac by releasing his single “Who shot ya?” in 1994 still.

Tupac though got a little bit late, he didn’t hesitate to respond to Biggie by his single “Hit Em Up” in which he said he slept with Biggie’s wife, Faith Evans. According to BAZZAR’s article, 20 Music Feuds That Your Favorite Drama to Shame, by ERICA GONZALES.

The beef seemed to be quiet after the early death of Tupac in 1996 and later on in 1997 Biggie passed away too, although East Coast was suspected to have played a role in Pac’s death, Biggie said he couldn’t do that because he would never wish death on nobody, as said in an interview after Pac’s passing. The world of music also will never forget the beef between Nas and Jay-Z who wanted to show who really was the king of NYC. Their beef started around 1996. This beef came to fame in 2001 when Nas released the “Ether” diss track on his Stillmatic album by responding to Jay-Z's “Takeover” on his 2001 album Blueprint. While talking about beef, my mind can’t help in not talking about the recent beef between Machine Gun Kelly(MGK)and Eminem. k.a Slim Shady. Actually the feud originally started in 2012 when MGK commented on Eminem’s daughter, Hailie, and called her “hot as (expletive)” and this made Eminem drop “Not Alike” that was followed by “Rap Devil” by MGK opposing the “Rap God” by Eminem who quickly responded with his “Killshot” that shut the MGK’s mouth up.

Not only in Hip Hop that we find beef but also in other different genres, basing on Uganda’s celebrity beef, Good life and Bebe Cool had a beef too.

But most of the time, Hip Hop is the stronghold of beef stuff. Here in Rwanda, we had the too.

Bulldogs P-Fla beef will never be cleansed from Rwandans music lovers’ minds too.

Any benefits?

Most people negatively frame beef saying that it destroys the artists’ images and the relationship between them. What did I tell you that beef has some benefits? If you didn’t know, know it now, beef has some benefits to some extent among individuals.

There is a time Machine Gun Kelly attacked his peer rapper Eminem, not as many people did know MGK before this beef as they came to know him after the beef. It really helped him to rise his name to the spotlight.

And that’s why artists prefer to diss their fellow who got the bigger names than them.

As people happen to know an artist due to the beef, it is more likely that their songs will be more streamed than before because people are now eager to know what they really compose in their songs. After all, the more they go viral, the more people will become curious about them. They trade no matter what.

Sometimes, even artists plan the beef between them especially when both want to gain the name by strongly coming back in the game after some years of silence.