There are levels to beef in rap, ranging from heated lyrical battles to the type of friction The Notorious B.I.G. rapped about on the 1997 song “What’s Beef?” Thankfully, the latter is the exception rather than the rule. And those instances can sometimes end with the extension of the olive branch, even if it takes years for cooler heads to prevail. Over the past few decades, dozens of rap misunderstandings have concluded much-publicized truces.
Jay-Z and Nas were a part of one of the biggest beefs in rap history in the early 2000s, and things were getting super ugly. The heavy-weight bout produced two of rap’s classic diss tracks in Jay-Z’s “The Takeover” and Nas’ response “Ether.” However, in October of 2005, they surprisingly ended their feud at Power 105.1’s annual Powerhouse concert when Hov brought Esco out for his show-closing set in what was a big win for hip-hop.
Around the time Jigga and Nas were patching things up, 50 Cent and Fat Joe had beef on the broiler after Fif added Joey Crack to his hit list for aligning himself with Ja Rule on the 2004 song “New York.” Tony Yayo has admitted that the G-Unit and Terror Squad beef got very serious. It would be nearly a decade before they publically squashed things at the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards.
A bit more recently, Drake and Meek Mill‘s beef dominated hip-hop headlines in 2015. After Meek called Drake out for having a ghostwriter, the two rappers traded shots on wax, with Drake universally being dubbed the victor after putting out the doozie “Back to Back.” They publicly squashed their beef in grand fashion in September of 2018 when Drake brought Meek out for a show on the Aubrey and The Three Migos Tour.
Things don’t always end well. But when they do, it’s worth noting. Here’s a list of rappers who have squashed beef over the years below.
