The Beginning

In the early days of Hip-Hop there were battles before the existence of rap recordings. DJ’s battled to see who had the best skillset, record collections, and sound systems. B-Boys battled to see who had the best moves and MC’s battled to determine who had the best rhymes and routines. Rap battles were judged by which MC (or crew) received the loudest applause at the end of the said battle. It was just that simple, the audible response from the audience determined the victor.

Rap Beef, Diss Songs And Answer Records

Since Roxanne Shante released 1984’s “Roxanne’s Revenge,” rap’s first diss record there has been a mislabeling of diss records and battles. A rap battle has historically featured MC’s squaring off face to face with the crowd determining the victor. Those battles have been more of a display of skill, with the Mc's actually getting along before and after battle.

Diss/answer records in the early 80s served many times as a method in which an artist could secure a record deal, and gain the attention of the record buying public. Roxanne Shante, Sparky Dee, Salt N Pepa (then Super Nature), The Symbolic 3, and a host of others got their start on records by answering UTFO and Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick.

Epic Early Rap Battles

The Cold Crush Brothers and The Fantastic 5 were best of friends, in fact members of The Fantastic 5 were in groups with The Cold Crush Brothers’ Grandmaster Caz at various times. As MC’s the Cold Crush and The Fantastic were mortal enemies. The Fantastic 5 battled The Cold crush in 1981 at Harlem World in what is one of Hip-Hop’s most talked about battles. The Fantastic 5 were crowned the winners by the crowd to strong disagreement by the Cold Crush.

“We told them that we were gonna eat their asses and they didn’t believe it”, Kevy Kev of The Fantastic 5 told The Foundation. “We wore tuxedos, we had new routines and we were ready! We had no fear, they wanted to battle us and we gave them what they wanted.” There are still people who witnessed the battle and believe that the victory should have gone to the Cold Crush. Pioneer MC Debbie D told The Foundation, “The girls in the crowd are the reason that the Fantastic won! Kev and his Brother Master Rob were like sex symbols. The Cold Crush only had EZ AD who was looked at as a ‘pretty boy’ at the time."

The Cold Crush Brothers VS The Force MC's (later Force MD's) was another early rap battle. Stevie D of The Force MC's shares some behind the scenes intel on the historic night with Rock The Bells. “People didn’t really take us seriously so it really took us awhile to get a buzz," says Stevie. "The promoter billed it as a battle, but he didn’t tell the Cold Crush Brothers, so the Cold Crush came, performed and left. The Force M.C.’s were also in the M.C. contest that became the legendary Kool Moe Dee vs Busy Bee battle at Harlem World as well. They would always tell us that Staten Island isn’t part of New York and they would clown us because we had to take the ferry to get to the city."

A 1979 battle between Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 4 and The Funky 4 resulted in Funky 4 member Rahiem joining the Furious 4 (thus making them the Furious 5), after a Furious 4 win. This event made Rahiem the only first generation MC to belong to two different ground breaking crews.

Busy Bee vs Kool Moe Dee remains one of the culture’s most significant battles, as it marked a turning point in battles, and the impact is still very much felt today. Busy Bee was extremely popular at the battles, which at the time were promoted as “MC Contests”. Busy Bee was one of rap’s most energetic live performers and as a result he did well in these contests. He had a Muhammad Ali type braggadocios swag, and one night Moe Dee was hosting a contest and was annoyed by Busy’s claim that we was “knocking out all bums”.

Moe Dee snuck his name onto the list of contestants and faced Busy with a rhyme that birthed the personal attack. This was a first in rap battles, where previously MC’s rhymes were judged by how good their rhymes and routines were. Moe Dee talked about how Busy always said the same rhymes, how he bought rhymes from MC Spoonie Gee and never paid. There is a clear line from what Moe did that night to the current underground battle circuit.

Rap’s Biggest Beefs

In addition to the previously mentioned “Roxanne’s Revenge,” there are many monumental rap records that stem from beefs and misunderstandings. Kool Moe Dee felt that a young new artist by the name of LL COOL J was being disrespectful and arrogant when he claimed that he was “only 18 makin’ more than ya pops.” Moe Dee responded with 1987’s “How Ya’ Like Me Now,” LL COOL J responded with “Jack The Ripper,” and the two went back and forth over several songs in what is one of rap’s most talked about "on wax" beefs.

LL COOL J also traded words with MC Shan, MC Hammer, Ice T, Canibus, and a host of others in his decades long career. One of the most talked about posse cuts is 1997’s “4,3,2,1” by LL COOL J featuring Method Man, Redman, Canibus, the late DMX and Master P. A misunderstanding centered around the interpretation of certain lines by Canibus led to one of rap music’s most storied battles on wax.

Ice Cube who was one of NWA and Eazy E’s strongest writers left the group in 1990 when he found out that he was being taken advantage of financially. After he left the group he was labeled a benedict Arnold on NWA’s “100 Miles And Runnin’” which prompted Cube to respond with the scathing “No Vaseline” which many revere as rap’s hottest diss. Ice Cube also had a misunderstanding with Common which led to Common releasing “The Bitch In Yoooo,” a scathing diss.

Roxanne Shante has dissed JJ Fad, Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo, and MC Lyte all in the same song, “Big Mama” – while MC Lyte launched “Ten Percent Diss” accusing Antoinette of stealing her beats. The legendary Bridge Wars between Boogie Down Productions and The Juice Crew, MC Shan vs LL COOL J, LL COOL J vs Ice T, and Dre Dre vs Eazy E all produced classic songs based on beefs.

The east coast/west coast beef, and Tupac's "Hit 'Em Up" is also considered an extremely personal attack as is "Super Ugly", and "Ether", both birthed during the Jay-Z and Nas beef from the early 2000's.

The Bridge Wars

MC Shan's game changing 1986 single, "The Bridge" single handedly set off the infamous "Bridge Wars". After MC Shan told the story of Hip-Hop's origins in his home of the Queensbridge Projects, KRS-One responded with "South Bronx", causing a flurry of responses including Shan's "Kill That Noise", and KRS-ONE's "The Bridge is Over". Even MC Mitchski joined in with "Brooklyn Blew Up The Bridge".

"Nowadays, you have artists get to make a album and they get two or three friends and all these guest appearances, they're only writing 16 bars a song," Shan said of "The Bridge". "I'm writing 48 bars and nothing is structured. Listen to "The Bridge"—the first verse might have four bars, the next one has 38 bars the last one has 67 bars. The record is 7 minutes long."

The Battle Rap Circuit

Battle Rap has taken on a life of its own, and is something not measured by records, popularity or the music industry. There are Battle Rap leagues such as Queen of The Ring, Ultimate Rap League, and Rap Contenders. Battle rappers like Loaded Lux, Hollow Da Don, Murda Mook, Hitman Holla, Rhymefest, Math Hoffa, and Eyedea keep Battle Rap alive and vital, and it only continues to grow.

Today's Mainstream Battles

Because of social media, the current nature of how music is consumed, and the lack of a physical product, the landscape of battles and answers has changed, and the lines between beef and battle have been blurred. Answer songs largely stem from real life or social media beefs, and answers are expected immediately.

A recent Kendrick Lamar answer to Drake took two weeks to deliver, and many fans shared online that the response time was too long. In the era of physical recordings, an answer could take months to arrive. The landscape has changed, but the spirit of rivalry is very much alive!