On August 12, Kendrick threw down the gauntlet, slicing and dicing every rapper around (save for a few icons) with his scathing verse on Big Sean’s song, ‘Control (HOF).’ The vocal beat down was legendary, but it also got us thinking — what other huge song disses have left us flabbergasted this year?
No matter what Big Sean or B.o.B. (or Lupe Fiasco or Joell Ortiz) say, Kendrick Lamar’s diss-heavy verse on “Control (HOF)” was the hardest-hitting moment in music in 2013 so far. But Kendrick hasn’t been the only one spewing out harsh (read: amazing) lyrics.
Chris Brown, Drake & More: 2013 Hip-Hop Brings The Disses
One of hip-hop’s biggest rivalries has provided ample fodder for on-air destruction. Of course we’re referring to Chris Brown and Drake. Clearly still enraged over his fight with Chris in July 2012, Drake dropped “5AM in Toronto” on March 7. And there are multiple lines that must have made Breezy cringe. Drake not only accused Chris of starting feuds for publicity’s sake (“A lot of n***as PR stuntin’ like that’s the movement/And I’m the only n***a still known for the music.”), he also thinly referenced Rihanna (which is obviously a touchy subject): I’m just being frank with you/I mean, where you think she at when she ain’t with you?
Ouch. But you can’t talk about hip-hop diss songs in 2013 without mentioning Ray J. You know, the guy who made a sex tape with Kim Kardashian in 2003 and then wrote a song about it ten years later. With lines like “She might move on to rappers and ballplayers/But we all know I hit it first,” and “I had her head going north and her ass going south/But now baby chose to go West,” Ray J was obviously aiming at a specific target.
Taylor Swift Knows Her Way Around A Diss Song
But like all lists about diss songs, it begins and ends with Taylor Swift. Our girl Tay Tay has been on the giving and receiving ends of diss songs this year. Let’s start with the good (for Taylor at least): her song “I Knew You Were Trouble” completely ripped through Harry Styles, and she didn’t even try to pretend the track wasn’t about him! “Taylor told Harry it’s about him,” a source told HollywoodLife.com exclusively. “She references flying around America following One Direction’s tour in the song.”
Taylor Swift Gets What’s Coming To Her?
But what goes around comes around. Harry hasn’t taken a swing at T-Swift, but another ex-boyfriend — and a rap legend — may have! First, Jay Z took a shot at Taylor with “100$ Bill,” making fun of Taylor’s 2009 MTV Music Awards incident with Kanye West and saying that it made Yeezy a millionaire: ”Took that, Taylor Swift to a hundred f***ing million, b***h.”
We’re thinking it probably hurt more to get dissed in a full song, by an ex-boyfriend though. This year John Mayer sent a shot back at Taylor with his song, “Paper Doll.” In the song, John croons, “You’re like 22 girls in one/And none of them know what they’re running from/Was it just too far to fall for a little paper doll?”
He’s since been coy about the song’s meaning, but with the 22 reference — and his history of being slammed by Taylor — everyone pretty much already knows who he was singing about.
2013 has proved one thing — no one’s ever safe in the music game! What is the best diss song of this year?
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