Kendrick Lamar has the entire rap community on tilt.
Ever since the Big Sean rap song “Control” hit the Internet, hip-hop heads have taken to Twitter to gush over Kendrick’s vitriolic verse on the tune, in which the 26-year-old Compton native lays waste to a plethora of big-name rappers, including Drake, A$AP Rocky, and even Big Sean—on his own track. Russell Simmons called it “an instant classic.” Just Blaze said it “Bodied everyone’s entire year’s worth of raps.” And Ice T proclaimed that it “woke hip-hop the fuck up.”
But how does Kendrick’s brutal verse measure up against the greatest rap disses?
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1. 2Pac – “Hit Em Up”
Target(s): Notorious B.I.G., Lil Kim, Puff Daddy, Bad Boy Family, Mobb Deep, Junior M.A.F.I.A.
“First off: fuck your bitch and the clique you claim / Westside when we ride, come equipped with game / You claim to be a player but I fucked your wife / We bust on Bad Boys niggas fucked for Life.”
2. Boogie Down Productions – “The Bridge Is Over”
Target(s): Queens, Marley Marl, Juice Crew, MC Shan
“Manhattan keeps on making it, Brooklyn keeps on taking it / Bronx keeps creating it, and Queens keeps on faking it.”
3. Nas – “Ether”
Target(s): Jay Z
“When these streets keep callin’, heard it when I was asleep / That this Gay-Z and Cockafella Records wanted beef / Started cockin’ up my weapon, slowly loadin’ up this ammo / To explode it on a camel and his soldiers / I can handle this for dolo / And his manuscript just sound stupid / When KRS already made an album called Blueprint / First Biggie’s your man / Then you got the nerve to say you’re better than Big / Dick suckin’ lips / Why don’t you let the late, great veteran live.”
4. Jay Z – “Takeover”
Target(s): Prodigy (of Mobb Deep), Nas
“I don’t care if you Mobb Deep, I hold triggers to crews / You little fuck, I got money stacks bigger than you / When I was pushing weight, back in ’88 / You was a ballerina, I got the pictures, I seen ya / Then you dropped “Shook Ones,” switched your demeanor / Well, we don’t believe you, you need more people.”
5. Ice Cube – “No Vaseline”
Target(s): Dr. Dre, NWA, Jerry Heller, Ruthless Records
“Ay yo Dre, stick to producing / Calling me Arnold, but you Benedict / Eazy-E saw your ass and went in quick / You got jealous when I got my own company / But I’m a man, and ain’t nobody humping me / Trying to sound like Amerikkka’s Most / You could yell all day, but you don’t come close / Cause you know I’m the one that flowed / Ya done run 100 miles, but you still got one to go / With the L-E-N-C-H-M-O-B, and y’all disgrace the C-P-T / Cause you’re getting fucked out your green by a White boy / With no Vaseline.”
6. Kendrick Lamar’s Verse – “Control”
Target(s): J Cole, Big KRIT, Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron, Tyler the Creator, Mac Miller
“I heard the barbershops spittin’ great debates all the time / ‘Bout who’s the best MC? Kendrick, Jigga, and Nas / Eminem, Andre 3000, the rest of y’all / New niggas just new niggas, don’t get involved / And I ain’t rockin’ no more designer shit / White T’s and Nike Cortez, this is red Corvettes anonymous / I’m usually homeboys with the same niggas I’m rhymin’ wit / But this is hip-hop and them niggas should know what time it is / And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale / Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake / Big Sean / Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all but I’m tryna murder you niggas / Tryna make sure your core fans never heart of you niggas / They don’t wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you niggas…”
7. 50 Cent – “Back Down”
Target(s): Ja Rule, Murder Inc. Roster
“You’s a Pop Tart, sweetheart, you soft in the middle / I eat ya for breakfast, the watch was an exchange for your necklace / And your boss is a bitch, if he could he would / Sell his soul for cheap, trade his Knight to be Suge / You can buy cars but you can’t buy respect in the ‘hood / Maybe I’m so disrespectful cause to me you’re a mystery / I know niggas from ya hood, you have no history / Never poked nothin’, never popped nothin’, nigga stop frontin’ / Jay put you on, X made you hot / Now you run around like some big shot / Ha ha, pussy!”
8. Eminem – “Nail in the Coffin”
Target(s): Benzino/The Source
“What you know about being bullied over half your life / Oh that’s right, you should know what that’s like, you’re half white / Vanilla Ice, spill the beans and rice / I’m eating you alive inside, Jesus Christ!”
9. Jay Z – “It’s Hot (Some Like It Hot)”
Target(s): 50 Cent
“Go against Jigga, yo ass is dense / I’m about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 Cents?”
