By The Numbers: How Rap Beef Affects the Culture

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When Biggie Smalls asked, “What’s Beef?” he posed the question at the height of the East Coast/West Coast rap rivalry, which would ultimately result in the death of the Brooklyn MC—as well as Tupac Shakur.

But, does beef always have to end in death? Most Hip-Hop fans would hope not. The very nature of the culture is competitive, and rivalries can be thrilling and entertaining when they stay on wax.

The recent rivalry between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has been one of those quarrels that has reenergized the culture and entertained Hip-Hop fans in a way not seen in years.

SlotsUp online casino and Media Lab Insights recently prepared and shared statistics that detail the legacy of rap beef—by breaking the statistics and songs into eras which are marked by a major event.

“These timelines were used to better understand the development of conflicts, success, and the demand for performance in the hip-hop industry,” the report notes. “Their comparison is focused on three main points: the technical aspect (the average tempo of the tracks (which can be calculated by the amount of bars, and the length), the profitability (the amount of platinum albums), and the risks involved (death rate).”

Researchers at SlotsUp commented on the study. “Until our current era, the more beef was around, the more successful the artists were. Our current era is going against this pattern, with the same amount of deaths and diss tracks as the first era, but with more platinum albums. Over the years, Hip-Hop became less technically demanding, especially after 2004.  This study shows that conflicts aren’t always profitable, and violence can be avoided.”

The first era was marked by what the researchers called “The Roxanne Wars” in the mid-1980s. Two of the most significant songs were “Roxanne, Roxanne” and “Roxanne’s Revenge.” However, cultural commentators say that there were up to 30 songs related to the beef. The only major death to come out of that era was Scott La Rock—whose murder has not been directly attributed to the beef. The clear winner of this battle was Roxanne Shante, who went on to a lengthy career and is credited as one of the foundational female MC’s.

The second era was one of the most deadly. Lasting from 1992 to 1997, the beef sparked the true rise of the diss track. The research shows that diss tracks and deaths more than doubled while platinum albums skyrocketed to 35. The era saw 10 deaths, with three being the most prominent—Eazy E, 2Pac, and The Notorious B.I.G. The winner of this era could be seen as the recently disgraced Sean “Diddy” Combs as his Bad Boy imprint saw some of its biggest success following the death of B.I.G. This era also marked Hip-Hop’s biggest foray into the pop genre with an increase in record sales that would last for more than a decade—before the proliferation of streaming.

The third era, lasting from 1998-2004, featured the beef between Jay-Z and Nas. This era was also the most financially successful with more than 50 platinum albums. “Eminem was significant in this era,” as the study shows that the Detroit rapper released nine diss tracks. The winner of this era continues to be debated. However, the culture benefited from the end of the beef with Jay and Nas making several concert appearances together.

Source: Bethany Mollenkof / Getty

The fourth era: 2005-2008, is one largely of peace—kicked off by the end of the beef between Jay-Z and Nas—two New York rap titans. Also worth noting is the average length of rap songs would begin to get shorter with many getting under the 4-minute mark. The fifth era from 2009-2012, was marked by the release of Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. It would be the second era that Eminem would be involved in numerous beefs including with Benzino and Mariah Carey. It was during this era that beef would escalate in southern states with one significant death being that of Slim Dunkin.

Era number six was from 2013 to 2019. The most significant beef was between Drake and Meek Mill. However, the two would eventually collaborate (again, since they were cool prior to Meek’s Twitter fingers) on “Going Bad.” This era is also marked by continued financial success with more than 40 platinum albums. The murder of Nipsey Hussle would mark the end of this era.

Our current era began with the coronavirus pandemic, which affected the entire world but also highlighted the significance of “beef,” with the good-natured but often tense musical battles as part of the Verzuz series. But without question, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” is thus far the most powerful diss song of the era—but whether or not it’s over is still up for debate, and Drake. Fortunately, K. Dot did his victory lap by bringing gang members together on one stage as a show of unity at the conclusion of his pop out concert on Juneteenth.