Thug Life Army

The best way for hip hop artists and labels to promote their new releases and build hypr on upcoming albums or new rappers, is by appearing on mixtape CDs, compilations sold independently on the streets and on the Web. These CDs feature a mix of released, unreleased and sneak peak tracks mixed in with exclusive freestyles. Often these freestyles find the MCs trading words and vicious attacks as they battle on wax, so to speak, and call each other out.

Let’s take a look at SOME of the recent mixtape battles that have made hip hop such a full-contact sport in recent years:

Jay-Z vs. Nas
There may have been celebrated beefs involving Kool Mo Dee, Ice-T, Ll Cool J, and, of course, the infamous Tupac verses Biggie, but this was the one that set the battlefield on fire in recent years, as both of these cats are at the top of their game when they started spitting fire at each other. And couldn’t be more respected in the hip hop community. Early on it seemed as if Jay-Z might have won this with a few spirited barbs, but Nas’ “Ether” has become a heralded classic and his rapid succession of incredible albums -- two a year for the last two years, one better than the other, a double album on the way – have made him the clear winner.

Mobb Deep vs. Jay-Z
Another contender tries to snatch the crown from Hova. This time it’s those grimy cats from the QB, Mobb Deep. Again, as respect in the game as they come. While their beef wasn’t as legendary it did spark some truly great moments, including Jay-Z’s unveiling of a childhood photo of Mobb’s Prodigy in a tutu at the NTC Summer Jam. Ouch!

50 Cent vs. Ja Rule
Things really got hot with this one. 50 called out Ja for being a fake and wimp, calling him gay, soft and everything a rapper doesn’t wanna see in print next to their name. Ja dedicated a whole album to fighting back (Blood in My Eye)…. To bad it stiffed. 50 did the same and it went multi-platinum. Ja took aim via a slew of mixtape disses. However, 50 and his entire G-Unit crew did the same, and the sheer different in numbers made G-G-G-Unit the winners with tracks likje “Hail Mary,” and a slew of freestyles. Plus, it’s hard to fight back about being a fake gangsta when your singing love songs with Mariah Carey.

Ja Rule vs. Eminem
Since Eminem signed 50, this battle spilled over into his trailer. And lemme tell ya, as Ja found out the hard way, you do NOT wanna go up against Em. He’s got Dr. Dre, 50, G-Unit, D-12, The Game and a slew of other talented rapper on his side, plus the backing of White America. Plus, quite frankly, love him or hate him, any fool will tell you, he can out rap just about every human in the solar system. Ja calling out Em was kind of like Lenny Kravitz calling out Eddie Van Halen for a guitar playing contest. The result? Has anyone heard a peep out of Ja Rule since? Case closed.

Busta Rhymes vs. Ja Rule
When Busta signed to Dre’s Aftamath label, somehow he got pulled into this, with Ja taking a few potshots at the rapper turned actor. Busta fired back hard with an uncharismatic, vicious attack on “Hail Mary.”

Eminem vs. Benzino and The Source
This is where things got interesting. First, Em destroys Ja, who is buddies with Ray Benzino, washed up rapper, successful club owner and part owner of acclaimed hip hop bible, The Source. So indirectly inspired to take on this white boy who dealt his pal such a fatal blow, Benzino gets The Source to do a series of articles bashing Eminem for killing hip hop by bringing in a white audience, accusing him of being a racist and bashing his music. They even went so far as to run a comic series depicting Benzino as the savior of rap and a beheaded Eminem as the slain enemy, followed by a slew of Em disses on mixtapes. All of this would seem impressive if Benzino wasn’t such a hack rapper, and his barbs seeming as lightweight as humanly possible when compared with the verbal ass-whoppin’ Em and his crew gave him over a series of diss tunes, culminating with “Monkey See Moneky Do,” “Do Rae Mi,” and “Bully” from the Straight From the Lab bootleg EP (dedicated entirely to destroying Benzino, Ja and Cannibus) and the scathing “Nail in the Coffin.” This battle resulted got so hot that XXL magazine jumped in and managed to side with Em’s camp, stuck ‘em all on the cover for a few issues, and managed to elevate themselves to direct competitors of The Source in the process.

Esham vs. Eminem and D12
He shoulda learned his lessons from all the others who tried and died, but legendary Detroit acid-rapper Esham decided to callout Em and his boys in d-12 for not reppin’ the 8 Mile properly, and promptly got stomped the f**k out at the WARP tour a few years ago. It’s a drag because Esham was an early influence on Eminem and just about every other rapper out of the Motor City, but, ehy, if you mess with the bull you get the horns, right?

Royce Da 5’9 vs. Eminem
Then former D-Town buddy Royce Da 5’9 got into the mix, lobbing a few bombs in Em’s direction on his own albums, most notably on “Malcolm X.” No worries, Em squashed him good over a few freestyles and firmly removed him fro the “one-to-watch” category. Again, too bad, as Royce was/is a great MC.

The Game vs. Joe Budden
So Eminem signs 50 Cent, who gets involved in several lifetimes worth of beef. Then 50 signs The Game, the newest in line for Dre-related superstardom. This Compton MC comes out of the gate by spittin’ flames at just about every one in sight, including one-hit-wonder Joe Budden, who dissed Game on a song they appeared on together (yikes!). So Game fired back with “Buddens,” a stinging diss set to Ice-T’s “Colors.” Budden has not been heard from since. Joe who?

The Game vs. Memphis Bleek
No one really knows why Game called out Memphis Bleek on the epic “200 Bars” freestyle. Even he doesn’t know, as he recently admitted in an MTV interview. Therefore their beef has been squashed. But damn, that tune was dope…

Yukmouth vs. The Game
Luniz member Yukmouth stepped up to the plate to call out Game for using his moment in the limelight to cap on MCs rather than shine on his own, and hauls out to scathing diss tracks to set the record straight. Game returns the shots with a few of his own, including a terrific diss over Tha Luniz own much-sampled “I Got 5 On It” beat. The problem here is that Yuk, while a charismatic vet with skills, just doesn’t have the kind of mic prowess to step up to a young, hungry cat like Game.

Shaq vs. Mad Skillz
By now, mixtape beef battles have become trendy, as is evident by Shaquille O’Neil’s  random attack on  former Rawkus artists Mad Skillz. No one is sure why Shaq decided to go after him, espically considering Skillz can run cirecles around him, and did on his reply, title “99 Freethrows (And Ya Can’t Make One)” set to Jay-Z’s “99 Problems.”

And the beef goes on...

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