"But you could miss me will all that, diss me than crawl back. I really wish y'all would fall back but gettin rich suppose to solve that." - Drake (Lust for life)
Hip hop, or rap, is an art form in which you express rhythms with poetry. An art form that started around the 1970s and was mostly used by African Americans or Latino Americans in its initial days. Surprisingly, hip hop music was not officially recorded for play on radio or television until 1979, largely due to poverty during the genre's birth and a lack of acceptance outside ghetto neighborhoods.
Old school hip hop was the first mainstream wave of the genre, marked by its disco influence and party-oriented lyrics. Initially, the art form was used to express views towards society through a medium, to effect change in society, to raise awareness, or to enlighten the issues that society was ignoring. This was the story of how hip hop was originally supposed to work, but in modern times it has been shrunk down to nothing but a diss genre. In every track you'll be able to see people dissing each other (fellow rappers) and the saddest part of it all is that they are all trying to represent the same thing.
In this case, I'd like to discuss whether dissing in hip hop is beneficial or detrimental to its growth, and also shed light on why Indian hip hop is dominated by diss culture.
What is Diss Culture? The answer would be if a rapper creates a song, especially a hip-hop or rap recording intended to disparage or attack another person or group, that can be defined as a diss track.
The Diss track has been around since, like, the '60s. An early example of a diss track was "You Keep Her" (1962) by Joe Tex. He wrote the song after his wife left him for soul singer James Brown, who then broke up with her and wrote Tex a letter saying he could have her back. Tex refused and ridiculed this offer in his song.
So, this will give you a good example of how sometimes singers would use their art to showcase their displeasure with someone or something.
Now before I address our topic I would like to mention the Ten Best Rap Feuds I have come across Till Date .
1. Tupac vs Biggie
2. Eminem vs MGK
3. Ice Cube vs NWA
4. 50 Cent vs JA Rule
5. Jay Z vs Nas
6. Nicki Minaj vs Lil Kim
7. Raftaar vs Emiway
8. Kr$na vs Muhfaad
9. Dr. Dre vs Eazy E
10. LL Cool J vs Cannibus
Now you can sort out rap's best feud and worst accordingly cause this ain't ranked anyway and these are personally my takeaway from it.
Why Is There a Diss Culture in Rap???
If you have this question in mind, then I must say, "You know nothing, Jon Snow." Diss isn't just a part of rap; it's also a part of music culture in general.People have been calling out to each other through their music for a very long time. Halsey, Taylor, Evanescene, Justin Timberlake, John Lennon, etc. This is to name a few. It has been going for ages. Artists are also like us. If they feel displeasure, they often use this medium or stage to channel that. Now this is one of the reasons, but the often overlooked reason is turning or catching eyes. The music industry is like the movie industry. It doesn't matter how great your product is, if you don't market it correctly, it won't get to its limit and it won't reach its optimum potential. People like entertainment and spice, so beef between two rappers who don't just expose each other but do it in the form of a rap is more likely to attract more eyes. Eminem did it, Ice Cube did it, and many others as well. Small-time artists often use this format to create a buzz for themselves. Mentioning the names of relevant stars in a provocative manner is quite common in hip hop and has made many people stars, as we witness.
MGK did it in recent times.
After that, "The diss is also to attract attention" question should arise, "Wouldn't it bring negativity to the genre?" If everyone here is just doing it for the buzz and not for art, then why would we want to listen to it?
The answer is a little complex. Every rapper that has been mentioned in the list has at some point produced a song that reaches to the heart of every individual, but the problem with that is that these songs are still not something they will ever be remembered for. Everyone remembers them for their best songs, which came out during their classic beefs. Beef does have a negative impact on the audience, but that's one way to look at it. If you think of the big picture, beef is where they showcase their true talent with the pen. They try to one up each other, and in doing so, they push their limits, and because of that, we get the absolute best out of them.
"In India, hip hop has existed since the late 90's and early 20's, but nobody seemed to care until the beef between Raftaar and Emiway happened, and after that it came into mainstream media. Since then, it has lost its relevance from time to time, but now people know that there is another genre of music which exists.
Even though diss is a negative form of art, it helps catch more eyes, so even if it's not a necessity, a little bit of it won't hurt, as in the end, artists win. Their potential finally gets the recognition they deserve, which motivates them to create more music."
Take Away: Even though fighting is bad diss isn't because you are trying to put a piece of art in a form through which you are humiliating a person but also making a music worth remember. I still remember Ice Cube's "No Vaseline" not because it was a diss but everything from the music to lyrics and rhyme scheme. Everything was top notch and awesome. That's what I feel about diss culture, do let me know what you think as well.
Here are my fav 5 artist who are describing the art in india right now:
1. Kr$na
2. EPR Iyer
3. Karma
4. Seedhe Maut
5. Fotty Seven
Thank you so much for the read guys!!!!!!!!
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