Chuck D Addresses History Of Battling In Hip-Hop, Refers To Dissing As “Evolution Tumor”

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Beef has taken over Hip-Hop in 2024. Chuck D, one of the genre’s most prolific MCs, shared his views on the history of rap battles.

“Rap and Hip-Hop didn’t form from [diss] battle culture. It formed from party dance culture,” Chuck D tweeted on Sunday (April 14). “The battle culture was a mutation alongside moving the crowd.”

He also added, “[An] MC never wanted you to be a wallflower, they wanted movement or the DJ would shut you off. Harlem, Bronx, [and] Brooklyn wanted a better time because NYC was delivering [b#######].”

2024 has already seen feuds between Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj, Latto and Ice Spice, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Drake, Rick Ross and Drake, and other rivalries.

One of the most famous beefs in Hip-Hop history became national news in the 1990s. The back-and-forth between 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. ended when both rap icons lost their lives in separate, possibly unrelated, violent incidents.

“The battle [diss] thing was a side evolution tumor. Started benign then ignorance made it malignant in the 90s. Revisionist history on culture too often is measured by scattered exceptions as opposed to the massive documented ‘rule,’” Chuck D stated.