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What Was the First Diss Track?
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Infographic titled 2024 Rap Beef Timeline showing a sequence of major releases and diss tracks exchanged between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, with key dates and song titles mapped in chronological order between their photos. Dylan goes electric Tupac Shakur, 1993
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Infographic titled 2024 Rap Beef Timeline showing a sequence of major releases and diss tracks exchanged between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, with key dates and song titles mapped in chronological order between their photos.
2024 Rap Beef timeline Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and several of their contemporaries who contributed to their viral feud.

What Was the First Diss Track?

Written by
René Ostberg
RenĂ© Ostberg is an associate editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
René Ostberg
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

It’s often said the best revenge is living well. Unless you’re a musician, in which case the best revenge is to release a diss track, a song with lyrics that insult—or disrespect—a rival artist. When most people think of diss tracks, they probably think of rap music. The hip-hop connection isn’t wrong. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term diss originated with Spoonie Gee’s 1979 song “Spoonin’ Rap.” Honors for the first rap diss...

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