The 12 Best Diss Tracks, Part 1: Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” Nas’ “Ether” And More

Hip Hop has always been built on competition, and nothing captures that spirit better than a good diss track. For decades, rappers have treated the booth like a boxing ring, trading punches through the most unforgiving bars.

We all saw Kendrick Lamar basically embarrass Drake with “Not Like Us,” maybe even the first diss record to make its target lawyer up. However, long before that, we had classics like Ice Cube’s “No Vaseline,” aimed at N.W.A., and 2Pac’s “Hit ’Em Up,” arguably the most controversial diss track of all time.

In Part 1 of our list, we’re revisiting 12 of the most iconic diss tracks in Hip Hop history. They’re proof that, when done right, beef can lead to brilliance. Take a look below and stay tuned for the follow-up.

1. Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar

By the time Lamar dropped “Not Like Us,” he’d already sent some shots Drake’s way — first on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” then doubling down on “meet the grahams” and “euphoria.” However, the Mustard-produced track left little room for a comeback. Lamar takes jabs at OVO, calls Drake a flat-out culture vulture and goes as far as accusing him of being a predator. And really, after something like that, the Toronto artist’s “THE HEART PART 6” didn’t stand a chance.

There's never really been another diss like "Not Like Us." It took home not just one, but five Grammy Awards, had Serena Williams Crip Walking at the Super Bowl LIX, drove Drake to sue his own label, and quite literally stopped everyone in their tracks when it dropped. It’s in a class all by itself.

2. No Vaseline by Ice Cube

“No Vaseline” is the “best diss song in the history of Hip Hop,” at least if you ask Ice Cube, who ranked it above 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” and Nas’ “Ether.” On the track, the West Coast legend takes aim at his former N.W.A. groupmates, dragging their contracts, their egos and everything in between. At the time, the group was still trying to save face after his departure, but the Death Certificate track basically burned that bridge with a flamethrower. It’s safe to say Ruthless Records never fully recovered from the fallout.

3. Hit ‘Em Up by 2Pac

There are not too many people who haven’t heard 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up,” his diss record aimed at The Notorious B.I.G. Its blistering opening line — “That's why I f**ked yo' b**ch, you fat motherf**ker” — is permanently etched into rap history. Judging by how many artists have borrowed Johnny J’s beat in the decades since, the instrumental is right up there with it, too. 2Pac had smoke for Bad Boy Records, Junior M.A.F.I.A. — which included Lil’ Kim, Lil' Cease and others — and anyone else who even thought about stepping to the West side. It’s a legendary diss, no question.

4. Ether by Nas

The gloves came off when Nas recorded “Ether” in response to JAY-Z’s “Takeover,” which many assumed had sealed their beef. On the record, the Illmatic emcee slowly but surely unloads the clip on Hov and “Cock-A-Fella Records,” line by line. Some of the bars are wild, and word is, there was reportedly an Aaliyah line so disrespectful, it didn’t even make the cut.

5. Back To Back by Drake

In hindsight, Meek Mill never stood a chance. Drake’s “Back To Back” pretty much ended their beef on the spot. Between lines like “is that a world tour or your girl’s tour,” the whole “Twitter fingers” thing becoming cultural shorthand, and dragging Mill’s rivals into it, it was just too much to come back from. Plus, the “God’s Plan” hitmaker went the extra mile of dropping the track with cover art of the Toronto Blue Jays’ 1993 World Series win against Meek’s hometown Philadelphia Phillies.

6. The Story of Adidon by Pusha T

Every winner has to take an L from time to time, and Pusha T handed Drake one of his biggest with “The Story of Adidon.” Rapping over JAY-Z’s “The Story of O.J.,” the Virginia rapper reveals that Drake secretly fathered a child, Adonis, while also delivering some deeply personal digs at his divorced parents and his producer’s Noah “40” Shebib’s battle with multiple sclerosis. Combine all that with the cover art of the Canadian rapper in blackface, and you've got a near-reputation-shattering diss damaging enough to earn its spot here.

7. Takeover by JAY-Z

JAY-Z was standing on business on “Takeover.” Mobb Deep definitely felt the heat in verse two, but Nas undoubtedly caught the worst of it. Responding directly to the latter’s earlier “Stillmatic Freestyle” jabs, Hov essentially boils down Nas’ whole career to one singular album — Illmatic — with not much worth mentioning since (“Four albums in 10 years, n**ga? I could divide / That's one every, let's say two, two of them s**ts was doo”). Of course, the Queens-raised artist eventually hit back with “Ether,” but for a brief moment, “Takeover” felt like the final verdict in their beef.

8. Killshot by Eminem

Eminem went for the jugular on “Killshot,” in which he dismantles Machine Gun Kelly into little more than a desperate fanboy who'd gone a little too far. The lines range from merciless (“How you gonna name yourself after a damn gun and have a man bun?”) to downright lethal, with the Detroit legend metaphorically digging the Cleveland native's grave next to past victims Ja Rule and Benzino. mgk would eventually pivot to pop-punk, and while we can’t blame “Killshot” alone, it sure didn’t make rap a welcoming space for him anymore.

9. Push Ups by Drake

“Push Ups” was Drake’s answer to Lamar’s “Like That,” and despite leaking a week early, it’s still worth the listen, primarily because the Views creator had a lot of names to get off his chest. He took aim at the Compton emcee’s size and ties to Top Dawg Entertainment, then widened the target to include Rick Ross, The Weeknd and Metro Boomin. It goes without saying that having a few extra names to punch down on while going after what might just be the best rapper alive made for one of the more compelling diss tracks of the 2020s.

10. ShETHER by Remy Ma

"ShETHER," as the title hints, borrows from Nas' iconic "Ether" and might've unknowingly laid the blueprint for every subliminal Nicki Minaj faced later on. In the song, Remy Ma accuses the Queen artist of sleeping around with some of music's biggest names and, maybe most memorably, "spendin' money to support a pedophile." Meanwhile, the cover art's dismembered Barbie doll practically sums up all the plastic surgery jabs scattered throughout the song. Even if you don’t think “ShETHER” was the most technical diss, all the name-dropping alone — Drake, Meek Mill, Safaree and Ebro Darden, to mention a few — made it a tough one for Minaj to simply brush aside.

11. Truth by Gucci Mane

“Go dig your partner up, n**ga, bet he can't say s**t / And if you looking for the kid, I'll be in Zone 6.” Gucci Mane’s words in “Truth” were absolutely brutal when they dropped, and they stung just as much nearly a decade later at his Verzuz with Jeezy. Though Guwap famously insisted it was “not a diss record,” he referenced Jeezy’s late affiliate Pookie Loc and Keyshia Cole, whom The Snowman had been engaged to a few years prior. “This the same s**t that got Big and 2Pac killed,” he spat, and luckily that wasn’t the case.

12. Play Wit Yo B**ch by Young Dolph

Young Dolph and Yo Gotti’s beef really did a number on Memphis, and one of the first and arguably best records to stem from their issues taking over the internet was “Play Wit Yo B**ch.” The Paper Route Empire founder refused to sign to Gotti’s Collective Music Group, or “Cocaine Musik F**gots” as he mockingly called them on the track. After holding back for nearly five years, Dolph finally let loose, airing out every last detail over Zaytoven’s beat. It’s a bittersweet moment to revisit, considering the “100 Shots” rapper left us far too soon.