Nobody is safe when it comes to rap lyrics. Anyone's name or situation can get mentioned to complete a simile. Whether it's meant to do damage or not, stray bullets on hip-hop songs fly all the time. Today, XXL highlight 10 solid examples of random smoke sent out on wax.
The already infamous Oscars slap, thanks to Will Smith and Chris Rock's public disagreement, has had the news cycle on lock for weeks now. Every time a remarkable situation occurs in pop culture, the internet assumes that Fabolous will be the first to mention it on one of his tracks. In this case, it was actually DJ Drama, who utilized the moment to send a shot on Dreamville's Gangsta Grillz tape D-Day.
Another standout example from recent memory dates back to last year. SpotemGottem's "Beat Box" spawned remixes from plenty of artists, including DaBaby. In his verse, he randomly mentioned child star JoJo Siwa to get his point across. Similarly, 42 Dugg and Lil Baby's hit song "We Paid" starts off with some shade toward Yung Joc, who was "caught" driving for a ride share app a couple of years back.
A lot of these stray bullets are aimed at athletes, too. Running NBA jokes like the weakness of Derrick Rose's knees and LeBron James' hairline are mentioned in hip-hop songs. Take for example Cordae's shot on "Old Niggas" and Ski Mask The Slump God's reference on "Young Voorhees." It doesn't matter if one is a comedian, child star, fellow artist or a professional ball player, anybody can get mentioned in a song. The evidence lies below.
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DaBaby’s Jojo Siwa line on “Beat Box”
Spottemgottem's "Beat Box" is one of the most remixed rap songs in recent time. DaBaby was one of the many artists who decided to thread the Damn E-produced beat in 2021. In his typical nature of talking spicy, DaBaby drove his point home by referencing kid influencer Jojo Siwa, spitting,"Turn me up, niggas gon' see why/Nigga, you a bitch, JoJo Siwa."
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J. Cole’s Mark Madsen diss on “Green Ranger”
Lil Wayne and J. Cole's performances on 2013's "Green Ranger" were on the money. Cole steers first and delivers a diss toward two-time NBA champion Mark Madsen. "Ya borin’, I don’t play nigga, I’m Mark Madsen/That's why my knots thick like a fucking Kardashian," he raps. Mark got his rings by playing with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal on the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2000s. The kick is, he averaged 10 minutes of playing time and a calm two points per game.
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Young Thug’s shade at Mo’Nique on “Kanye West”
Young Thug is slick one the greatest lyricists of the new generation. What makes a great artist is their limitless ability to describe things, as is the case here. On Thugger's 2016 gem, "Kanye West," the YSL leader compares his pockets having the mumps to the size of legendary comic Mo'Nique. "Good feet looking unique/Pockets fat like Mo'Nique," he sings on the track.
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Young Dolph’s Mike Conley diss on “Dummest & the Dummest”
The city of Memphis has big love for both Young Dolph and Mike Conley. On the 2021 Key Glock collabo "Dummest & the Dummest," Dolph threw some shade at Conley's old contract and downplayed his worth. "The dumbest and the dumbеst, got carrots like Bugs Bunny/Memphis nigga overpaid, you can call mе Mike Conley," Dolph said on the track. For context, Conley singed a five-year, $153 million-dollar max contract with the Grizzlies in 2016. Mike played with the team until 2019, but in that time frame, the organization never made it past the first round of the playoffs.
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42 Dugg’s shots at Yung Joc on “We Paid”
If there was any argument for Lil Baby and 42 Dugg to make a collaborative project, it would come in the form of "We Paid" in 2020. The hit is filled with quotables, and one of the most notables consists of firing shots at Yung Joc's bank finances. "’Fore I go broke like Joc/Fuck with that dog like Vick," Dugg says on the track. In 2020, Joc was spotted driving for a ride-sharing service, and people on the internet took that and ran with it. The jokes were that Joc had to be down bad to accept that job.
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Cordae’s Derrick Rose mention on “Old Niggas”
Derrick Rose was the NBA's most valuable player in 2011. He was literally uncheckable, until he he started experiencing a number of knee injuries and tore his ACL in the following season. Cordae references one of the biggest "if only" situations in sports on his 2018 song "Old Niggas." "And these supposed to be our heroes? Negro, please/Old niggas unreliable like D-Rose knees," he raps.
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Quavo’s Kendrick Perkins lash on “Fuck 12”
Kendrick Perkins was a starting center on a championship Boston Celtics team in 2008. Coming into the league in 2003, Perk's last few years saw him get sent down to the G-League and despite the Cavs making it to the NBA Finals in 2018, Kendrick didn't touch the floor. Quavo took note and dissed the current NBA analyst on "Fuck 12" in 2018, spitting, "Every time your bitch phone rings, she workin'/Get no playin' time, Kendrick Perkins." The back-and-forth between Quay and Perkins came afterwards, but they ended up squashing any beef.
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Rod Wave calling out Wendy Williams on “Moving On”
It's unclear what she did, but Wendy Williams surely got under Rod Wave's skin. On Rod's "Moving On," from his chart-topping 2021 album, SoulFly, he disses the talk show host and sends a warning to her. He sings, "Who the fuck is Wendy Williams? Keep my name from out your mentions" on the track. Surprising, she hasn't spoken on the matter. Fans have speculated that she had some slick comments about the stage collapsing on Rod a few years back and this was his response.
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Ski Mask The Slump God’s LeBron James joke on “Young Voorhees”
LeBron James is a sports G.O.A.T., but you can't have it all. In his case, it appears that his hairline has naturally gotten shakier over the years. Ski Mask The Slump God aired out King James on his 2016 track "Young Voorhees." On the record, Ski spits, "Like T.I.P., I got my hat slant on this bitch/Like LeBron hairline, let's see a slant on this bitch" in the intro. At this point, Bron has likely heard it all.
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DJ Drama’s Chris Rock comment on Dreamville’s “Starting 5”
Well, somebody was going to do it. At the most recent Oscar Awards last month, Will Smith checked Chris Rock in the form of a slap for taking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. While listening through Dreamville's new Gangsta Grillz tape, DJ Drama is heard referring to the situation and using it as a threat on "Starting 5" with Lute, Cozz and Omen. "Keep playing with Dreamville's name/Don't get Chris Rocked out your socks/Anything can and will happen," Drama declares.
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