20 of the best diss tracks of the last 20 years

If there's one rapper who will argue with their peer, it's Drake. After rapper Meek Mill suggested Drizzy has always used ghostwriters (a person hired to write content for someone else), the Thank Me Later performer dropped a diss track called "Back to Back." The lyrics read, "This is for y'all that think that I don't write enough/ They just mad 'cause I got the Midas touch." 

Mariah Carey took a shot at rapper Eminem (Marshall Mathers) in her 2009 single "Obsessed." The track came several years after their beef began in the early 2000s over Carey denying Eminem's allegations they dated in the past. In the music video, Mariah played herself and a male stalker who closely resembled Mathers.

Eminem released several songs about Mariah after she denied their relationship, one of them being "The Warning." The hip-hop record was released on July 30, 2009, and the rapper wasted no time taking shots at the A-list singer. "I'm 'obsessed' now, oh gee / Is that supposed to be in the video with the goatee?" he said over the beat.

Lil Wayne criticized former President of the United States, George W. Bush, in his track "Georgia... Bush." It shed light on several issues, including police brutality. Further, he referenced the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Nicki Minaj is no stranger to calling people out. Her 2012 track, "Stupid H*e," has some interesting lyrics — many suspected to be about Lil' Kim. Although Minaj denied the claims, Kim spoke about the record in an interview with Billboard. “I’m pretty sure I feel the same way everybody else feels right about now,” she said. “If you have to make a song called ‘Stupid H*e,’ you must be [one].”

You should count your days if you're ever the inspiration behind a Taylor Swift song. Not only is her pen lethal, but her fans won't let you live it down. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, the singer said her track "Bad Blood" is about another female artist who "did something so horrible," she said. "She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I’m surprisingly non-confrontational – you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It’s awkward, and I don’t like it.” This came after news broke that several of Swift's dancers left her tour to join Katy Perry's.

If you thought Drake's diss "Charged Up" would be enough for Meek Mill to respond, think again. Meek's silence inspired Champagne Papi's second diss, "Back to Back."

Little Mix took their shot at One Direction's Zayn Malik after he broke things off with one of the group's singers, Perrie Edwards. The speculation continued after the music video featured a look-a-like of the famous boy-bander.

Katy Perry responded to Taylor Swift's song "Bad Blood" with her diss, "Swish Swish," featuring rapper Nicki Minaj. During a chat with Entertainment Weekly, Perry responded to the news of her feud with Swift, saying, "You can't mistake kindness for weakness and don't come for me."

"Look What You Made Me Do" is another Swift diss track aimed at Kanye West and Kim Kardashian after the former called her a "b*tch" in the 2016 track "Famous." Her lyrics read, "I don't like your little games/ Don't like your tilted stage/ The role you made me play of the fool/ No, I don't like you." 

Megan Thee Stallion scored her third No. 1 with her 2024 single "HISS." The rapper seemingly criticized several artists, including Drake, Tory Lanez, and Nicki Minaj.

Nicki jumped in the studio as soon as she heard Megan's diss mentioned above. She titled it "Big Foot" and even tweeted a few of the song's lyrics days before its release. The single peaked at No. 23 on the Hot 100.  

Remy Ma shocked the world when she bodied Nicki Minaj in her song "shETHER." The title is a play on Nas' 2001 diss track about Jay Z, Ether. Billboard described it as a "scathing diss track." In a separate interview, Remy spoke about being disappointed in herself for bashing another woman. "It just bothers me that this record that I put out, where it's literally picking apart a female, went so viral," she said. "We could have done the same thing, working together. I would have liked that so much better that way."

Nicki, of course, responded to Remy's song with her own, "No Frauds." The track featured Drake and Lil Wayne, and the rappers collectively shaded their enemies (Ma, Meek Mill, and Birdman). Minaj rapped, "What type of mother leaves her one son over a stack?" which references Ma's earlier prison stint for gun charges. 

Miley Cyrus' diss track about her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, became an international hit after hitting streaming platforms in January 2023. It's quite the self-love anthem, reminding listeners everywhere to be their own hype-men. 

Although Beyoncé didn't come for anyone specifically in this song, she does reference her haters. "Drinkin' my water; mindin' my biz/ Monday, I'm overrated; Tuesday on my d**k." She took it even further because she's a petty queen, singing, "Flip-flop, flippy, flip-floppin'-a** trick."

Nicki continued her feud with Lil' Kim after the release of her song "Roman's Revenge." The song included famous rapper Eminem, and they both performed as their alter egos: Roman Zolanski and Slim Shady. Minaj rapped her two verses flawlessly, with lethal lines like, "I call the play, now do you see why? These b—ches calling me Manning, Eli."

Justin Timberlake joined Timbaland and Nelly Furtado on "Give It To Me" to diss a former producer, Scott Storch, who worked with the singer on his 2002 single "Cry Me a River." The lyrics read, "I'm a real producer, and you just a piano man."

Gwen Stefani responded to Courtney Love's earlier comments, which referred to the singer as a "cheerleader" during an interview with Seventeen in her smash hit single "Hollaback Girl." Stefani wasn't shy about this song being a diss, with lyrics that read, "I heard that you were talking sh*t, and you didn't think that I would hear it."

In addition to penning songs about her frenemy, Taylor has also released diss tracks about former boyfriends, including John Mayer. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he responded to the song, saying Swift's song embarrassed him. 

"I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I'd already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you've ever been, someone kicked you even lower?" he asked. "I didn't deserve it. I'm pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do."