Each year comes with it's fair share of beefs. With the help of social media, these feuds get played out online for the whole world to see, and 2014 sure had a lot of them. Check out the five biggest beefs of the year as well as a long list of honorable mentions. Let us know whom you sided with in the comments section below!
1. Iggy Azalea vs. Everybody (Azealia Banks, Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Eminem)
It's been a bittersweet year for Aussie femcee Iggy Azalea. On one hand, she burst on to the scene with her summer hit "Fancy" and became mainstream name and a Grammy nominee. On the other hand, this success has put her in the public eye and opened her up to scrutiny. Many in the hip-hop community have accused her of cultural appropriation for adopting a southern black accent, playing off black stereotypes and not recognizing her place as a white person in the culture.
Azealia Banks was at the forefront of those accusations. She fired shots at Azalea for not speaking up about racial inequality following the Mike Brown and Eric Garner grand jury decisions and accused her of taking from black cultural but not giving back to their causes. This ignited an extended back and forth on Twitter that constantly made headlines.
Snoop Dogg also got into it on social media with Azalea. He posted some memes of her on Instagram, making fun of her appearance. This trigged a war of words on Twitter that eventually came to and end when T.I. stepped in and got Snoop to apologize. Azalea eventually made fun of the whole ordeal by dressing up for Halloween as one of the White Chicks memes he had used.
Nicki Minaj briefly got wrapped up in beef with Azalea over her BET Awards speech where she stressed that she writes her own lyrics. Many believed that she was subliminally firing shots at Azalea, who was rumored to have T.I. ghostwriting her raps. Both rappers brushed off the beef as something the media was fueling.
Eminem took shots at Azalea on his Shady XV track "Vegas" where he says, "Put that sh*t away, Iggy / You gon' blow that rape whistle on me?" Azalea called him out on Twitter, saying that her little brother was his biggest fan and it was "awkward" that "the artist he admired says he wants to rape me." She also said she was bored with "old men threatening young women as entertainment."
2. Azealia Banks vs. Everybody (Iggy Azalea, T.I., Action Bronson)
Arguably the Queen of Beefs, Banks got into it with multiple people on social media this year but eventually expanded upon her views in an important interview with Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning. We already mentioned her beef with Azalea above, so let's move on to another feud.
After T.I. released his single "No Mediocre," Banks fired shots at him and his wife, Tiny, on Twitter. The Paperwork rapper responded by saying Banks should think twice before coming at his family. Banks then expanded upon why she has a problem with T.I. in her Hot 97 interview, saying she thinks it's wrong of him to be promoting a white rapper while at the same time letting the entertainment industry perpetuate black stereotypes and exploit his wife, Tiny, who she says "can't even read."
Action Bronson ended up in a war of words with Banks after he attacked her when his name was brought up in a discussion about her recent comments on white privilege. Apparently Bronson tried to apologize to her, but not publicly. She said that he texted a mutual friend of theirs to apologize and called him a coward for not speaking with her directly. Bronson replied, telling her to grow up, but then deleted his comments.
3. Solange vs. Jay Z
After the Met Gala, Solange was caught on tape fighting her brother-in-law, Jay Z, on an elevator while Beyoncé stood by watching. The fight sparked rumors of marital troubles between Jay and Bey. They all maintained that everything was okay within the family, and Beyoncé eventually addressed the situation on her Flawless Remix saying, "of course sometimes s**t goes down when it's a billion dollars on the elevator."
4. U2 vs. iTunes Users
When U2 released their album Songs Of Innocence for free on iTunes, the gesture wasn't as innocent as they thought. Both fans and other musicians came at the band, angry that music that had not asked for ended up in their iTunes library. In a Facebook Q&A, Bono apologized for the album's unconventional release, saying it was a "beautiful idea" that "got carried away."
5. Sun Kil Moon vs. War On Drugs
Sun Kil Moon (a.k.a. Mark Kozelek) released a diss track earlier this year called "War On Drugs: Suck My Cock." War on Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel (real last name Granofsky) addressed the feud in an interview calling him an "idiot," a "prick" and a "douche," among other things. Kozelek then responded by sharing another song titled "Adam Granofsky Blues."
Honorable Mentions
Lil Wayne vs. Cash Money
Lil Kim vs. Nicki Minaj
Kesha vs. Dr. Luke
Ariel Pink vs. Grimes
Ariel Pink vs. Madonna
Taylor Swift vs. Spotify
Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry
Tyga vs. Drake
50 Cent vs. Floyd Mayweather
Chief Keef vs. Migos
Billy Corgan vs. Anderson Cooper
Talib Kweli vs. Don Lemon
DJ Mustard vs. YG
Jack White vs. Black Keys
Drake vs. Jay Z
Deadmau5 vs. Disney
Lil B vs. Kevin Durant
T-Boz vs. Rihanna
Diplo vs. Lorde
Deadmau5 vs. Krewella
Ariana Grande vs. Bette Midler
Eminem vs. Lana Del Rey
