Image via Complex Original
Rappers want to be athletes and athletes want to be rappers. There is a mutual respect between the two, both parties seem to respect what each other does for a living. You'll catch rappers courtside of NBA games or front row at a prize fight, just as much as you'll see an athlete get into their zone listening to their favorite rapper, or in some cases try to rap themselves. We all know rappers seem to stay in some beef, and with the two worlds of athletics and music slowly coming more and more intertwined, it was only a matter of time that the two worlds would collide and start some beef.
Over the years, we've seen our fair share of athletes and rappers beefing about one thing or another. Remember when Benzino's crew stabbed Paul Pierce? Or how about the DeShawn Stevenson beef with Jigga over LeBron? Those were pretty memorable. So, where does the most recent athlete/rapper beef between Lil Wayne and Chris Bosh stack up compared to the ones mentioned? Only time will tell. Check out: Foul Shots! When Athletes Get Involved In Rap Beef.
LIKE COMPLEX SPORTS ON FACEBOOK
Joe Budden vs. JR Smith
Where's The Beef? Again, the box makes people do crazy things. Joe Budden's former relationship with Tahiry was well known. So, the 'net went apeshit when J.R. Smith decided it would be funny to tweet out a picture of Tahiry's booty in nothing but a thong. While Tahiry played damage control, Joey threw some subliminal tweets Smith's way, but that was about it. The two men have since squashed things. Real shit.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Rick Ross
Where's The Beef?: Rapper Rick Ross hates 50 for trying to do him like Ja Rule and end his career. Rapper 50 Cent and boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. were as thick as theives at one point and seemed to live be the adage: Your beef is my beef. Therefore, Officer Rawse and Pretty Boy Floyd don't get along. After taking shots at each other in songs and interviews, Ross clowning Mayweather for his problems with the IRS, and Floyd questioning Ricky's credibility and money-making abilities; punchy and paunchy bumped into each other in Las Vegas. A fight nearly broke out at the opening of the Hard Rock Hotel's Vanity nightclub, but Diddy, the party's host, separated the two dudes and their entourages before it could be anything more than an intense verbal altercation.
Roy Jones Jr. vs. Fat Joe
Where's The Beef?: In his guest verse on Ja Rule's "New York," a track that also sparked beef between 50 Cent and Fat Joe, the Terror Squad leader rapped, "Even Roy Jones was forced to lean back," a reference to his wildly successful "Lean Back" single and dance. As well as Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson knocking the once unbeatable Roy Jones, Jr. the fuck out. The boxer and his fists stepped to Joe at a party to express their displeasure. No punches were thrown, but the rapper subsequently issued both private and public apologies, which gave Jones, Jr. a win out of his weight class.
Shaquille O'Neil vs. Skillz
Where's The Beef?: In 2004, LA Lakers center Shaq dissed Virginia rapper Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz) on DJ Sickamore's "Drop Another Day" mixtape: "I don't care how mad your skills is, you can't serve me. You don't like Deez? Take off my throwback jersey!" The attack came out of nowhere, though some people theorized that Shaq was taking Kobe's back after the Virginian made light of his rape case on "The Rap Up 2004." Rapping-ass rapper that he is, Skillz promptly released "Street Wars: The Finals (Skillz vs. Shaq)," a mixtape almost entirely devoted to dissing the Diesel with lines like "99 free throws and you won't hit one, when you at the foul line, I feel bad for you, son!" That's how you cross the (free throw) line!
Stephon Marbury vs. Jay-Z
Where's The Beef?: In 2003, on his track "La, La, La," Jigga went at his rap adversary Fat Joe's basketball playing homie, warning, "Don't confuse me with Marbury out this bitch. Run up on me at the light, you can lose your life." Waaay later, in 2009, Steph responded with one of his crazy man web videos in which he called Jay-Z "camel" (like Joe Camel) and argued that Jay-Z would in fact NOT kill anybody. That's cold-blooded murder right there!
LL Cool J vs. Mike Tyson
Where's The Beef?: Despite being friendly with LL, Tyson made a cameo on "Second Round K.O.," Canibus' 1998 diss track directed at the rapper, and coached him to "eat, eat, eat, eat MC's." On "The Ripper Strikes Back," LL responded, "Heard that convicted rapist on the record too, fresh out of jail, ass cheeks still black and blue." Though, Tyson later said he wanted to eat boxer Lennox Lewis' children, and he has put on some pounds, he has not yet eaten LL.
Jay-Z vs. DeShawn Stevenson
Where's The Beef?: In the First Round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Lebron James was called overrated by Washington Wizards tough guy DeShawn Stevenson. In response, LeBron simply said that him responding to Stevenson would be like Jay-Z responding to Soulja Boy. Although, a very sensible comment—and we trust that we can all agree with King James on this one—it escalated into more. Feeling compelled to be involved, Soulja Boy decided to attend a game and side with Stevenson. Then, Jigga added his two cents by recording a freestyle over Too Short's "Blow The Whistle" siding with James and sending some shots at Stevenson. It was all very fascinating at the time and made for some extra juice for the series but it ended just how we all expected; with LeBron and Jay on top.
Kris Humphries vs. Kanye West
Where's The Beef?: The box makes guys beef, it's just the nature of the beast. Kanye first dropped a line in the song "Cold" rapping, "And, I'll admit, I fell in love with Kim/'Round the same time she had fell in love with him/Well, that's cool, baby girl, do ya thing/Lucky I ain't have Jay drop him from the team." Humphries patiently waited through the summer as the Nets made their transition from NJ to Brooklyn, and despite all the rumors of trades, he wasted no time to get back on his Twitter account to fire back saying: "I'm up at Brooklyn! @S_C_ "lucky I didn't have Jay drop me from the team" lol!" Welp, Kim K is preggos, so guess who won?
Benzino vs. Paul Pierce
Where's The Beef?: In 2000, at Boston's Buzz Club, the Celtics guard reportedly tried to break up a fight involving members of rapper Benzino's Made Men crew. For his meddling, he was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck, and back (requiring lung surgery), and had a bottle smashed over his head. OK, technically this was not a beef, but athletes should know better than to go to the same nightclub as 'Zino.
Lil Wayne vs. Chris Bosh
Where's The Beef?: Last year, Lil Wayne was upset that he wasn't getting enough attention from the NBA stars of the Heat when he sat courtside at their games. So, he announced that he's not a Heat fan anymore, and then this year thingsit all came to a head. Lil Wayne was thrown out of a Miami Heat home game against the LA Lakers on Feb. 10 because he was rooting for the Lakers (according to Weezy). But other reports allege that he was making gun gestures at other fans, and exchanged words with Dwyane Wade. From there Wayne took it to another level by publicly claiming that he slept with Chris Bosh's wife, Adrienne Williams-Bosh, ranted on about LeBron and Wade, and claimed the Heat told the NBA to ban him from all events. Weezy F. recently apologized to Wade and James, but not Bosh. The plot thickens.
Sebastion Telfair vs. Fabolous
Where's The Beef?: Members of Fabolous' crew were rumored to have relieved fellow Brooklyn native and Boston Celtics point guard Sebastion Telfair of his $50,000 diamond chain in 2006. Telfair did not report the robbery to police until later that night, after Fab had been mysteriously shot in the thigh outside Justin's, Diddy's club. In the streets as on NBA hardwood, one bad foul call deserves another.
Nas vs. Kobe Bryant
Where's The Beef? On Nas' 2004 album entitled, Street's Disciple there was a song on the first disc called, "These Are Our Heroes." In it, Nas raps about "Uncle Toms" in black popular culture. He dedicates the second verse to Kobe and his Colorado case while also defending his friend Shaq. We don't even want to repeat what Nasty said. You'll have to listen for yourself. We're not sure if these two squashed the beef, but Nas did perform at the 2012 USA Men's Basketball team's gold medal party and they were in this photo together. Who knows?