Diss tracks are becoming an increasingly popular form of music, as our favourite artists indulge in ridiculing, insulting and mocking their fellow musicians. Recent popular instances would include Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning hit ‘Not Like Us’, a track directed at Drake. This ostensibly ended the pair’s feud, as the clear winner for the majority was Kendrick, sealed by his half-time show performance at the Super Bowl. Now, however, the diss track is infecting other genres, with Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life Of A Showgirl, featuring a diss allegedly aimed at Charli XCX, but how has this typically hip-hop-based art form become so heterogeneous?
The art of the diss track originates with a form of lyrical combat emerging in the late 1970s from the hip-hop genre. Gaining popularity in the mid-1980s during the ‘Roxanne Wars’ between UTFO and Roxanne Shante, this variety of track continued to bloom in favour. Over the decades, whilst diss tracks continued to be prominent in the sphere of hip-hop, they began to feature in pop and country songs also, before becoming dominant in the world of social media. Social media adopted the diss track in the late 2010s, with popular YouTubers at the time, including Logan Paul and Jake Paul, jumping on the bandwagon with hits such as ‘It’s Everyday Bro.’
Consequently, this rendered this particular track a heterogeneous universal sensation, readily wielded by many artists. For example, Taylor Swift is currently at the forefront of the diss track conversation because of her new song ‘Actually Romantic, which is speculated to be a response to Charli XCX’s ‘Sympathy is a Knife. However, whilst fans adored the lyrical vulnerability of XCX’s hit, where she details her insecurities and professional jealousies, Swift is being scorned for being petty and childish in her response, where she states that she views XCX as “like a toy chihuahua barking from a tiny purse.”
This prompts the question: what makes a diss track actually hurt? Whilst being a rude comment, it would be a wild assumption to suggest that XCX is heartbroken over her comparison to a chihuahua. Ostensibly, this highlights the differences between the diss track across genres, as where Kendrick Lamar accuses Drake of paedophilia, Swift insinuates she is aroused by XCX’s song ‘Sympathy is a Knife’: which is a marked contrast. Through this, the adoption of this type of song by the world of pop can be criticised as it fails to appropriately ‘diss’ the intended target, rather presenting a painfully cringey image. However, this same claim cannot be placed upon the social media community, which infamously does not hold back on its insults. For influencers, it is their lack of musical talent and knowledge that restricts the quality of the diss, not the poor lyricism.
As diss tracks are typically a conversation between artists, there is always going to be a winner at the end of the discourse. Arguably, this could be the person who has the last word and writes the final diss, yet for the majority, it is rather seen as who gains the most public support. For example, when discussing the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, there is a clear public winner in Lamar, demonstrated through his Grammy wins and insane levels of popular support, which Drake unfortunately lacked.
Ultimately, diss tracks are often clever, well-constructed, and musically pleasing, known to soar to the top of the charts as listeners enjoy the songs and become invested in the celebrity beef. However, this is not always the case, as some indulge in the diss track purely to make a statement against a fellow musician, without putting in the appropriate effort to also craft a good piece of music.
“Kendrick Lamar, Bonnaroo 2012” by jon_elbaz is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
