Hip-hop belonged to Atlanta in the 2000s. Everyone loved Outkast, and both crunk and trap music started to bubble up during and after their prime. Arguably the biggest song of the decade started with “peace up, A-Town down.” However, the city’s success didn’t mean that certain rappers weren’t at each other’s throats. In fact, two of the biggest rappers from Atlanta, T.I. and Ludacris, got into it over something extremely trivial. The aftermath led to years of sneak disses and a massive blowup at an awards show.
At the start of both of their careers, there were rumors of subliminals being traded back and forth. There was nothing but jabs back and forth for whose version of Atlanta hip-hop reigned supreme. For Ludacris, it was all competition. “I’m extremely competitive so I’m always with the subliminals. So… when he would jab I would jab right back in records,” he told N.O.R.E. on Drink Champs.
But the beef really reached its peak when Luda’s Disturbing Tha Peace artist I-20 released the music video for “Fightin’ In The Club“. There, one of the actors was wearing a shirt with the word ‘trap’ on it, which T.I. viewed as a slight. Then, tensions rose when they featured on the same song, “Stomp”.
Ludacris And T.I. Beefed With Each Other During Their Prime
On the song, Tip offhandedly dissed Luda again in order to provoke a reaction. “Me gettin’ beat down? That’s ludicrous,” he scoffed on the Young Buck classic.
However, the Word of Mouf rapper got tired of just throwing petty shots back and forth with T.I.. Consequently, he absolutely brutalized him on the record, finding the most outrageous ways to say he’s way more successful. Then, he referenced Trap Muzik and ended his verse on an absolute haymaker.
“So pimpin’, be easy; quit catching feelings/’Cause you worth a couple hundred grand, and I’m worth millions/Nobody’s thinking bout you; plus, your beef ain’t legit/So please, stay off the T-I-P of my di-ahhhhh!!” Ludacris clowned.
From there, more subliminals were traded back and forth. But by 2007, a fight broke out between the parties, where T.I. punched Luda’s manager Chaka Zulu outside of a hotel. Not long afterwards, the beef was settled when the self-proclaimed “King of the South” apologized for the incident.
Years later, the pair reflected on their beef during a flight together. Ultimately, Ludacris was just in the business of finishing what was started. He’s just glad they could laugh about it in the end.
“That’s what maturity and that’s what growth is all about, but we gave people what they wanted for a certain amount of time and that’s what hip-hop is,” Ludacris added on Drink Champs. “It starts from competition and we going to give you that.”
Photo by Ben Rose/WireImage
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