Another year means we've seen another batch of fascinating collaborations, artists teaming up for tours and plenty of shout-outs; there's so much love throughout the music world. After a while, though, that can get sort of boring.
Thankfully, plenty of musicians can be spiteful, selfish, jealous and loud. That meant 2013 was littered with beefs between musicians, many of whom picked fights with faceless entities and/or each other. Let us be your hamburger helper as we guide you through 10 situations in which someone was having a cow, man.
Top 10 Beefs of 2013:
10. Sufjan Stevens vs. Savages:
Proving he's as good at nitpicking as he was at crafting vast symphonic pop albums in the mid-2000s, Sufjan Stevens called out beloved UK post-punk band Savages for their typographical choices on the cover of their Silence Yourself album. Specifically, he decried the band's use of Helvetica Narrow, noting that "weight loss is the worst thing that can happen to an iconic font." He also chastised them for "weird italics," "cramped leading" and an "unnecessary line break." While he may or may not have had a point (we'll leave that to the true typeface aficionados to discuss), Stevens mostly came across like a giant nerd. Savages didn't even have to reply — Stevens lost the battle before it began.
9. Fox News' Sean Hannity vs. Ryan Adams:
Though he's an alt-country performer and the husband of actress Mandy Moore, musician Ryan Adams has '80s hardcore pumping through his blood. Not only did he lend some of that energy to a Fall Out Boy album in 2013, but he also decided to take up some beef with conservative political commentator and Fox News personality Sean Hannity. Over on Twitter, Adams wrote, ".@SeanHannity Your entire soul is controlled by fear and by hate. Evolve little chicken man. See reality."
The tweet was removed, but not before Hannity could see it. The Fox anchor offered Adams an on-air segment, to which he replied, "Thanks @seanhannity for inviting me on your show. If I wanted to be yelled at I would go see a Youth of Today reunion show. : )" Instead of getting into a discussion about Youth of Today, which would have been very entertaining, Hannity instead lambasted Adams on his show.
Criticizing his perceived lack of popularity, Hannity said, "If we wanted to torture terrorists, we could play his music, which isn't that popular anyway, and a 24-hour-loop would drive them nuts... Come on the program, stop being a wimp, he's hiding behind his rock star makeup like a little gutless little coward that he is." Too bad this one fizzled out — we have a feeling it could've gotten a whole lot more quotable.
8. Frank Ocean vs. Chris Brown:
While last year's Chris Brown feud involved alleged bottle throwing with Drake over their love of Rihanna, this year's Brown brattiness stemmed from a fight with Frank Ocean. Why were they fighting? Well, over a parking spot, of course. Allegedly, the two got into a verbal spat in the parking lot of a Los Angeles recording studio, and that quickly turned into a brawl. Frank Ocean opted not to press charges, but his cousin Sha'keir Duarte did, suing Brown for assault and battery. Brown responded with a countersuit. So yeah — a year of lawsuits over a parking spot. Good thing these dudes didn't run into each other at a Walmart on Black Friday.
7. The Black Keys' Patrick Carney vs. Justin Bieber:
The Black Keys' Patrick Carney hasn't shied away from speaking his mind and starting fights in the past, beefing with the likes of Napster's Sean Parker, among others. This year, however, he found a powerful enemy in teen heartthrob Justin Bieber. Asked by a TMZ reporter what he thought of Bieber at the Grammy Awards, Carney said, "He's rich, right? Grammys are for music, not for money, and he's making a lot of money. I don't know. He should be happy, I guess."
Bieber caught wind of the quote, and tweeted, "the black keys drummer should be slapped around haha." While that didn't result in any physical slaps, Carney had to contend with thousands and thousands of angry young women on Twitter. Let that be a lesson, Carney: don't mess with teen pop fans. And especially don't share your opinions on One Direction; those kids are legitimately terrifying.
6. Jack White vs. the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach:
The Biebs wasn't the only one getting into it with the Black Keys. Former White Stripes frontman and all-around busy rock 'n' roller Jack White had some less-than-kind words for the duo's frontman, Dan Auerbach. In some leaked divorce documents between White and his ex-wife Karen Elson, White explained that he didn't want his kids attending the same school as Auerbach.
Why? In short, because he thinks Auerbach is lame. Here's an excerpt, with White's original spelling mistakes intact: "My concern with Auerbach is because I don't want the kids involved in any of that crap ... That's a possible twelve fucking years i'mg going to have to be sitting in kids chairs next to that asshole with other people trying to lump us in together. He gets yet another freee reign to follow me around a copy me and push himself into my world." 5. Gucci Mane vs. Waka Flocka Flame:
They were once the best of friends, but the former Ferrari Boyz have seemingly damaged their friendship beyond repair. The worst of it happened in September, when Gucci had a barely coherent Twitter meltdown, firing verbal shots at numerous peers in the industry. Specifically, he said some less than kind things about Waka Flocka Flame. He soon apologized, blaming his tirade on an addiction to lean. While he was in rehab, however, Waka dropped an inflammatory video for "Obituary," poking fun at Gucci's problems with a man eating an ice cream cone in a psych ward.
4. Riff Raff vs. James Franco:
Harmony Korine's boobs 'n' booze romp Spring Breakers was a divisive film that fans equally loved and hated. One person particularly irked by it, however, was neon-coloured rap character Riff Raff, who claimed star James Franco ripped off his look and personality for his role in the movie. Both Franco and Korine have agreed that the film's Alien character was loosely inspired by Riff Raff, along with many other characters.
Riff Raff insists they stole his likeness wholesale, however, even threatening to sue the film's creators for $8-10 million. There's no word on what happened with the lawsuit, but we did get some decent quotes out of it: "I just need my money. It's like if I have a front yard. And you're planting soil and you're planting trees and building peaches and houses and selling parking lots on my property... then I deserve to be compensated for some portion of that money," Riff Raff told TMZ.
3. Azealia Banks vs. Baauer, Perez Hilton, the Stone Roses, Disclosure and Pharrell:
Way back in 2011, the NME named Azealia Banks one of the coolest people of the year. Since then, she's dropped singles and mixtapes here and there, but has yet to deliver her long-awaited Broke With Expensive Taste LP. That's the least of her troubles, however: she's also managed to make enemies with most of the music industry. The year kicked off with a fight between Banks and EDM superstar Baauer when the latter filed a copyright claim against her over an unofficial remix of his song "Harlem Shake." Banks, in turn, freaked out on Twitter, using homophobic slurs to insult the artist. This pissed off gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who trashed her on his blog.
A month later, when the Stone Roses allegedly tested their equipment while she was performing at an Australian music festival, she called them "old saggy white niggas" on Twitter, adding that she wished them "nothing but excrement and death." So much hate!
That was just scratching the surface, however. After she tweeted that an exciting new collaboration with hyped dance duo Disclosure was on the way, they pointed out that they hadn't actually completed any recordings yet. Frustrated by their "rude" comments, she scrapped the collaboration altogether.
Finally, when her new single "ATM Jam" came out and didn't perform as well as she'd hoped, she blamed it on producer Pharrell for not appearing in the video. "The reason ATM jam did poorly is because pharell changed his mind about wanting to be associated with me after he had his lite skin comeback," she tweeted. Somewhere in there, she also managed to get in numerous online spats with Lily Allen, also via Twitter. You really need to count to ten before you tweet, Azealia.
2. Kanye West vs. Jimmy Kimmel:
Perhaps more than ever before, Kanye West's ego was on full display this year, with the rapper-turned-saviour-of-humanity likening himself to everyone from Andy Warhol and Walt Disney toJeezus Jesus Christ. It's understandable, then, that some felt the need to poke fun at his extreme self-confidence.
After 'Ye's lengthy interview with BBC Radio's Zane Lowe, Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at it by hiring child actors to reenact the clip. The mostly innocuous spoof rubbed West the wrong way, inspiring a huge explosion. They ended up making up on TV, resulting in a ratings spike for Kimmel's talk show, but Kanye's Twitter hate will live on forever in our hearts, with endlessly quotable phrases like "JIMMY KIMMEL PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES ... OH NO THAT MEANS YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TOO MUCH GOOD PUSSY IN YOUR LIFE..." and an image of Spongebob Squarepants holding a rainbow, with the text "JIMMY KIMMEL FACE MOTHERFUCKER" written across it.
1. Kendrick Lamar vs. all of Hip-Hop:
No one drew a line in the sand or antagonized others quite as much as Kendrick Lamar did when he dropped his instantly viral verse on Big Sean's "Control" back in August. Taking shots at J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean (yes, even the guy whose song he was on!), Jay Electronica, Tyler, the Creator and Mac Miller, Lamar's verse was pure, unadulterated ego. He admitted he had love for them all, but wouldn't let them stand a chance in the music biz. Furthermore, he called himself the king of New York, despite hailing from Los Angeles.
The song had everyone talking for months, including many of the people addressed in the verse. Meek Mill released more than one response track, while Drake refused to acknowledge it as any sort of threat. J. Cole finally responded last month on a remix to Justin Timberlake's "TKO." Someone even recently asked Drake's dad about it. No one started a lasting back-and-forth fight in 2013 quite like Kendrick Lamar did with "Control."
To see more of our Year-End coverage, head over to our 2013 in Lists section.
Thankfully, plenty of musicians can be spiteful, selfish, jealous and loud. That meant 2013 was littered with beefs between musicians, many of whom picked fights with faceless entities and/or each other. Let us be your hamburger helper as we guide you through 10 situations in which someone was having a cow, man.
Top 10 Beefs of 2013:
10. Sufjan Stevens vs. Savages:
Proving he's as good at nitpicking as he was at crafting vast symphonic pop albums in the mid-2000s, Sufjan Stevens called out beloved UK post-punk band Savages for their typographical choices on the cover of their Silence Yourself album. Specifically, he decried the band's use of Helvetica Narrow, noting that "weight loss is the worst thing that can happen to an iconic font." He also chastised them for "weird italics," "cramped leading" and an "unnecessary line break." While he may or may not have had a point (we'll leave that to the true typeface aficionados to discuss), Stevens mostly came across like a giant nerd. Savages didn't even have to reply — Stevens lost the battle before it began.
9. Fox News' Sean Hannity vs. Ryan Adams:
Though he's an alt-country performer and the husband of actress Mandy Moore, musician Ryan Adams has '80s hardcore pumping through his blood. Not only did he lend some of that energy to a Fall Out Boy album in 2013, but he also decided to take up some beef with conservative political commentator and Fox News personality Sean Hannity. Over on Twitter, Adams wrote, ".@SeanHannity Your entire soul is controlled by fear and by hate. Evolve little chicken man. See reality."
The tweet was removed, but not before Hannity could see it. The Fox anchor offered Adams an on-air segment, to which he replied, "Thanks @seanhannity for inviting me on your show. If I wanted to be yelled at I would go see a Youth of Today reunion show. : )" Instead of getting into a discussion about Youth of Today, which would have been very entertaining, Hannity instead lambasted Adams on his show.
Criticizing his perceived lack of popularity, Hannity said, "If we wanted to torture terrorists, we could play his music, which isn't that popular anyway, and a 24-hour-loop would drive them nuts... Come on the program, stop being a wimp, he's hiding behind his rock star makeup like a little gutless little coward that he is." Too bad this one fizzled out — we have a feeling it could've gotten a whole lot more quotable.
8. Frank Ocean vs. Chris Brown:
While last year's Chris Brown feud involved alleged bottle throwing with Drake over their love of Rihanna, this year's Brown brattiness stemmed from a fight with Frank Ocean. Why were they fighting? Well, over a parking spot, of course. Allegedly, the two got into a verbal spat in the parking lot of a Los Angeles recording studio, and that quickly turned into a brawl. Frank Ocean opted not to press charges, but his cousin Sha'keir Duarte did, suing Brown for assault and battery. Brown responded with a countersuit. So yeah — a year of lawsuits over a parking spot. Good thing these dudes didn't run into each other at a Walmart on Black Friday.
7. The Black Keys' Patrick Carney vs. Justin Bieber:
The Black Keys' Patrick Carney hasn't shied away from speaking his mind and starting fights in the past, beefing with the likes of Napster's Sean Parker, among others. This year, however, he found a powerful enemy in teen heartthrob Justin Bieber. Asked by a TMZ reporter what he thought of Bieber at the Grammy Awards, Carney said, "He's rich, right? Grammys are for music, not for money, and he's making a lot of money. I don't know. He should be happy, I guess."
Bieber caught wind of the quote, and tweeted, "the black keys drummer should be slapped around haha." While that didn't result in any physical slaps, Carney had to contend with thousands and thousands of angry young women on Twitter. Let that be a lesson, Carney: don't mess with teen pop fans. And especially don't share your opinions on One Direction; those kids are legitimately terrifying.
6. Jack White vs. the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach:
The Biebs wasn't the only one getting into it with the Black Keys. Former White Stripes frontman and all-around busy rock 'n' roller Jack White had some less-than-kind words for the duo's frontman, Dan Auerbach. In some leaked divorce documents between White and his ex-wife Karen Elson, White explained that he didn't want his kids attending the same school as Auerbach.
Why? In short, because he thinks Auerbach is lame. Here's an excerpt, with White's original spelling mistakes intact: "My concern with Auerbach is because I don't want the kids involved in any of that crap ... That's a possible twelve fucking years i'mg going to have to be sitting in kids chairs next to that asshole with other people trying to lump us in together. He gets yet another freee reign to follow me around a copy me and push himself into my world." 5. Gucci Mane vs. Waka Flocka Flame:
They were once the best of friends, but the former Ferrari Boyz have seemingly damaged their friendship beyond repair. The worst of it happened in September, when Gucci had a barely coherent Twitter meltdown, firing verbal shots at numerous peers in the industry. Specifically, he said some less than kind things about Waka Flocka Flame. He soon apologized, blaming his tirade on an addiction to lean. While he was in rehab, however, Waka dropped an inflammatory video for "Obituary," poking fun at Gucci's problems with a man eating an ice cream cone in a psych ward.
4. Riff Raff vs. James Franco:
Harmony Korine's boobs 'n' booze romp Spring Breakers was a divisive film that fans equally loved and hated. One person particularly irked by it, however, was neon-coloured rap character Riff Raff, who claimed star James Franco ripped off his look and personality for his role in the movie. Both Franco and Korine have agreed that the film's Alien character was loosely inspired by Riff Raff, along with many other characters.
Riff Raff insists they stole his likeness wholesale, however, even threatening to sue the film's creators for $8-10 million. There's no word on what happened with the lawsuit, but we did get some decent quotes out of it: "I just need my money. It's like if I have a front yard. And you're planting soil and you're planting trees and building peaches and houses and selling parking lots on my property... then I deserve to be compensated for some portion of that money," Riff Raff told TMZ.
3. Azealia Banks vs. Baauer, Perez Hilton, the Stone Roses, Disclosure and Pharrell:
Way back in 2011, the NME named Azealia Banks one of the coolest people of the year. Since then, she's dropped singles and mixtapes here and there, but has yet to deliver her long-awaited Broke With Expensive Taste LP. That's the least of her troubles, however: she's also managed to make enemies with most of the music industry. The year kicked off with a fight between Banks and EDM superstar Baauer when the latter filed a copyright claim against her over an unofficial remix of his song "Harlem Shake." Banks, in turn, freaked out on Twitter, using homophobic slurs to insult the artist. This pissed off gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who trashed her on his blog.
A month later, when the Stone Roses allegedly tested their equipment while she was performing at an Australian music festival, she called them "old saggy white niggas" on Twitter, adding that she wished them "nothing but excrement and death." So much hate!
That was just scratching the surface, however. After she tweeted that an exciting new collaboration with hyped dance duo Disclosure was on the way, they pointed out that they hadn't actually completed any recordings yet. Frustrated by their "rude" comments, she scrapped the collaboration altogether.
Finally, when her new single "ATM Jam" came out and didn't perform as well as she'd hoped, she blamed it on producer Pharrell for not appearing in the video. "The reason ATM jam did poorly is because pharell changed his mind about wanting to be associated with me after he had his lite skin comeback," she tweeted. Somewhere in there, she also managed to get in numerous online spats with Lily Allen, also via Twitter. You really need to count to ten before you tweet, Azealia.
2. Kanye West vs. Jimmy Kimmel:
Perhaps more than ever before, Kanye West's ego was on full display this year, with the rapper-turned-saviour-of-humanity likening himself to everyone from Andy Warhol and Walt Disney to
After 'Ye's lengthy interview with BBC Radio's Zane Lowe, Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at it by hiring child actors to reenact the clip. The mostly innocuous spoof rubbed West the wrong way, inspiring a huge explosion. They ended up making up on TV, resulting in a ratings spike for Kimmel's talk show, but Kanye's Twitter hate will live on forever in our hearts, with endlessly quotable phrases like "JIMMY KIMMEL PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES ... OH NO THAT MEANS YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TOO MUCH GOOD PUSSY IN YOUR LIFE..." and an image of Spongebob Squarepants holding a rainbow, with the text "JIMMY KIMMEL FACE MOTHERFUCKER" written across it.
1. Kendrick Lamar vs. all of Hip-Hop:
No one drew a line in the sand or antagonized others quite as much as Kendrick Lamar did when he dropped his instantly viral verse on Big Sean's "Control" back in August. Taking shots at J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean (yes, even the guy whose song he was on!), Jay Electronica, Tyler, the Creator and Mac Miller, Lamar's verse was pure, unadulterated ego. He admitted he had love for them all, but wouldn't let them stand a chance in the music biz. Furthermore, he called himself the king of New York, despite hailing from Los Angeles.
The song had everyone talking for months, including many of the people addressed in the verse. Meek Mill released more than one response track, while Drake refused to acknowledge it as any sort of threat. J. Cole finally responded last month on a remix to Justin Timberlake's "TKO." Someone even recently asked Drake's dad about it. No one started a lasting back-and-forth fight in 2013 quite like Kendrick Lamar did with "Control."
To see more of our Year-End coverage, head over to our 2013 in Lists section.
