These Are the Wildest Hip-Hop Moments of 2021

There were plenty of rap beefs in 2021, but the feud between Kanye West and Drake will probably go down as one of the strangest feuds of the year.

Back in August, particularly around the releases of Ye's Donda album and Drake's Certified Lover Boy LP, their three-year-old dispute was rekindled when Ye allegedly leaked the OVO Sound leader's Toronto address on social media. The Chicago rapper-producer did it in response to Drake taking lyrical shots at him on Trippie Redd's song "Betrayal."

"All these fools I'm beefin' that I barely know," Drake rhymes on the track. "Forty-five, 44 (Burned out), let it go."

Both Kanye and Drake's nemesis' Pusha-T are 44 years old. Drake appears to be referencing Kanye's mysterious Donda release date with the follow-up line, "’Ye ain't changin' shit for me, it's set in stone." However, "You ain't changin' shit for me, it's set in stone" could also be the lyrics.

Ye also shared a screenshot of a group text that apparently included Drake, the late Virgil Abloh, Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Pusha-T and Travis Scott. The text included a picture of actor Joaquin Phoenix dressed as the Joker from the 2019 film of the same name. “I live for this. I’ve been fucked with by nerd ass jock n***as like you my whole life. You will never recover. I promise you,” Kanye wrote in the text.

Drake would later intensify their feud by leaking Ye and André 3000's collaborative track "Life of the Party," which was mysteriously left off the initial release of the Donda album. On the song, Ye spits a cautionary verse at the OVO leader. "Told Drake, 'Don't play with me on GD'," he raps, adding, "I told you I was gonna take the summer back/So any of the cap, won't take none of that/Where my muthafuckin' red hat?"

Then miraculously, in November, Ye and Drake squashed their beef for a common humanitarian purpose. The dynamic duo teamed up to bring attention to the judicial plight of incarcerated Gangster's Disciples cofounder Larry Hoover. The one-night benefit concert, titled "Free Larry Hoover," occurs on Dec. 9 at the L.A. Coliseum in Los Angeles. The event is being organized to help raise awareness and support for Hoover and the issue of prison reform.

The event will also be the first time Ye and Drake will perform together since ending their feud.

There is nothing stronger than the love between a mother and her son. But for Kodak Black, the love he shares with his mom, Marcelene Simmons, shocked some of his fans this year.

In October, a video surfaced of Kodak dancing with his mother to Rutshelle Guillaumes' "M Pa La Ankò" at his brother's birthday party. In the clip, Yak is twirling his mother around as they innocently slow dance with each other.

But things get really strange when Kodak grabs his mother's butt and then attempts to kiss her on the mouth. Kodak's mom laughs off Kodak's inappropriate gestures, but when she walks away, the "ZeZe" rapper tries to cop another feel.

Following the backlash from the video once it went viral, Kodak addressed the moment with a bizarre explanation while chatting on Instagram Live. When a fan objected to him groping his mother, the South Florida rapper went off.

“I grab my mama ’cause, bitch, I treat my mama like my lady. That's my Queen, nigga,” he seethed. “Fuck you talkin' ’bout, boy. That's my Z queen. So what? She ain't trippin'. I don't fuck my mama. We ain't doing no crazy shit. Nigga, I grab her, I make her feel real beautiful."

Watch Kodak Black’s uncomfortable video below.

Nothing got Boosie BadAzz more upset in 2021 than Lil Nas X. The Baton Rouge, La. rapper made headlines several times this year for his homophobic slurs aimed at Nas X for his openly gay lifestyle.

It started in July when Nas X seemingly joked that he and Jack Harlow would perform “Industry Baby” naked for charity at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. This enraged Boosie, who spewed anti-gay remarks at the Atlanta rapper and accused him of pushing a gay agenda to young children.

Despite receiving backlash for his comments, Boosie, who feels he's the "voice for the voiceless," stood firm in his stance. “Nah, because I just be feeling like sometimes I gotta speak up because as far as straight people in the world, you don't have an opinion no more on sexuality," Boosie stated in an interview with Power 105’s The Breakfast Club in August. "Everything is harm. If you say anything straight, 'I like women,' it's vulgar."

Months later, Nas X decided to troll Boosie again by jokingly telling his fans that he has a song with The Goat Talk 3 artist. A highly pissed-off Boosie then responded to the trolling with a vile response and urging Nas X to kill himself.

Nas X’s father, Robert Stafford, then jumped into the mix to defend his son by calling Boosie an "old man looking a*s” and criticizing the destructive lyrics Boosie promotes in his music. Boosie caught wind of Stafford's comments and responded with an angry tweet: "DONT GET MAD AT ME CAUSE YOUR SON CAME OUT LIKE THAT LOL I KNOW IT HURTS.”

For Nas X, he seems to disregard Boosie’s homophobic rants. According to the rapper, he doesn't have beef with Boosie. Despite his vulgar comments toward Lil Nas X, Boosie said that he doesn’t hate him and still listens to his music.

Trick Daddy had a viral moment in August of 2021, when he spoke candidly about his activities in the bedroom.

During an interview on N.O.R.E and DJ EFN’s podcast Drink Champs, the Miami rap veteran detailed how he wanted his “Eat a Booty Gang” to be more inclusive by adding women to the membership.

“It’s the Eat a Booty Gang, I’m building the franchise up now,” Trick shared on the episode. “Now I’m getting the women to support the Eat a Booty Gang.”

N.O.R.E., stunned by Trick’s announcement, wanted him to elaborate on what he meant by women supporting the gang. “Yeah, women eat the booty, too. Yeah, I get ate out,” he clarified. N.O.R.E. asked Trick if his legs were in the air during the act, to which he replied, “It depends.”

Fans on social media expressed their shock and disgust over Trick Daddy’s sexual proclivity.

"Whoever eating trick daddy booty is a nassassty bih lmao! That’s where I draw the line," tweeted one person.

Watch Trick Daddy’s WTF viral moment below.

In January 2021, T.I. and Tameka "Tiny" Harris was hit with multiple allegations of sexual abuse by several different women, including one by Sabrina Peterson.

The alleged victim claimed in an Instagram post that T.I. pulled a gun on her in front of her children. Peterson also shared the alleged accounts of at least 30 women via social media who have accused the Atlanta rapper and his wife of sexual abuse and forced drug use.

Both T.I. and Tiny have denied all allegations made about them. Tip even went further and jumped on his Instagram page and addressed the accusations head-on. In the clip, T.I., who doesn't mention Peterson by name, said the accusations are false and he has evidence to support his claims.

"I'ma tell you what's factual. There have been fake stories put up that blog sites anonymously sent to this person," he stated in the video. "Blog sites anonymously sent fake stories to this person and the person posted it as though it was a victim, that they were sure it was a victim that had been victimized. And what this does, it dismantles the mechanism that women have created for themselves."

"You can't weaponize something with baseless claims," he continued. "These are not stories of actual events, they're not. And I have proof of that and that's why I said it."

Meanwhile, attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who represents 11 women who claim they were sexually assaulted by T.I. and Tiny, wants the couple investigated. Out of the 11, four women claim they were allegedly drugged and sexually abused by the hip-hop artist and singer in Georgia and California.

In September, a sexual assault lawsuit against T.I. and Tiny was dismissed in California. According to TMZ, prosecutors decided not to charge the hip-hop couple because the 10-year statute of limitations in the case had expired. In the claim, the alleged victim, identified as Jane Doe, claimed that Tip and Tiny drugged and assaulted her in early 2005 after the trio met at a club.

Another sexual assault case against the couple in Las Vegas also fell outside the statute of limitations and no charges were filed.

However, Peterson's lawsuit is still active.

Watch T.I. deny all allegations of sexual misconduct below.

Nicki Minaj's eyebrow-raising “BallGate” controversy lit social media on fire in 2021.

It all started in September when Nicki abruptly pulled out of the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. When her fans asked her why, the Queens, N.Y. rhymer revealed that she contracted COVID-19. Nicki also added that she wasn’t sure if she would get the vaccine to attend the Met Gala the following day.

“They want you to get vaccinated for the Met,” she told her Barbz during an impromptu Q&A session on Twitter. “If I get vaccinated it won’t [be] for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one."

Then Nicki shared a story with her followers that a friend of her cousin apparently had an adverse side effect from taking the vaccine. Although it’s unclear which of the three inoculations—Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson—that the friend of Nicki's relative received.

"My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent," she detailed. "His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied."

Nicki’s comments sparked outrage across social media and were politicized by both pro and anti-vaxxers. Additionally, health officials from Trinidad and Tobago debunked the authenticity of the rapper's story.

Then Nicki claimed that Twitter suspended her account because of her COVID-19 vaccine tweets. A rep for Twitter denied they locked her out of her page. After that, Nicki claimed that the White House invited her to talk about her stance on vaccinations. When a rep for the White House denied they invited Nicki to meet with them at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the Queen made sure to set the record straight.

"Do y’all think I would go on the internet and lie about being invited to the fucking White House," she said in her 14-minute discussion on Instagram Live. "Like what? Do you guys see what is happening right now?” Nicki added that her manager and her publicist for Republic Records were on the phone call when she received the invitation.

Since then, Nicki has not talked about the COVID-19 vaccinations or informed her fans if she has gotten vaccinated.

Watch Nick Minaj’s Instagram Live moment below.

Soulja Boy found himself beefing with several rappers, including Kanye West, in 2021. However, his feud with the late Young Dolph was ill-timed.

Weeks before Dolph’s tragic death on Nov. 17, Soulja Boy saw a blog post featuring Dolph’s statement on his Instagram Story touting himself as an independent artist. This prompted Big Draco to jump into the comment section and discredit the late Memphis legend. "That's big cap," Soulja wrote. "They signed to @empire I'm really 100% Independent no cap."

Soulja would continue to refute Dolph’s claim of being an indie artist during a Nov. 15 interview with The Breakfast Club.

However, days after Dolph was shot and killed inside a cookie store in Memphis, Soulja went on Instagram Live and doubled down on his previous statements about Dolph. SB claims if the shoe was on the other foot, people would be celebrating his death.

"Let it would have been me," Soulja shouted. "It would have been a whole bunch of, 'Ha, ha, ha, Soulja Boy should have kept his mouth shut.”

"Let it woulda been me, nigga," he continued. "Niggas would have been laughing like a muthafucker. 'Soulja Boy thought he was tough.”

Soulja Boy also claimed that his artists on Paper Route Empire were continuously threatening him on Instagram Live.

Crunchy Black, a founding member of Three 6 Mafia, may have had the last word on this now expired beef. In a video interview with Cam Capone News, Black blasted Draco for disrespecting Dolph.

"Fuck Soulja Boy," he said. "Fuck, Soulja Boy. He ain’t talkin’ ’bout nothin’. Tell him to go make another video game and call it ‘I’m the first one to suck dick.’ Fuck Soulja Boy. I don’t wanna talk about Soulja Boy.”

Hopefully, Soulja Boy won’t engage in any more beefs in 2022.

Watch Soulja Boy call out Young Dolph for claiming he’s an independent artist below. Also, peep a clip of Draco beefing with artists on Paper Route Empire.

No rapper had a wilder year than DaBaby. At one point, he was on top of the rap world and then, suddenly, it all came crashing down.

In July of 2021, during the third and final day of Rolling Loud 2021 in Miami, DaBaby interjected some homophobic remarks during his hour-long set.

Despite his apology, the music community, including musician Questlove, denounced the “Rockstar” rapper’s anti-gay remarks. After that, DaBaby was dropped from the performance lineup of several music festivals, including the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago.

Then in August, 11 HIV/AIDS organizations, including GLAAD and Black AIDS Institute, issued an open letter, inviting DaBaby to an off-the-record meeting to educate him about HIV/AIDS epidemic and explain why his homophobic comments were hurtful and misinformed. At first, it looked as if the North Carolina rhymer wasn’t going to do it, but he eventually agreed to a meetup. Weeks later, GLAAD announced that DaBaby met with nine HIV and LGBTQ+ organizations to discuss his anti-gay comments.

Although the meeting was productive, reps from three different HIV/AIDS organizations—Black AIDS Institute, The Normal Anomaly Initiative and Positive Women’s Network—said the North Carolina artist has not yet donated or reached out to them. Pavni Guharoy, a communication consultant for the Black AIDS Institute, told The Daily Beast, "We have not received any outreach, partnership, or funding from DaBaby. The onus is now on him, if he chooses to convert his misinformation into allyship by supporting the work of the Black AIDS Institute and other people of color-led HIV organizations.”

There’s no word if DaBaby has donated or contacted the HIV/AIDS organizations as of yet.

21 Savage may not be the person you want to call for relationship advice.

During an interview on Gillie Da Kid and Wallo's Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast in August, the Atlanta rapper offered his thoughts when it comes to cheating in relationships. 21 said that men can cheat on women because he feels it'll be viewed as the man conquering the woman.

In talking about his own experience of being cheated on, 21 vowed that it won’t happen again. “That was like, young nigga shit…I got cheated on,” he told the podcasters. “I ain't goin' for that shit now. Cheat on me, it's over with. Never speak to you again in life. Straight up.”

Gillie responded by saying that women are more forgiving than men when it comes to infidelity.

"That's different though, because we conquer women," the Savage Mode II artist replied. "Your girl gon' look at it like, 'OK, my man conquered a woman.' So it's like, yo' nigga won in the situation. She just got hit but vice versa, you my queen, so if a nigga conquer you, our whole castle is now like, vulnerable.”

“Once a nigga get between your legs, he can get anything else up out of you,” 21 continued. “He can know where I live, how I move, our problems we having in the house, what I'm going through in my life."

After the clip of 21 offering his views on cheating went viral, fans blasted him relentlessly on Twitter.

"These men are just delusional! So annoying," tweeted one person. Another user wrote, “I really hate how cheating for men is normalized.”

Rappers have to watch what they say in interviews.

Rap beefs can get personal. In the case of Kodak Black and his former Sniper Gang artist Jackboy, things were just that in 2021.

It started in August when Yak hopped on his Instagram Live and blamed Jackboy for instigating a beef with YoungBoy Never Broke Again while Kodak was in jail. Kodak claims Jackboy ruined a potential signing of YoungBoy to Kodak's Sniper Gang label. According to Yak, Jackboy was sending shots at YB through Kodak's IG page while Kodak was in jail. This led to a fallout between the two camps.

In a heated response on his IG Live, Jackboy denied Kodak's claims and said that he never had the password to Yak's account. "Dude cappin'. Dude saying all types of shit," he said. "Dude talking about I had his password and I started a beef. What type of lame-ass shit is that?"

Kodak caught wind of Jackboy's comments and jumped on his IG live to tell Jack to confront him face to face.

But things went left the following night when Kodak and Jackboy ended up on Instagram Live together. The two South Florida rappers engaged in a profanity-laced screaming match while fans watched it all go down. With Kodak maintaining that Jackboy instigated the YB beef and Jackboy denying it, they couldn't come to a peaceful resolve.

Then Jackboy took it to a more personal level by asking Kodak, "Did I whip you when we was just rapping your song?" The question set Kodak off. "I bust your shit!" he clapped back. Both men then started yelling at each other for a few more seconds before Jackboy quickly ended the Live.

In September, Kodak appeared to have offered an olive branch to Jackboy following the death of Sniper Gang artist WizDaWizard.

However, in November, Jackboy went on his Instagram Story to tell Kodak to stay away from him. See what he wrote below.