Rappers are constantly taking subliminal shots at one another, but other artists are not the only people involved in rap beefs. The strong personalities of New York radio are constantly getting caught up in heated disagreements with artists, either through their opinions, or direct jabs at artists. Recently HOT 97 has been at the center of a few of these conflicts, most recently inspiring Drake to take some shots at them at a recent show. We've gone back through a few of the various issues between Funk Flex, Ebro, and the rest of the rap game, highlighting 5 of the more recent instances. Let us know whose side you're on.
Jay Z Vs. Funk Flex
In January of 2015, Funk Flex went on one of his signature bomb-dropping rants, where he accused Jay Z's Life + Times blog of ripping off his Funk Flex app.
"The site is trash, a bunch of dumb big pictures and no numbers. Y'all can't move with me in this digital space," he said. "You wanna know how we movin', and what's the next move, I know it, I'm not stupid. Y'all played me with the app already and I figured that out. But I let y'all slide and you took what I said for 'I'm soft', that's why I'm dealing with you today."
Later on, Jay texted Flex, which the DJ promptly Instagrammed, clowning the rapper for his use of capital letters. Like Flex's Drake beef, this one has yet to be worked out.
50 Cent Vs. Ebro
In February of 2016, 50 Cent took Ebro to task for not playing records by New York artist after Ebro made the argument that Fif's beef with Ja Rule destroyed the city's scene.
“This Guy said I destroyed New York HipHop because I didn’t work with New York artist to cover up he was the program director that wouldn’t play there records. SMH," 50 wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. Ebro ended up responding, which led to a back and forth on Instagram that ended in many deleted posts, but no resolution.
Rae Sremmurd
Rae Sremmurd Vs. Ebro
Rae Sremmurd's tension with Ebro began over a debate Darden had with Complex staffers that came into the show to discuss their year-end list. Ebro disagreed with the placement of Rae Sremmurd's SremmLife at #3, which turned into a debate over their skills, and whether they wrote their own bars. Eventually, the brothers would come back at Ebro in a freestyle on Tim Westwood, and most recently discussed the tension with Darden in an interview with Peter Rosenberg.
Lil Yachty
Lil Yachty Vs. Ebro
Lil Yachty and Ebro had a brief back and forth over Yachty's "For HOT 97" record from Summer Songs 2. Ebro addressed the song on the radio, dismissing it as "high school bars," which caused Yachty to defend himself on Twitter.
"Lol I didn't catch feelings it was just to show that I can rap... Cuz me having fun wit the freestyle folks... Ran w/ that shit as I couldn't actually rap. It wasn't a diss to you good sir it was simply more so like a check dis," he wrote. "You know ion give a fuck about shit... But you actin like that 60 year old that never leave the barbershop, stop it. FUCK Hot 97."
Eventually, the two hashed things out on-air over the phone, and though he didn't readily admit it, Ebro respected the fact that Yachty called in, at least according to co-host Peter Rosenberg.
Drake
Drake Vs. Funk Flex AND Ebro
Drake is the most recent rapper to diss HOT 97, calling out the station at his New York stop on the Summer Sixteen tour last night (August 5th). His comments seem to be inspired by HOT 97 personality Ebro Darden, who paraphrased a conversation he and Drake had about the possibility of an Eminem diss leveled at the rapper. While he later said he and Drake were joking around, the candid remarks ended up sparking a large discussion about Eminem's potential diss online. He also mentioned Funkmaster Flex by name, who played a role in Drake's beef with Meek Mill, airing some of Quentin Miller's reference tracks for If You're Reading This It's Too Late on his show.
Drake's remarks at the show were as follows:
"You see, they tellin’ lies on Hot 97, that’s how it goes / I told ‘em fire Funk Flex and then I’ll come and do your show / Plus me and Kanye, we just left out the studio / My first night in the Garden, I’m feeling like D. Rooose!”
I don't approve of drake saying f*ck hot 97 cuz we do generally support the hell out of him .. But I Def understand him hating some people