Credit: Canva Pro

During the 1980s, copious amounts of artists were thriving in hip-hop. From KRS-One to LL Cool J, there was an unfathomable amount of rappers, all of whom had varying styles. Although this may sound like a fantastic thing, for a while, it meant that every base was covered stylistically.

This made it increasingly difficult for something, or someone new and refreshing, to come in and shake things up. Various types of MCs had seemingly exhausted the spectrum of creativity. However, a heated rivalry soon shook things up and led to what many considered the first hip-hop battle of all time.

Face-to-face battle rapping was popular in New York during hip-hop’s early days when MCs who couldn’t get their music played on radio were keen to prove themselves locally. However, concerning diss tracks and the official release of targeted records, ‘The Bridge Wars’ were arguably the first battles that involved professionally recorded songs.

The iconic name of this war between Boogie Down Productions (BDP) and the Juice Crew makes reference to the New York neighbourhood of Queensbdridge, which was the subject of two diss tracks.

The feud’s origins are unknown. However, during the 1980s, Queensbridge quickly became one of the most culturally important neighbourhoods in hip-hop, producing a lot of talent. Artists such as Marley Marl, Craig G, Roxanne Shanté, and many more hail from the neighbourhood. On MC Shan’s 1986 track ‘The Bridge, ‘ one of the verses implicitly suggested that where hip-hop started was irrelevant and stated that, unchallenged, Queensbridge was the ultimate hotspot.

On the song, Shan raps, “You love to hear the story, again and again / Of how it all got started way back when / The monument is right in your face / Sit and listen for a while to the name of the place, The Bridge, Queensbridge!”

KRS-One of BDP misinterpreted the lyrics, and from there, a full-on war broke out. Standing for ‘Knowledge Reigns Supreme, ‘ KRS-One was considered one of the forefathers of conscious rap music. He was also considered one of New York’s most potent lyricists during the 1980s.

It was widely reported at the time that MC Shan had said hip-hop started in Queensbridge. Although he later denied it, following the rumours, KRS-One dropped his track ‘South Bronx’ on which he rhymes, “So you think that hip-hop had its start out in Queensbridge / If you popped that junk up in the Bronx you might not live!”

After the release of ‘South Bronx’ and ‘The Bridge Is Over’, two songs aimed at belittling and mocking Queensbridge, the feud engulfed the two boroughs. MC Shan has previously admitted that things in the city got tense, especially concerning people from the Bronx and Queens. 

In an interview with NPR, the legendary Juice Crew member Marley Marl revealed that one of the reasons Boogie Down Productions dissed the group was that the DJ, Mr Magic, who hosted ‘Rap Attack’, New York’s only hip-hop radio show, rejected their music.

Speaking with the publication in 2013, the iconic beatmaker detailed, “For years, I was always wondering, ‘Why these guys are so mad at us? We killing the game right now. C’mon, what are you talking about?’ I never understood! So one day I was looking at KRS-One’s bio, and he said, ‘One day it all started when Mr. Magic dissed us at Power Play [Studios].’”

Marley Marl then recalled how he called it wack after nicely asking Mr Magic to hear their material. Recounting the moment, he told NPR, “I remember a crew that he dissed because they was nice and waited and said, ‘Oh Mr Magic, could you listen to our stuff?’

Marl continued, “Magic was like, ‘Alright, alright, I’ll give you a shot. Let me go and listen to your sh*t’. So we go in there, and they bumping it, and everybody’s jumping around like it’s the sh*t, and Magic goes over to the knob and just turns it down while everybody’s dancing. And everybody stops. And he’s like, ‘Yo, this is garbage'”.

With Mr Magic having already wound up BDP, the release of ‘The Bridge’ would have just pushed them over the edge. In the competitive world of hip-hop, it is easy to see how ‘The Bridge Wars’ escalated so quickly.

The ‘Bridge Wars’ were legendary, and there was more than one. Scott La Rock, the other half of BDP, also had input, as did other members of the Juice Crew. However, you can hear the two songs that started the battle in the videos below.