What is the best-selling diss track of all time?
Diss tracks have been a part of hip-hop from its inception, and battles, whether face-to-face or through records, keep the genre exciting. Whether it’s Jay-Z against Nas or Kendrick facing off with Drake, sometimes there can only be one top spot, and fans want to see who is genuinely deserving in the purest form.
Unlike many other genres, hip-hop is viciously competitive, and you can go from a winner to a loser in a flash if you don’t keep your lyrical ability on point. All of the legends have faced battles and overcome feuds. As such, it is unsurprising that diss tracks end up aimed at the MCs considered icons.
Diss tracks have long been a significant aspect of hip-hop’s history, and a well-crafted one can elevate you to the pinnacle of the culture. If you’re enjoying a taste of fame, you need to brace yourself for a diss track aimed at you and have a response ready because, as proved by Drake, a loss can change people’s opinions about you overnight.
Over the years, numerous rivalries have emerged. However, people don’t always agree on who’s the winner when these feuds fizzle out. In fact, arguments about the winner can be pretty divisive, and hip-hop enthusiasts are sometimes forced to choose sides. Still, these battles are usually highly lucrative for the MCs and their record labels, as they generate headlines, streams and, most importantly, attention.
When all hip-hop consumption pivots towards two MCs because of their feud, the cultural power they hold is immense, and the amount of money they could make from such a situation is unfathomable. Kendrick Lamar proved this in 2024 when (out of a battle with Drake) he managed to sweep the Grammys, sell out a stadium tour, bag the Super Bowl Halftime show, release a number-one album and more.
Although it’s true for some MCs, not all rappers have been able to turn their good fortunes into money after a battle. Nas was never able to edge ahead of Jay-Z commercially, and Remy Ma wasn’t capable of surpassing Nicki Minaj with her 2017 diss track ‘Shether’. Still, it happens often enough that it is evident winners come off better than losers and make a lot more as a result.
That said, although nowadays it seems that numbers are everything, nobody has ever stopped to think about the best-selling diss track of all time and what is the most listened-to diss of all time. Calculating sales in the streaming era is a tricky business. Streaming and video plays accumulated across the various streaming apps are collected, and depending on how many tracks on a project are listened to, an Equivalent Album Sale (EAS) is given. These are the new album sales; prior to iTunes, only physical sales were counted.
Many pre-internet diss tracks could compete for the highest-selling diss track, but the truly global nature of streaming and the precision of its computed numbers make it impossible to compete with.
What is the best-selling diss track of all time?
Although 2Pac’s ‘Hit Em Up’ has been heard by every hip-hop enthusiast, and millions heard it when it was first released, it was put out as a B-side vinyl before fans quickly ripped it onto tapes. As such, it didn’t get the instant global high-quality audio release of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’.
The track received extensive coverage on hip-hop blogs and racked up millions of streams on Spotify and YouTube as soon as it was released online. The DJ Mustard-produced track was released on May 4th 2024 and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. As of writing, the diss track is nine times platinum in the US, meaning it has sold nine million equivalent album units in America alone.
The song debuted at number one in over ten countries worldwide and earned five Grammy awards for ‘Record of the Year’, ‘Song of the Year’, ‘Best Rap Performance’, ‘Best Rap Song’ and ‘Best Music Video’. The diss track aimed at Drake surpassed 1.4 billion streams in less than a year and was even performed at the Super Bowl.
This diss track from Kenddrick Lamar shook the culture to the extent that it made many former Drake fans begin to turn on the rapper for becoming a loser. The entire Kendrick vs Drake beef generated over $15 million in revenue from their diss tracks and, although it has benefitted Lamar more, it has still kept some attention on Drake.