Music Remember Them Days: The 10 Best Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel Collabos

Let’s be honest: before Beanie Sigel came along, Roc-A-Fella records was kind of a joke. Maybe not a joke, but it was at best nothing more than Jay-Z’s vanity brand, a crew that consisted of limited MCs like Memphis Bleek and Sauce Money, and R&B acts like Rell and Christión. But it wasn’t until the Broad Street Bully came into the crew in the late ’90s that the Roc finally got a lyrical heavyweight who could really go toe-to-toe with the the God MC, Jay-Hova.

10 years later, the New York-Philly alliance is finally over. After floundering in the wake of the Roc-A-Fella breakup, Beans finally put out a diss song directed at Jay-Z last night, along with an in-depth interview about his reasons. We can’t say we didn’t see it coming, but it’s still a sad day for old fans of the Roc. Follow us as we look back at the good days with The 10 Best Jay-Z/Beanie Sigel Collaborations…

Music Rapper Punch-Out! A History Of Hip-Hop Snuffs

In weekend rap news, Joe Budden got into a physical confrontation with another rapper’s entourage this weekend. Okay, no sugarcoating, the beef-loving rapper got snuffed by one of Raekwon’s goons backstage on the L.A. stop of the Rock The Bells tour. Shortly after, Joey took to the increasingly ubiquitous Ustream service to tell his side of the story. Sure the Ustream factor of catching a hip-hopper getting punched may be new, but rappers have been putting hands on each (II) other for years. Keep reading to check out our brief History Of Hip-Hop Snuffs…

Music A History Of Eminem And Mariah Carey’s Relationship

Over the course of her career, Mariah Carey has been romantically linked to multiple celebrity men. She’s been ambiguous about some relationships and completely open about others, but has always vehemently denied any relationship with Eminem. Um, Marshall Mathers disagrees and for the better part of this decade, he’s been trying to get her to acknowledge their relationship.

The tension came to a head this week when he released the scathing diss record, “The Warning.” While it’s the most brutal moment of their conflicts, it’s certainly not the first. Keep reading to check out every detail of the long and complicated History Of Eminem And Mariah Carey’s Relationship…

Music Hip-Hop’s 5 Most Heartwarming Peace Talks

Few rappers start beef as often Joe Budden—and few squash beef as often, for that matter. The Jersey MC did the latter when he went for a stroll through some Jones Beach, NY shrubbery with Method Man to sort out their problems (luckily Mel D. Cole was there to snap the above photo). How touching.

You might not guess it, but rappers do have the ability to be nicer, more understanding guys than they’re given credit for, as these type of peace talks aren’t all that uncommon. There have been several in the recent years, in fact. Here are the five most heartwarming of the bunch…

Music The Game: A History Of Beef

After years of tension and subliminal jabs, conflict-obsessed rapper The Game got his wish when Jay-Z finally dropped his name while performing the Blueprint 3 intro. Never one to shy away from beef, rap fans knew it was only a matter of time before the Compton rapper responded, and sure enough early Saturday afternoon Game dropped a full-fledged diss song against Hov called “I’m So Wavy.”

It wasn’t a TKO in any sense, but don’t think Jayceon’s going to throw in the towel anytime soon. Dude has racked up more beef in the five years he’s been in the hip-hop game than, well, probably anyone. Don’t believe us? We’ve compiled all 25 of Game’s disputes into one comprehensive blog post, staggering evidence that the dude doesn’t play nice with others. Take a look back below…

Music The Definitive History of Rock N’ Roll Beefs

Yo Win: come see me son. Leave the hurdy gurdy at home.

Proving that rappers aren’t the only musicians with thin skin and too much time on their hands, indie rockers Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips (above, left) and Win Butler of the Arcade Fire(above, right) have apparently ignited a much-dreaded hipster beef this week. First Coyne went in on Butler and his group, saying that AF “really treat people like shit” and calling them “pricks.” Butler then fired back, questioning whether Coyne is the “best judge if we are righteous, kind and goodhearted people.” (Ho snap! That’s cold.) Last we heard, Coyne was planning a series of Worldstar diss videos featuring his alter ego Slouchin’ Spencer and had unearthed photos of Butler littering. Slow down, people! Increase the peace before somebody’s ironic t-shirt gets ripped!

Sadly, this isn’t the first case of rock n’ rollers squabbling (just the most pathetic), and we’ve compiled an exhaustive list of six-string mudslinging, complete with their rap beef equivalents, in case you need some translation. Enjoy'just don’t step on our blue suede shoes (bitch)…

Music 5 Ways Rick Ross Can Save His Rap Career

Well, we can’t say we didn’t see this one coming. Anyone who’s followed 50 Cent’s history of beef (II) knows full and well that Curtis doesn’t half step when it comes to embarrassing his opponents. So it was only a matter of time before Curtis’ latest nemesis, William Leonard Roberts II bka Rick Ross got the Southside Special.

Yesterday, 50 released a video of him taking one of Rick Ross’ baby’s mothers shopping for furs and Gucci bags. Was the hilariously embarassing move a career-ender for Officer Ricky? All eyes are now on the Boss, waiting to see how he reacts. If it were up to Complex, we’d advise Ross to respond using one of these methods…

Style Secret Society Gives SoHo Shops The Finger

While visiting NYC, most sneakerhead tourists stick to Manhattan, copping drops that they miss at stores like Flight Club and Clientele. Queens shop Secret Society thought it would be nice to put their thoughts about that process in a concise phrase on a T-shirt that reads “FUCK SOHO.” They shootin’!.

SS fires shots at spots that get the hype machine going'including Flight Club, Clientele, Supreme, Bape, Kidrobot, Union, as well as graffiti artist KAWS'on a t-shirt that will drop soon on their e-store secretsocietynyc.com. Is streetwear conflict the new rap beef? Will the majors respond to the Queens-based brick and mortar spot? We bet the anticipation is killing you. Sit tight and check the two colorways below…

Technology Can Jerry Seinfeld Save Microsoft’s Ad Campaign?

With as much money Microsoft stacks from running businesses to Xbox 360, their advertisements should equate that success, right? Wrong. They haven’t been able to crack the “cool” market because Apple holds it down with straight-forward, minimally-styled clips. But when Steve Jobs recently took another shot at Bill Gates‘ Windows Vista operating system, the software mogul tapped Jerry Seinfeld to clap back.

We’re not sure if the $300-million dollar campaign will actually work, simply because Jerry’s been catching bricks since Seinfeld went off the air. The handful of other ads he did for the geriatric crowd (American Express, Hewlett Packard), and last year’s Bee Movie are, well, straight up B’s. So we figured we could jog Microsoft’s memory (zing!) by compiling five (2 of which ended up being banned) of their greatest hits for a little inspiration.

Music Did Charles Hamilton Fire Shots?

Photo: Jaeki Cho

Yesterday, rookie New York MC Charles Hamilton leaked a song called “Windows Media Player,” and a lot of folks have been asking about a line where he mentions Complex:

“I don’t pose, I hate pose-urs/Except for one photoshoot/For Complex, what the heck was I supposed to do?/I had fun, acted mad young/I was flyer than the rest of ‘em, why am I addressing ‘em?”

What exactly is Charles talking about?…