A Definitive Ranking of Which Artists Not to Beef With on Social Media

Image via Complex Original

Tyler, the Creator’s crude sense of humor isn’t just an act for TV and music––he wastes no time letting the chopper go on fans and trolls alike on Twitter. Though he’s kept a pretty low profile in recent months, Tyler will pop up every now and again to address fans who call him a sell out, using language that will likely make fans, critics, and GLAAD nervous.

“Don’t let the thot form from anger.” A wise quote from the living embodiment of a PR nightmare: Chris Brown. If he senses disrespect, it won’t take long before he’s camped out in your mentions with a “faceass” or “headass” joke waiting in the wings. Chris’s strongest social media skill is his tactical ability to e-stalk: you never know he’s looking for trouble, but he's always there when it happens with an ill-advised comment. No one is safe from him, and in a way he’s like JAWS, but with better dance moves.

Though he hasn’t been digitally slaying as long as some of the other people on this list, Vince Staples has quickly shot up the ranks of being one of the most hilarious—and socially aware—Twitter users right now. Vince proved that he was an upper echelon warrior of the 140 characters when he fought off legions of Timberland boot-wearing zealots who took offense to his comments about '90s hip-hop being overrated. With a trail of durags at his feet, he crossed over into must-follow status—not only for his music, but for his weekly wisecracks.

Don’t let his unorthodox style fool you—Thugger is with the shits. Just ask Plies, who recently drew Thug’s ire with an Instagram post of his young daughter cussing with a caption calling her a “bitch.” It didn’t take long for there to be four Instagram posts in a row from Thug telling his fans to light up Plies’ account and get him to take it down, lest he get “the shit slapped out of him.” Plies made matters worse when he responded to Thug and claimed that he didn't deal with "lower tier artists," causing the notorious hot head to go on Twitter and tell Plies that he "has way more hits [that he] will ever have." Your best bet for dealing with Thug would be to leave him alone completely, or he’ll be at your front door with them dicks, too.

While other artists on this list take to social media to spit wisecracks at their trolls, the Game would rather meet you in person and beat the shit out of you if things go awry online. His 'Super Punch-Out' style beating of 40 Glocc a few years ago was one of the first recorded instances of rapper-on-rapper violence that went viral, and he followed it up just a few short weeks ago with a strange (and physical) altercation with rapper Stitches.  Just recently, he's involved himself in a strange war of words with Young Thug on Instagram and Twitter. No physical incidents have occurred (yet), but Game went from outlandish threats of violence... to complimenting Thug's daughter in a (now deleted) Instagram post. Could he be softening up his approach? Probably not, so it may be best to take a few boxing and MMA classes before dealing with him or his homies on social media.

Nicki Minaj doesn’t care who you are, or what you represent––if you aren’t doing right in the eyes of the commander of the Barbs, you will get dragged. Ask Farrah Abraham or Taylor Swift, who walked headfirst into a digital drive-by (and a bunch of smiley emojis) that had her apologizing for hopping in Nicki's mentions without provocation just days later. In a lot of ways, Nicki is the ultimate champion of the social media beef: she’s fearless, brave and she's a superstar that will call you on your bullshit no matter how many records you sell. We can respect that.

Beefing with 50 Cent is truly some David Lynch psychological thriller shit. He doesn’t even have to break you physically—he’ll expose your baby mama, your parents, even that one time you pissed yourself in middle school. 50 Cent is a cerebral assassin that leaves no stone unturned when it comes to emasculating someone who presses his buttons on or off social media. He gets extra points for spreading his special brand of digital hate across Twitter and Instagram, too.

Even with a legion of self appointed naval officers at her side, Rihanna gets respect for handling her social media beef all on her lonesome. Her clapbacks are almost poetic in their simplicity, as people like Amanda Bynes and even Ciara have found out that Rih isn’t really with the bullshit.

Keri Hilson. Rihanna. The entire population of men all over the world. All victims of the #BeyHive, a cult/gathering/group so big, Beyonce doesn’t even have to deal with you herself—she’ll just let the homies get to her haters. The #BeyHive has been omnipotent on the internet for quite some time, and best believe if you didn’t like the video for “Formation,” all it takes is a “paging the #BeyHive” to have emoji bees swarm on your mentions like Voltron.

Kanye West has kept his social media beefs primarily within the realm of fashion and, obviously, award shows. But we saw just how real (and petty) he could get a few weeks ago. In a lengthy, somewhat bewildering roast of Wiz Khalifa (who accused him of not really being “wavy”), Kanye created a listicle response that was so insane it could quite possibly make this very publication jealous. We're not sure we hate someone enough to have more than 10 reasons to dislike them, much less think their pants were cool, but alas Kanye has found a way to revolutionize social media beef.