If you believe what you read on Twitter, Soulja Boy and Bow Wow are taking the Verzuz stage this summer. On May 22, Souja Boy made the announcement, tweeting, “It’s official.” The battle has yet to receive a date or a proper promotional push by the Verzuz team, although Swizz Beatz did share Soulja’s tweet on his Instagram Story. Nevertheless, the pending battle has us reflecting on Bow Wow and Soulja Boy’s complicated relationship over the years.
The duo’s friendship has endured many highs and lows. At its best, the two have collaborated on hit songs, joined forces on a joint mixtape, and even hit the road together on massive arena tours. On the other hand, they have seen bad days, engaging in hostile back and forths online. But the old tensions seem to be behind them now. Speaking about the upcoming Verzuz battle, Bow Wow teased, “This shit gonna be bigger than life. Me and you brother, make so much sense.”
As we await the impending Verzuz battle, we put together a timeline of Soulja Boy and Bow Wow’s long history together.
July 2008: Bow Wow drops “Marco Polo” featuring Soulja Boy
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On July 15, 2008, Bow Wow dropped “Marco Polo,” featuring a guest verse from Soulja Boy. The track was intended to be the lead single from Bow Wow’s New Jack City II album, which dropped in March 2009, but it was eventually excluded from the official release due to a feud between the two that broke out at the end of the year. “Marco Polo” peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2008, and it was later made available as a bonus track on the album.
December 2008: Soulja Boy says Nas killed hip-hop
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Nearly five months after dropping “Marco Polo” together, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy’s friendship took a wrong turn. It all started when Soulja Boy made an eight-minute video in which he shared the controversial statement that Nas killed hip-hop. “The nigga who killed hip-hop for real, is Nas. He came out publicly and said, ‘hip-hop is dead,’” Soulja Boy explained in the video, referring to Nas’ 2006 single “Hip-Hop Is Dead” and album of the same name. “And after that, everybody started saying hip-hop is dead. If Nas would’ve never said ‘hip-hop is dead,’ then motherfuckers would’ve never thought it had died.” That comment would soon prompt an intense reaction from Bow Wow.
January 2009: Bow Wow responds to Soulja Boy’s Nas comment
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On New Year’s Day of 2009, Bow Wow released a freestyle over Jay-Z’s “Friend or Foe,” in which he responded to Soulja Boy’s Nas comments. On the track, he rapped, “I’d never disrespect Nas, I’m not Soulja Boy.” The line was short, but it appeared to ignite a long feud between the two rappers in the years to come.
Feb. 1, 2009: Soulja Boy disses Bow Wow, challenges him to a race
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After purchasing a brand new white Lamborghini, Soulja uploaded a video to his YouTube page, showing off the car’s interior and exterior. “All you rappers out there talking about what you doing, y’all niggas ain’t doing shit,” he said, flashing a receipt of his purchase. At the end of the video, Soulja Boy challenged Bow Wow to a race in their Lamborghinis. “Bow Wow, Lamborghini boss. Is that what they call you? If you say you getting money like you say you getting money, and you pushing Lambos and shit, put your pink slip on the motherfucking table,” he said. “If I lose to you, I’ll give my pink slip to you. You can have that motherfucker.”
Feb. 3, 2009: Bow Wow responds to Soulja Boy’s Lamborghini challenge
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Two days after Soulja Boy’s race challenge, Bow Wow responded with a video of his own on YouTube. In the clip, Bow Wow is seen driving through a garage in his orange Lamborghini. As the doors fly up, Bow Wow says, “Number one, you’ve got the poor man’s Lambo. That’s what the people get when they want one of these. When they want the big dog car like this, they get the Gallardo.” Later, Bow Wow criticized Soulja for riding with a male passenger and using “plastic rims.” “I could fit your whole career in my back rim,” he said. “This ain’t what you want… I been making money since before you was born.”
Feb. 6, 2009: Soulja drops diss track “F*ck Bow Wow”
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Soulja Boy and Bow Wow’s Lamborghini feud continued days later when Soulja Boy hit back with a new video, in which he claimed “that’s not Bow Wow’s Lamborghini. That shit is rented.” Upping the ante, Soulja Boy also released a diss track called “Fuck Bow Wow.” On the track, Soulja chanted “Fuck Bow Wow” repeatedly on the chorus, and called the rapper names like “bitch,” “woman gang,” and “minute man” throughout the song.
Feb. 9, 2009: Bow Wow responds, drops “What I Think About You” diss track
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First, Bow Wow responded to Soulja Boy’s diss track with a YouTube upload. In the video, Bow Wow is surrounded by a posse of men as he attacks Soulja Boy’s career, saying, “The only reason you’re in the game is because of me.” Then, Bow Wow dropped a diss track called “What I Think About You.” Rapping over Tupac’s “Hit Em Up,” Bow Wow called Soulja Boy a “lame” and suggested Soulja’s career was over. “Your album flopped, so RIP your career,” he rapped.
Sept. 26, 2016: Soulja Boy says he and Bow Wow squashed their beef
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After spending much of 2009 going back and forth over YouTube, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy appeared to go their separate ways for years. It wasn’t until 2016 that Soulja Boy revealed in an interview that the two had worked out their differences. Soulja attributed the beef to being young and in a different mind space. “We straight now,” Soulja said of his newfound friendship with Bow Wow. “That shit crazy. That’s like one of my best home boys.” He added, “I was just in his crib like two days ago. I’m telling you, once years go by, you get some experience in this industry. You get you some real money, you get off of that shit.”
Following their reconciliation, Soulja Boy released a video on his Instagram account challenging Bow Wow and Chief Keef to a game of NBA 2K. The prize for winning would be $20,000. In a separate video, Bow Wow responded by sipping a glass of wine nonchalantly and saying, “you know you never beat me in 2K.” Despite having beef over their cars years earlier, their feud over NBA 2K appeared to be a friendly rivalry.
October 2016: Soulja Boy and Bow Wow drop joint mixtape
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Seven years later, it seemed both Bow Wow and Soulja Boy were ready to put their beef to rest. To commemorate their reconciliation, they dropped Ignorant Shit, an 11-track mixtape. On the title track, the duo even went so far as to “call this Watch the Throne,” which was a nod to Jay-Z and Kanye’s historic joint project.
November 2019: Bow Wow announces Millenium Tour 2020
March 2021: Bow Wow says Soulja Boy deserves his flowers
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In an interview with Hollywood Unlocked: Uncensored, Bow Wow showed love for Soulja Boy, saying he deserves credit for his influence over rap. During the conversation with host Jason Lee, Bow Wow stated that Soulja is among the top artists who changed the game, explaining, “He was the first big digital internet sensation that we saw.” Bow Wow’s comments came after Soulja Boy called out Drake for neglecting to credit his influence and acknowledging Bow Wow instead. “Drake is hilarious,” he tweeted on March 17. “Dude stole my whole bar then thanked Bow Wow.”
In May 2021, rumors began circulating that Bow Wow was in talks of doing a Verzuz battle with someone. While some fans suggested a battle between Bow Wow and Romeo, others thought Soulja Boy would be a better match. In an interview with Tampa Bay’s Wild 94.1, though, Soulja Boy claimed Bow wow was “scared of me, man.” He explained, “You see when Romeo said something, he jumped right on it. But soon as they said ‘Big Draco’ name, Bow Wow be quiet as hell making up all types of excuses, man. Bow Wow knows what’s up with me.” But it was all love. Soulja Boy later clarified that Bow Wow is “my friend in real life.”
May 19, 2021: Soulja Boy asks Timbaland to set up a ‘Verzuz’ battle with Bow Wow
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After no public response from Bow Wow, Soulja Boy resorted to taking it upon himself to set up the battle. During an Instagram Live video, the rapper called for Timbaland to “get Bow Wow on the phone” to set up their Verzuz matchup. “Tell Bow Wow, get his line up, his catalog together,” he said. “Tell him I said, ‘stop being scary.’ Tell him Big Draco said that.”
On May 22, 2021, Soulja Boy confirmed his Verzuz battle with Bow Wow is happening. “It’s official,” he tweeted. Bow Wow also teased a June 26 date for the battle on social media, but the official date has not been confirmed on by the Verzuz platform or by Swizz Beatz or Timbaland. Shortly after the announcement, the two rappers hopped on Instagram Live where they discussed the matchup. “This shit gonna be bigger than life,” Bow Wow said to Soulja Boy. “Me and you brother, make so much sense. We’ve been on tour together. Me and you got a whole motherfucking mixtape together. Me and you got a hit record together. We on tour right now! And on top of that, you got a hot new record out. The day before we do Verzuz, my movie comes out. See how we lined this shit up?” Since then, the two have shared videos on their respective social media accounts, taking playful jabs at each other. “Soulja, I have so many No. 1s,” Bow Wow said in one video, pulling up a list of rappers with the most No. 1 singles to their name.
