13 Biggest Hip-Hop Scandals of 2014
Christopher Davis Quick Links
One of the most unique aspects of the Hip-Hop industry is that apart from the music itself, there is always so much drama going on with the rappers themselves. Sometimes it's almost similar to a daytime soap show when you consider the types of stories that make the headlines concerning the lives of rappers. In the following article, we talk about 13 of the biggest scandals that made the news in Hip-Hop this year. Some of them involve actual scuffles and fights, others involve some very nasty relation break-ups and there's even a story about a well-loved rapper rumored to be involved in some gnarly visa issues. Either way you look at it, the Hip-Hop game has so many different ways of capturing the interest of the onlooking masses, and maybe this is why rap music is officially the new pop music. Check out the scandals below ...
Nicki Minaj/Safaree break-up
Ever since Nicki Minaj blew up on the scene a couple of years ago, her longtime boyfriend Safaree Samuels has been by her side at almost all her public appearances. But as most celebs will tell you, fame, money and popularity have a way of wreaking havoc on even the strongest relationships. Safaree and Nicky had been together for almost 12 years, but it looks like everything came to a head around the recording of her latest album The Pink Print. There are several songs on the LP like “Pills and Potion” & “Bed of Lies” that detail the heartache she’s going through. The bad blood recently spilled onto Twitter with Nicki Minaj sending a series of tweets about how much she sacrificed for Safaree and the loads of material stuff/gifts she bought him over the years. She also tweeted to her former beau that all the flossing on Instagram doesn’t last, and the only thing that does last is love. It sounds like the both of them are going through something very deep indeed.
Trinidad James Being Dropped From Def Jam
The rap game is truly fickle these days. There was a time when labels actually had a team dedicated to Artist Development but that era has officially past us by. Nowadays record labels expect to sign artists who are already savvy and skilled at being public stars. But sometimes, it doesn’t quite work out. A perfect example is the case of Atlanta rapper Trinidad James. He blew up in 2012 with the hot track “All Gold Everything.” It became a nationwide hit and Def Jam signed him to a lucrative $2 million recording contract. But it seemed that Mr. James ended up being a one-hit wonder, and he didn’t have a second single to follow up his initial success. So this year, 2014 abruptly dropped him from his deal, and for the most part, the Hip-Hop world agreed with the decision. He definitely has a unique point of view, but he needs a lot more experience before he can play in the big leagues. The rap game is an extremely tough playing field and Trinidad James learned that firsthand this year.
Azealia Banks Versus Everybody
When people talk about the top female rappers running the scene right, the names that will usually come up are Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea. One female artist that’s often left off that list is Harlem’s own Azealia Banks. The funny thing is that she’s actually very talented and her music is way better than a lot of average rappers out there. Her album Broke With Expensive Taste might just be one of the best Hip-Hop albums released in 2014. The problem with Azealia Banks is that every different week, she seems to be involved in a beef with another rapper for the most trivial reason. She’s had problems with Iggy Azalea, Action Bronson, T.I., Jim Jones and list goes on and on. If you ever watch an interview with her, it’s obvious to see how dedicated and passionate she is. But if she doesn’t find a better attitude soon, even her most loyal fans might soon abandon her.
Lil Wayne Lashing Out Against Birdman
This is one occurrence in 2014 that really shocked everyone in the Hip-Hop world. The rapper Lil Wayne has been part of the Cash Money recording label run by Bryan “Birdman” Williams since he was 9-years-old. He was part of the group called The Hot Boys that took flight in 1996, and he’s a been major feature in Hip-Hop ever since. But late this year, Wayne sent out a series of tweets stating that his parent label, Cash Money Records was holding him hostage and refusing to release his new album The Carter V. People first thought it was a hoax, but at a performance he did for VICE’s 20th year anniversary, he confided with the audience that he’s in a bad situation with his label. It gets really tricky because he’s the head honcho of YMCMB (which has artists like Nicki Minaj & Drake), but he is still signed to Birdman. It will be interesting to see how this one develops.
Drake and Puffy Altercation
This is one scandal that should be fresh on the minds of everyone because it happened so recently. It happened at the beginning of December in Miami outside the notorious strip spot Club Liv. It was Art Basel weekend, and a lot of stars were in town and they came out to Club Liv to celebrate the birthday of DJ Khaled. In the early hours of the morning, there was a scuffle between Diddy and Canadian rap star Drake. The argument was over the beat to song called “0-100” produced by Boi-1da. The song was apparently made for Diddy, but Drake was somehow able to go behind the scenes and sneakily use the beat for himself. All the reports from the club that evening state that Drake got the worst of the tussle, but he did emerge a couple of days later with no visible scars or injuries. We have a feeling that we haven’t heard the last about this – there might be some developments coming in 2015.
Tyga Dating 17-yr-old Kylie Jenner
In 2014, one constant in celeb gossip news is that one way or the other, there has been a Kardashian/Jenner family member making headlines. In the latter part of the year, one of the younger sisters Kylie was getting a lot of attention for her new relationship with the West Coast rapper Tyga. First of all, Tyga recently split from his baby mama Blac Chyna (who also happened to be a former stripper. Secondly Kylie Jenner only recently turned 17, meaning she is not even really a legal adult yet. Tyga on his part is 25-years-old. For these two reasons, the relationship has garnered a lot of attention, and it will be interesting to see if these two stay together in 2015 as well.
50 Cent Chain-Snatching Incident
Some of the biggest rap feuds and scandals in rap music have involved rappers from Queens, NYC. One of them of course was between the Hip-Hop golden child Nas from Queensbridge and Jay-Z from Brooklyn. Then there was also the beef between two Queens sons, 50 Cent and Ja Rule. One of the biggest scandals of 2014 also happened with 50 Cent, the hardcore rapper turned entertainment mogul from Jamaica, Queens. It happened at the Hot 97 Summer concert that he was using to promote his new album Animal Ambition. At the time, he was involved in a beef with a guy named Slow Bucks who is a fashion brand owner and music manager also from Queens. There was bad blood between 50 Cent and Slow Bucks, and during 50’s performance, he reportedly had some of his street soldiers snatch a chain from Slow Bucks. It was a pretty embarrassing affair and the victim actually held a press conference to announce that he was pressing charges over the situation. Once again, when the dust cleared, it seemed that 50 Cent emerged the victor – just like he did in the early 2000’s with his Ja Rule beef.
Lil Kim & K. Michelle Beef
This is one scandal that has been bubbling for the last several months. It’s a beef between rapper Lil’ Kim and upcoming R&B songstress K.Michelle. Apparently the disagreement started at a prior Power 105 concert in which Lil Kim was supposed to go on stage with the R&B singer, but something happened with the scheduling and Kim ended up doing a set with Kendrick Lamar instead. After that, the two ended up getting into a Twitter beef and K.Michelle claimed that Kim asked her to be the Godmother of her child – something which Kim vehemently denies. Since then, their disagreement has played back and forth mostly on The Breakfast Club morning show and it has involved lots of petty name calling and derogatory language. Sometimes don’t you wish that everybody just got along?
Meek Mill & Wale Social Media Spat
Philly rapper Meek Mill has had quite a year in 2014. During the summer time, he was gearing up to release a new album titled Dreams Worth More Than Money. But then life threw him a couple of curve balls that put all his plans in disarray. First off, he got involved in a Twitter beef with his label mate Wale. The source for his anger was that Meek claimed that Wale wasn’t doing his part to promote his upcoming project. They are both on the label MMG started by Rick Ross and everyone thought it was one of the most tight-knit crews around. A couple of weeks later, Meek Mill found himself in a Pennsylvania jail for violating his longstanding parole. He spent a few months in jail and was just released at the end of the year. Hopefully he’ll be able to get his plans back on track and have a much more productive 2015.
Yung Berg Being Fired From Hip-Hop Los Angeles
By now we all know that no matter how tough rappers tend to act, the truth is they have very fragile egos that get severely bruised for even the slightest offence. We saw that again in 2014 with Chicago rapper and producer Yung Berg – a cast member of Love And Hip-Hop, Los Angeles. This took place in the second half of the year. He was out on the town with his beautiful girlfriend Masika Turner when a credit card he gave her was declined. Apparently, he felt so embarrassed by the situation that he took out his angst by laying his hands on her. This is of course inexcusable behavior and the producers of the show saw it fit to axe him from the show immediately. There is zero tolerance for spousal abuse in today’s cultural zeitgeist, and that’s exactly how it should be!
Migos/GBE beef
Two of the young rap crews really making noise in the Hip-Hop game right now are Chief Keef’s GBE crew based in Chicago and the dreadlocked Migos crew based in Atlanta. With regards to the more successful crew at the moment, it’s definitely the latter. They’ve been running the scene with a series of radio hits the entire year. A few weeks ago, the Migos members were performing at a live show in Washington DC when some affiliates of the Chicago based GBE crew rolled through, started a scuffle and snatched a Migos chain. They posted pics of the stolen chain on social media, and for all intents and purposes, this beef has only been intensified by this recent aggression. It will be interesting to see how this one develops.
French Montana & Trina
One of the rappers who had a lot of notoriety in 2014 was French Montana. The Bronx rapper signed to Diddy’s label was thrust into the spotlight when he started a relationship with Khloe Kardashian. It’s not certain whether the pair is still together or not but this is where the main scandal arose: You see, apparently before French latched on to Khloe, he was involved in a semi-serious relationship with Miami rapper Trina. She felt extremely jilted by French Montana and went on the Breakfast Show on Power 105 to air her misgivings. After all the dirty laundry that’s been shown to the public, there will most likely be no reconciliation in the future for Trina and Montana.
Mos Def’s American Citizenship revoked?
Mos Def is one of the most respected and outspoken rappers around. The Brooklyn poet has always been very vocal about social issues he cares about, and these days, it seems he's packed his bags and is currently living in South Africa. Earlier on in the year, he created some controversy by publicly stating his anger about how the American government was treating the Guantanamo prisoners. Following that, he was scheduled to play some live shows in the United States in May, but he abruptly cancelled those concert dates. The rumor started to spread that the government had revoked his American citizenship and he couldn't enter the country. Since then, he has made several appearances in Europe, but still no shows in the U.S. We are yet to see whether there is any truth to those rumors or not.
