When the topic of beef is broached in hip-hop, names like Tupac Shakur, 50 Cent and The Game will often pop up, but after a tumultuous 2016, Soulja Boy can now safely add his name to that list. Since first hitting it big in 2007 with his "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" single, which would go on to be certified diamond by the RIAA, Soulja Boy has managed to defy his detractors and outlast more talented lyricists with a continuous string of hits, becoming one of the more improbable success stories in hip-hop of the past decade. But in addition to building a reputation as a teenage phenom with plenty of business savvy, Soulja was also perceived as everything that was wrong with rap music and a representation of where the culture was headed, causing friction between himself and elder statesmen in the game.

However, Soulja Boy would hold his own in many of these instances, flipping the script and proving to be adept at handling himself when put in the hot seat, a position he would find himself in numerous times throughout the years. In addition to battling critics of his musical style and lack of lyricism, Soulja would engage in war with fellow new artists as well, with the beefs sometimes getting out of hand and bordering on dangerous. Multiple instances of violent threats and bounties have littered his beefs, which Soulja Boy clearly explained when telling a recent story about the time he shot a man during an attempted invasion of his home in 2009. The tale has commanded fans and critics' attention, culminating in the Soulja Boy Challenge, which has taken over the internet.

Last year, Soulja Boy emerged as public enemy No. 1, targeting the likes of Lil Yachty and Quavo. As soon as 2017 began, he didn't waste any time beefing with Chris Brown. We've dug deep into Soulja Boy's history to compile a timeline of the rapper's most notorious beefs to date.

  • 1

    GZA

    2007

    Wu-Tang Clan member GZA has never been one to bite his tongue, and he had a few words for Soulja Boy during a show in London in December of 2007. GZA went on a rant disparaging Soulja Boy's brand of music, comparing the artistic quality with that of past teenage greats like Special Ed, and others. In an interview that took place on Dec. 24, 2007, GZA said that his comments were spurred by the crowd, not himself, and that he had nothing personal against Soulja Boy.

    A month later, on Jan. 23, 2008, Soulja Boy responded to GZA's remarks in an interview with Rapsody.com, stating, "I wouldn’t even rap against the Genius. I’d put up someone who was born in ’66 to go against the Genius so it can be a tie. He’s got like 50 years on me. I wouldn’t even associate with the Genius."

    The GZA has yet to respond to Soulja Boy, and the beef would ultimately subside.

  • 2

    Ice-T

    2007

    On DJ Cisco's Urban Legends mixtape, Ice-T tells Soulja Boy to “eat a dick.” He also let it be know that he killed the culture. Soulja Boy, I know you're young enough to be my kid but you single-handedly killed hip-hop, man," Ice-T said.

    That didn't sit well with Soulja. "This nigga Ice T old as fuck!" Soulja fired back, poking fun at Ice-T's age and the fact that he claims the West Coast, although he was actually born in New Jersey, his lack of recent musical success and him playing a cop on Law & Order: SVU after having dissed law enforcement on the Body Count record "Cop Killer."

    Ice-T defended himself by saying that Soulja Boy was wrong for attacking him and that he should've had more respect for his rise from poverty into superstardom.

    T would respond with a video of his own apologizing for his vulgar comments directed towards Soulja Boy, but maintains his stance about Soulja Boy's music being lacking and warns him that responding to him with disrespect wouldn't be the best idea for him.

    Although Soulja would never formally respond to Ice-T's retort, the elder statesmen would later admit to regretting entertaining beef with Soulja Boy. "I don’t even know...I kinda regret it. I said it because it turned me into a person that seemed like I wanted beef. That’s really not my style, you know?" Ice-T said in a 2014 interview with DJ Vlad.

  • 3

    LeBron James

    2008

    During the 2008 NBA Players, Soulja Boy engaged in a brief war with LeBron James. Things came to a head when the Cleveland Cavaliers player stated that if he responded to then-Washington Wizards forward DeShawn Stevenson's assertion that LeBron was overrated, it would be like "Jay-Z responding to Soulja Boy."

    In turn, Soulja Boy appeared at Game 3 of the Cavaliers' eastern conference semi-finals match-up to taunt LeBron James, with the rapper going as far as doing his signature Superman dance on the sidelines. However, Jay Z would step into the fray in support of LeBron, jumping on Too Short's "Blow the Whistle" beat and taking it to DeShawn Stevenson and, by association, Soulja Boy, resulting in a loss for both the NBA player and young rap star.

  • 4

    Bow Wow

    2009

    In February 2009, Soulja Boy uploaded a video to his YouTube account after buying a new Lamborghini, and issued a challenge to Bow Wow to race him for his car. But apparently, Bow Wow took umbrage to Soulja Boy's remarks and filmed a clip of himself in a Lamborghini, disparaging Soulja Boy's own pricey car before issuing his own challenge to Soulja Boy to race him.

    Soulja Boy would finally respond by questioning Bow Wow's ownership of his own Lamborghini, alleging that it was actually rented and not his property. Bow Wow would then shoot back with another video of his own, providing papers as proof of his car not being rented. The two would proceed to go back and forth with each other in an attempt to one-up the other in a beef that would run deep throughout the years.

    "#ListenBitch add @ChrisBrown & @BowWow followers together and you still aint half way fuckin wit me lol," Soulja wrote. He would further disparage Bow Wow, pointing to his upcoming album and the lack of fanfare surrounding it.

    "lol @bowwow there you go. fuck bank accounts. fuck followers. let's see who new album sell the most 1st week."

    Soulja Boy and Bow Wow have since collaborated on various songs together, but will also have a love/hate relationship with each other.

  • 5

    New Boyz

    2009

    During an appearance on Angela Yee's Morning After radio show, the New Boyz, who hit it big with their hit "You're a Jerk," seemed to not be so fond of Soulja Boy, going as far as to balk at the suggestion of the duo collaborating with him. Soulja Boy would quickly respond on Twitter, taking to the social media platform on June 15, 2009 to air out the New Boyz for barking up the wrong tree. On June 25, the New Boyz would respond to Soulja's tweets by releasing a video, with one member stating, "You Was Internet Bangin. If You Want Beef Dog. Come Say It To My Face."

    Although Soulja Boy and the New Boyz wouldn't have a face-to-face convo, on Oct. 31, 2009, Soulja Boy dissed New Boyz on a track alongside Lil B, poking fun at their skinny jeans and their movement as a whole. The New Boyz would return fire in a video clip posted to YouTube on Nov. 2, 2009, dissing Soulja Boy for attempting to discredit the New Boyz and their fashion, but the beef would ultimately die out, with the two sides deciding to let things be.

  • 6

    Chris Brown

    2010

    On March 24, 2010, Soulja Boy got into a social media spat with R&B singer Chris Brown that got pretty ugly. Soulja caught Breezy's attention after posting a tweet boasting about his number of followers on Twitter. "#ListenBitch add @ChrisBrown & @BowWow followers together and you still aint half way fuckin wit me lol," Soulja wrote. In response, Chris noted what he has achieved in music industry, "@souljaboytellem and @bowwow what yall make in a show i make for an hour at an afterparty... jus sayin."

    Soulja Boy would shoot back "#ListenBitch if my last tweet offended you I won," in response, feeling that he had gotten under the r&b star's skin. But on July 26, 2012, a few years after the dust had settled, Chris Brown would lash out at Soulja Boy again, tweeting "some of these rappers is my sons Yo!!! @souljaboy stop it!!!!!!," but Soulja would never respond, effectively ending the beef.

  • 7

    Fabolous

    2010

    On Sept. 7, 2010, Soulja Boy went on his Twitter account to go on a long-winded tirade against Fabolous for remarks he had made on Twitter and in a freestyle during the rapper's visit to Hot 97 a week prior. “AYO! REAL TALK. WHAT THE FUCK IS A @myfabolouslife,” the "Pretty Boy Swag" rapper wrote, before adding, “fab is so mothafuckin lame he pick the wrong week to beef. lets see how much his new “EP” sell 1st week. -_- garbage ass rapper.”

    Fabolous, who was known as quite the jokester on Twitter at one point in time, first poked fun at Soulja Boy on Aug. 24, after the release of a video of Soulja and notorious model Kat Stacks in a hotel room, with the young rapper in a compromising position.

    Fab joked on Twitter, “I jus watched a worldstarhiphop video that should be titled “Stupid Boy Swag.” He continued to let Soulja having it, hashtagging the phrase 'StupidBoySwag,' tweeting, “Lettin Kat Stacks in ur hotel room alone is #StupidBoySwag.. *All u rappers pay attention, that right there is called #StupidBoySwag* AYYYY.”

    While Fabolous would backtrack on his statements and explain that they were all in jest during an interview on Aug. 28, 2010, he would clown Soulja Boy again on radio, leading to Soulja's heated retort. Fabolous would send shots at Soulja Boy following his comments, the two rappers would patch things up and move on with their respective careers.

  • 8

    Yung Berg

    2010

    Rapper Yung Berg being robbed of his Transformers chain while in Detroit by rapper Trick Trick's goons is one of the more infamous instances of a juxe in rap. Soulja Boy would toss his name into the crosshairs and create bad blood with Berg after Soulja was spotted wearing what appeared to be Berg's chain on Feb. 26, 2010. But in an interview with Vlad TV in 2015, Berg himself would announce that the beef between the two was ended in 2012, when the two ran into each other in a studio and Berg suggested that Soulja Boy join the cast of Love & Hip Hop, an offer which Soulja would accept, appearing on the show with his girlfriend Nia Riley.

  • 9

    FBI and Army

    On Sept. 6, 2011, Soulja Boy found himself in hot water after a clip of him disrespecting the FBI and the army in his song "Let's Be Real" surfaced. The troops were so offended, they threatened not to carry any of Soulja's music at stores run by the military. The rapper would quickly issue a statement on Global Grind apologizing to the country's service-men, writing "When I expressed my frustration with the U.S. Army, not only did my words come out wrong, I was wrong to even speak them." The military would accept Soulja's apology and the statements would pretty much blow over.

  • 10

    Doughboyz Cashout

    2011

    On Nov. 1, 2011, Soulja Boy released a song titled "Tear It Up" that many listeners felt was eerily similar to Doughboyz Cashout's own single "Good Ass Day," which many fans called Soulja out for. Doughboyz Cashout themselves would reiterate those claims, but Soulja Boy would never respond to those allegations, making this beef an open and shut one.

  • 11

    SpaceGhostPurrp

    2012

    On Jan. 30, 2012, Soulja Boy and rapper/producer SpaceGhostPurrp got into a verbal altercation via Twitter. SpaceGhostPurrp accused Soulja Boy of copying Lil B's style, with Soulja responding with a disrespectful remark while disregarding the allegations. The two would get in each others crosshairs once again when Soulja came to the defense of A$AP Rocky during an online feud between the Harlem rapper and SpaceGhostPurrp on Jun. 5, 2012.

    Soulja would let off a series of tweets threatening and belittling SpaceGhostPurrp, writing, "Only reason I gave @SGhostPurrp a pass was because ASAP Rocky. now that rocky doesn't fuck with you. We gon eat yo face nigga. Bath salts." SpaceGhostPurrp would mock Soulja Boy's threats, calling him annoying, but wouldn't encourage any talks of beef. But in a weird twist of events, SpaceGhostPurrp would drops a diss track aimed at Soulja Boy in December of 2016, more than four years after their online war of words, but aside from that, this beef appears to have faded a long time ago.

  • 12

    Riff Raff

    2012

    On June 18, 2012, Soulja Boy called out Riff Raff on Twitter, accusing the rapper of using him and the SODMG name as solely a springboard for his own career, and even threw a low blow by pegging Riff Raff as a "cokehead." Riff Raff would strike back by alleging financial misappropriation on the part of Soulja and crew and disassociate himself from Soulja and the SODMG clan in a series of tweets, but shot down any talks of beef on his side.

  • 13

    V-Nasty

    2012

    On Nov. 26, 2012, female rapper V-Nasty shared her opinions on Soulja Boy, and the comments were anything but flattering. V-Nasty took to her Twitter account to lash out at SODMG crew, calling out Soulja for being a "fake ass rapper" and writing that Diamond, Soulja's girlfriend at the time, was a better rapper than him. However, in this instance, Soulja would take the high road, commenting "What would I look like fighting with a girl?" when asked about the beef in an interview with Vibe in November of 2013, effectively deading the beef.

  • 14

    Lil Scrappy

    2012

    They say all is fair in love and war, so the low blows between Lil Scrappy and Soulja Boy after former Crime Mob member Diamond left Scrappy for Soulja were to be expected. Things between the two came to a head on Dec. 30, 2012, when the two exchanged shots via Twitter, with Soulja Boy initiating the back-and-forth.

    In tweets that have since been deleted, Soulja Boy challenged Lil Scrappy to a fight, in addition to taunting the Head Bussa for losing his girl to him. Lil Scrappy would respond with a round of tweets of his own, threatening Soulja Boy and questioning his sexuality while further defending himself. But while Soulja Boy appeared to be the winner at the time, Scrappy would have the last laugh, as Diamond would break things off with Soulja at the beginning of February 2013, less than two months after his boastful statements.

  • 15

    Chief Keef and GBE BallOut

    2013

    Soulja Boy's attention turned to Chicago in on April 19, 2013, when the rapper attacked Chief Keef in retaliation for one of Cheef's crew members snatching his chain via social media, threatening to kill the "Love Sosa" rapper.

    But when Chief Keef responded by tweeting out Soulja Boy's phone number, the ringtone king claimed that he was hacked and had no issues with Keef. But the two would exchange multiple diss tracks, with Soulja coming at Keef and Ballout numerous times on his Foreign 2 mixtape, while Chief Keef would continue to target Soulja Boy with diss records like "You Ain't No Soulja," "Ready For Anything," "Shoot Him" and "End Up Dead.

    The two teenage phenoms would squash their beef via FaceTime on June 3, 2014, and have since collaborated on songs like "Foreign Cars" and "I'm Up Now."

  • 16

    Gillie Da Kid

    2014

    After Philly rapper Gillie Da Kid accused Soulja Boy of posing with fake money, Soulja took offense to the rapper's claims, threatening to slap Gillie on site if the two were to cross paths in August of 2014.

    Gillie would respond to Soulja Boy's threats in an interview with Forbez DVD, stating, "You don’t want me to slap blood in your mouth, nigga,” before adding, “You better go back on Twitter and say you sorry to the OG, nigga... I don’t do publicity stunts. Man came on Twitter and said he’d slap me so I found that amusing ’cause considering that if you slap me, what hospital’s going to put your fucking hands back on?”

    Gillie would also challenge Soulja Boy to a boxing match, but Soulja would balk at stepping into the ring.

    But on Feb. 2, 2015, Soulja Boy uploaded a video clip alleging that he had slapped Gillie Da Kid in the head after running into him while on vacation in Dubai, which Gillie would vehemently deny. The beef has since died down, but knowing Gillie's history, could be reignited if the two were ever to be in the same vicinity together and has yet to be officially squashed.

  • 17

    K. Michelle

    2014

    On Sept. 23, 2014, singer K. Michelle took shots at Soulja Boy during an interview on The Breakfast Club radio show after what she perceived as him alluding to the two having had relations before. "What you’re not gonna do is lie on my hot pocket,” the songstress said. “When I do something, I say I did it and that’s what it is.”

    Soulja Boy would go on Twitter to speak his piece on K. Michelle's comments, denying that he implied that the two had had sex, but not without proceeding to disparage her and attempt to shame her for her history with dealing with men in the entertainment industry.

    K. Michelle would also take to Twitter with a few scathing remarks of her own, writing, "Smh @souljaboy you are obsessed with some1 you’ve never met. Sad. Scary. But the whole industry know you like the boy pussy" among other broadsides against the rapper.

    Soulja Boy would then up the ante by posting a pic of his net worth besides hers on Twitter for all to compare. Other than later stating that she regretted getting into an argument with Soulja Boy on Twitter, K. Michelle would never respond to the post, and the beef would dissolve as quickly as it happened.

  • 18

    Nia Riley and Skrill Dilly

    2015

    Soulja Boy's relationship with ex-girlfriend Nia Riley was a tumultuous one with plenty of social media drama, including his tirade against her that occurred on Jan. 23, 2015, during which he referred to her as a "dumb bitch," but things truly hit the fan between the two in August of 2016. On Aug. 19, Soulja posted a video of him brandishing a firearm and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend Nia Riley and her new boyfriend, Skrill Dilly, with the latter suing Soulja for $10,000 for the emotional distress and harm the post caused.

  • 19

    Rico Recklezz

    2016

    On Nov. 6, 2016, Soulja Boy bragged that he would put an $100,000 bounty on rapper Rico Recklezz's head, due to the Chicago native releasing a diss record aimed at Soulja, titled "No Talking." However, on Nov. 16, Soulja Boy would have a change of heart and decide to back away from the stick talk and threats of murder following a conversation with Rico's crew via FaceTime, during which the Chicagoans quieted any talk of Soulja putting a bounty on anyone's head.

    “We don’t do the threats," the crew member says. "Don’t ever think you can put no money on a nigga’s head from Chicago, ’cause it ain’t about no money down here. It’s easy to find ya, blood. And you see you ain’t hard to find, nigga, period.”

  • 20

    Lil Yachty

    2016

    Soulja Boy's relationship with breakout star Lil Yachty has taken a hit, with the two spending the fourth quarter of 2016 dissing each other. Things went left when Lil Yachty took offense to Souljah Boy posting pics of himself with model India Love, who Lil Boat apparently is dating, asking Soulja to remove the pics.

    He posted a screenshot of the conversation with Yachty and continued to go in on his former friend. Lil Yachty returned fire diss Soulja Boy live in concert, calling him old and washed up, and getting the crowd to yell "fuck Soulja Boy." Soulja would respond by taking to Twitter and issuing death threats to Lil Yachty, making light of his sexual history with India Love, and promising to unleash a diss track against the 2016 XXL Freshman.

    But in a twist of events, Soulja Boy would wind up apologizing to Lil Yachty and denying any beef on his part in an Instagram post, stating, "Lil Yachty, you know I love you bro, I just needed to smoke a blunt, bro. You know big Soulja be tweakin' when he ain't got no weed." Lil Yachty deemed Soulja's antics as a cry for attention, stating "that was not a rap beef. I didn't take that serious," seemingly putting a nail in the coffin of the Soulja Boy and Lil Yachty saga.

  • 21

    Keke Palmer

    2016

    Actress Keke Palmer became atarget of Soulja Boy's due to the rapper perceiving one of Palmer's posts, which included a bunch of boat emojis, to be aimed at him in support of Lil Yachty.

    Taking umbrage, Soulja would threatened to expose Palmer, who also happens to be good friends with Soulja's ex-girlfriend Nia Riley, but Palmer insists that her post was innocent and that there's nothing about her to expose. She would also share her opinion that Soulja's antics had gone too far and that she doesn't know him to be who he has presented himself as of late, but waves an olive branch.

    The following day, Soulja would attempt to make amends, blaming his actions on his lack of drugs while on the road. "Yeah I'm back to myself, lean and gas," he said in a video responding to his rash behavior. He then responds to those who said "Soulja Boy was tweakin'" -- "Bitch I was on the road with no drugs!"

  • 22

    21 Savage

    2016

    Although many people have been entertained by Soulja Boy's latest antics, fellow Atlanta rapper 21 Savage is not one of them, with the rapper sending shouts at Soulja Boy on Oct. 30.

    21 would not call out Soulja by name, but more than a few believed it was evident his comments about rappers not being gangsters were spurred by Soulja Boy's recent barrage of threats. The following day, Soulja would offer to squash beef with all of his enemies, but warned that the peace-offering was only good for a limited time.

    "Just squash the shit, bro," Soulja said in a video uploaded to his Instagram account, addressing all of his enemies. "'Cause after tomorrow, I hear anything else, we takin' it to the streets, bro."

  • 23

    Shia LaBeouf

    2016

    When actor Shia LaBeouf, who has recently taken a crack at rapping, sent in an audio recording to The Breakfast Club in December of 2016, LaBeouf dissed Soulja Boy, rhyming, “Him and Soulja on that shout out shit/This is not, this a murder, this is tragedy man/He’s like Lil Romeo meets Raggedy Ann.”

    LaBeouf's bars would lead Soulja Boy to strike back. On Dec. 3, 2016, Soulja Boy made a bold moving in announcing that LaBeouf was banned from the city of Atlanta. "This rap shit ain't for you nigga, for real have some nigga pull up on you, fuck Shia Labeouf," the rapper continues. "Nigga, fuck you talking about keep my name out your mouth, you don’t want no beef, on my mama, you better stick to acting nigga cause this shit get real" in an Instagram video that has since been deleted from Soulja's Instagram account.

    LaBeouf, however, paid Soulja's threats no mind, releasing another freestyle mocking the rapper on Dec. 5, with disrespectful bars like “You’re not hip-hop, you’re pop, you’re MMMBop/You’re just an obscure fruit my dude, you’re kumquat" among the most scathing.

    In a video, obtained by TMZ, on Dec. 8, Soulja Boy offered to dead the beef, but only under one condition: that LaBeouf help Soulja Boy become an actor. “Shia LaBeouf, you a bitch!” he says in the video. “Only way I’d give Shia LaBeouf a pass? He gotta put me in the next Transformers movie. Put me in a movie, put me in something, put me in a TV show and you can come to Atlanta. I’ll do a song with you and we can squash the beef.”

    On Dec. 9, when TMZ caught up with LaBeouf outside of Studio City in L.A., the actor referred to Soulja Boy as a "sweetheart" in regards to his offer. While there's no telling if LaBeouf will help Soulja Boy break into Hollywood, or if Soulja will release the career-ending diss he's promised, at this point, their beef appears to be dormant.

  • 24

    Quavo

    2016

    In the midst of multiple beefs, Soulja Boy found time to set his sights on Migos member Quavo, whom he had heard dissed him recently, leading to what has become one of his more infamous beefs. On Dec. 5, after posting a screenshot of a conversation between him and Quavo, which took a turn for the worst, Soulja posted an Instagram video of himself wielding guns, with "Beef," his diss track aimed at Quavo, blaring in the background.

    In another clip, posted on Dec. 7, Soulja claimed that he tried to set up a fight with Quavo, but that the Y.R.N. was a no show. “Quavo, I texted you my address, nigga, at one o’clock,” Soulja Boy said. “I waited for you till seven o’clock, we was ‘sposed to catch the fade, one on one, put it on WorldStar. You never showed up, nigga. You know how the fuck I’m rocking, nigga.”

    Quavo would finally respond to Soulja with a brief video clip of his own alongside his Migos brethren, joking that they're "out here hunting for these fake gangster rappers." Soulja Boy would strike a nerve when he claimed to have Quavo's chain in an Instagram post, prompting Quavo to upload a post of his gaudy Quality Control emblem, among other pricey jewels. Soulja Boy's arrest would put a pause on this particular beef, but with Soulja's release, could extend into the new year and beyond.

  • 25

    Chris Brown

    2017

    Just a few days into 2017 and Soulja Boy continued his penchant for beef, this time with Chris Brown. They became enemies all because of an Instagram photo. Brown's ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran posted an image of herself on the social media site, which prompted Soulja to comment with a heart eyes emoji. This didn't sit well with Breezy, who apparently called the rapper to complain. Things turned from bad to worse once Soula put their business out for the world to see on Twitter.

    "Chris brown just called me and said he wanna fight me because I liked @karrueche picture on Instagram this nigga a bitch," Soulja wrote.

    The move prompted a back and forth on Instagram between the two, with threats coming from both sides. Now Brown and Soulja are set to settle the score with a fight in a boxing match to be endorsed by Mayweather Promotions.

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