Beef Sandwich: Producers Caught in the Crossfire
Beatsmiths stuck in the middle of musical rivalries.
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Beef Sandwich: Producers Caught in the Crossfire - Dr. Dre may be one of 50 Cent's mentors and main collaborators, but that didn't stop him from linking with one of Fif's longtime enemies, Rick Ross, in the studio last week. We don't know if 50 cared, or even what Ross and Dre were collaborating on, but we do know that Dre isn't the first producer to get caught in the middle of a rap war. Click on to see other beatmakers who found themselves in the middle of a not-so-delicious beef sandwich. —Alex Gale (Photos: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Motorola; Kevin Winter/Getty Images [2])
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Easy Mo Bee (2Pac vs. The Notorious B.I.G) - Easy Mo Bee produced the majority of Biggie's Ready to Die and also recorded several songs with Pac, Big's friend-turned-sworn foe, for his 1995 album Me Against the World (though only two made the final cut). (Photos: Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images; REUTERS/Fred Prouser)
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Drumma Boy (Young Jeezy vs. Gucci Mane) - Drumma Boy has long played both sides of the heated, all-too-real Gucci Mane/Young Jeezy beef, producing several tracks for each over the years. (Photos: Chris McKay/Getty Images (2); Moses Robinson/WireImage)
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Trackmasters (Nas vs. Jay-Z) - You gotta give props to the Trackmasters, who found a way to produce a song on both Nas' Stillmatic ("Rule") and Jay-Z's The Blueprint ("Jigga That N---a") at the height of the pair's legendary battle. (Photos: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Vh1; Trackmasters Entertainment; Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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Kanye West (Jay-Z vs. Cam'ron) - Kanye and Cam managed to keep appearing on each other's albums even after the latter began riffing with West's big bro Jay when Roc-A-Fella dissolved in 2005. But in 2010, Kanye finally got caught in the crossfire: Cam and Jim Jones dissed him in a freestyle over his "Runaway" beat, calling him a "sucka n---a" for working with Jay. (Photos: REUTERS/Niklas Larsson/Scanpix; Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Adrian Sidney/PictureGroup)
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Kanye West (Jay-Z vs. Lil Wayne) - Kanye's played the mustard in Jay's beef sandwiches (whoa) before though: He produced "Let the Beat Build" and "Comfortable" on Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III despite Weezy's on-and-off tussling with Hov. (Photos: fafotos/PictureGroup; Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (Young Jeezy vs. Rick Ross) - Rick Ross and Young Jeezy have both spit gruff crime tales over J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League's massive, cinematic soundtracks, but that hasn't stopped the pair from trading thinly veiled shots in the media and on wax. (Photos: Rick Diamond/Getty Images (2); Joe Kohen/Getty Images)
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Diddy (Mary J. Blige vs. Faith Evans) - Diddy played mentor to both Mary J. Blige and Faith Evans, but he never managed to thaw what's always been an icy relationship between the two, as revealed in Faith's 2008 memoir. (Photos: Jemal Countess/Getty Images; Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images; Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
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Dr. Dre (Game vs. 50 Cent) - Game produced several songs on the debut albums of Game and 50 Cent, who were both signed to his Aftermath Entertainment. But when the two rappers started beefing, Dre initially stuck with Fif, and Game left Aftermath as a result. However, Dre and Game recently reconciled, collaborating on tracks for their new albums, Detox and The R.E.D. Album, respectively.(Photos: Jemal Countess/Getty Images; Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images; Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
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Just Blaze (Saigon vs. Joe Budden) - Just Blaze recently played peacemaker between two of his frequent collaborators, Joe Budden and Saigon, convincing the two to iron out their longtime differences and appear together on the 2010 track "Bring Me Down." (Photos: Amy Sussman/Getty Images; Ben Rose/Getty Images; John Ricard/BET)