In the case of rap beef, it’s easy to think of things as a win-or-lose-situation. When Machine Gun Kelly responded to Eminem’s album “Kamikaze” with his diss track “Rap Devil,” he started beef that no one was expecting. Attention the diss brought him more listeners, whether they were listening to support or not.  

In response to “Rap Devil,” Eminem released “Killshot,” and results seem divided. Some think MGK did better, while others sided with Eminem.

Regardless of who wins, we are witnessing real rappers actually go at each other’s throats, and a new life has been breathed into rap.

Prior to this, the biggest rap disses were between jokes like Logan Paul and KSI, or Idubbz vs Ricegum, both of which are fun, but not up to par with professional lyricists.

Logan Paul and KSI did terrible raps which were clearly used to get attention for their upcoming pay-per-view fight. The best thing to come out of Idubbz and Ricegum’s feud was Idubbz saying, “That . . . was . . . absurd, you’re a ‘rapper’ who can’t resolve . . . with words?” Ricegum responded to this by releasing “Frick the Police,” which received a lot of criticism.

He proceeded to excuse his work by claiming he wasn’t a real rapper, and that he was only making a joke.

In the case of MGK vs Eminem, the rappers cannot make excuses. They are risking their careers to some degree. If Eminem loses to MGK, it would put an even bigger dent in his career than the poor response of his album “Revival.” If MGK loses to Eminem, whatever attention he has could die out.

This is very clearly a fight between two rappers who are in different leagues. In the case of “Killshot” and “Rap Devil,” it is clear that “Killshot” is more lyrically significant. “Rap Devil” has a nice beat and a few good lines, but it was heavy with chorus and lines like, “Ayy, somebody grab him some clippers his . . . beard is weird,” which has no business in a real diss-track.

It also isn’t just Eminem dissing MGK. G-Eazy released an attack as well, which Eminem references in “Killshot.” In his diss-track, G-Eazy says to MGK, “Keep it lit is just a bluff, why is it me and not you sitting ringside next to puff?” This pokes even more fun at MGK being a lesser known artist than he is. Since the release of this diss-track, MGK hasn’t responded.

This could be a good thing for rap simply because it forces rappers to try again. They can’t make excuses if their diss-tracks fall flat. They are held accountable and the audience gets to sit back and listen as these artists make lyrical acrobatic jumps. It may not be fueled by positive energy, but I can’t be the only one who wants to see rappers go at each other again.