Diss (music)

A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from disrespect or disparage) is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the two people; for example, the artists involved may be former members of a group, or artists on rival labels.

The diss track as a medium of its own was popularized in the hip hop genre, fueled by the hip hop rivalry phenomenon (especially the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry of the mid-1990s). More recently, entertainers from outside the traditional music landscape have adopted the genre.^[1]

In the course of constructing their argument, artists often include a wealth of references to past events and transgressions in their diss tracks, which listeners can dive into. Artists who are the subject of a diss track often make one of their own in response to the first. It is this back-and-forth associated with a feud that makes this type of song particularly viral. The term sneak diss refers to lyrics in which an artist describes or refers to an individual in a negative or derogatory manner without explicitly naming the target.^{[2][self-published source]}