2026's First Major Rap Beef is Underway
Atlanta rapper T.I. and NYC icon 50 Cent have begun exchanging diss tracks in this year's first high-profile rap beef.
After indirectly dissing 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, in his track "War", T.I. has returned with more direct insults in his single "The Right One." He released the track on X on Monday with the caption "now say sum' else," inviting 50 Cent to respond.
Now say sum’ else…
— T.I. (@Tip) February 23, 2026
Right One ???? pic.twitter.com/xVtXQ5B7OF
The pair first clashed when T.I. invited 50 Cent onto an episode of Verzuz, a web series where two musical artists go head-to-head performing their biggest hits. After Jackson declined the invitation, T.I. responded: "He don’t want no smoke, though. I called my man out, he don’t want no smoke. He ducking smoke."
50 Cent was quick to reply, teasing T.I. on Instagram: "I know Atlanta pick and choose who they support, but yall gotta do better. LOL. Keep my name out ya mouth."
The pair have been exchanging increasingly heated messages on social media, with 50 calling T.I. "King Rat" in the comments of a recent post. While Jackson has refrained from dissing the Atlanta icon through his music, T.I. has escalated the situation with a new diss track.
“To me, you just a small man in a big shell / Bitch made ass n**** need pigtails,” he says in the first verse of "The Right One". “You take no issues with them white boys, it’s only our people you find to be an eye sore.”
Although 50 Cent hasn't yet responded to the track, rap fans will know just how quickly these situations can escalate between high-profile rappers. Listeners will remember the public beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake in 2024, which led to Lamar's public accusations that Drake's label was cultivating an environment of harrassment and grooming in "Not Like Us".
50 and T.I. may not have reached that level of back-and-forth yet, but it doesn't seem like they're going to resolve the situaiton any time soon. Jackson has been involved in plenty of rap feuds over the years, from big names like Sean "Diddy" Combs and Ja Rule, to lesser-known faces like Marquise Jackson and Omari Hardwick.