Back in the day, rap beefs were largely divided down geographical lines—Biggie against Tupac, Bad Boy against Death Row, East Coast against West Coast. Now (though Diddy and Bad Boy have somehow managed to stay in the fray) things have devolved into what can only be described as “The Vodka Wars.”
In the latest battle over rapper-endorsed booze, a heavily intoxicated French Montana can be seen in the Power 105 studio in New York throwing a bottle of 50 Cent’s Effen Vodka in the trash.
“Who drinks this Four Loko?” French slurs. A bottle of Effen is in his right hand; a half-finished bottle of Hennessy is clutched in his left. “Who drinks this fucking Four Loko, this Thunderbird?”
The hostility isn’t exactly a surprise. Last week, the Bronx-bred rapper left Interscope Records to sign with Epic Records and Diddy’s Bad Boy Entertainment. Diddy first partnered with Ciroc in 2007, inking a deal to rake in half of the vodka brand’s profits, and has fired shots back and forth with 50 ever since the Queens rapper aligned himself with Effen in 2014.
Though French’s Instagram account has looked like a Ciroc marketing campaign for months—and last August he was seen throwing an entire case of Effen in the trash—it seems as if the new Bad Boy signee feels the need to fight on front lines once again.
“Shout out to Effen Vodka,” French said back in August. “That shit kind of watered down, but I love it.”
“This is how I feel about your bullshit,” he added, just before dumping the bottles in the garbage.
As it turns out, French and Diddy aren’t the only ones taking a stand against Effen. Last week, while in Cincinnati, Ohio promoting his vodka, 50 filmed himself mocking and berating a 19-year-old at an airport. It was later revealed that the young man suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, and the rapper took widespread criticism in the press. After the video went viral, VICE reported that bars and restaurants in Cincinnati began boycotting Effen in protest of 50’s behavior.
“While the incident at the airport resulted from an unfortunate misunderstanding, I am truly sorry for offending the young man,” the rapper said later in a statement. “It was certainly not my intent to insult him or the disability community, which is a source of great strength in America. I have apologized personally to him and his family.” He has since donated $100,000 to Autism Speaks.