One of the healthiest things that can happen to a music scene is the age-old injection of competition into the mix, but you can’t expect to see much of that on a tiny island like Malta. Thankfully, the local hip hop scene has been proving everyone very wrong on a nearly daily basis… and shit keeps getting real.

For anyone who somehow still doesn’t know what’s happening, shots are being not-so-subtly fired between Maltese rapper-collaborators Ben Miller / Zac and young hip hop trio 215Collective.

You can read all about the developing beef here, but the short version is: Ben Miller released a track full of subtle digs saying “This is just the beginning”, his friend Isaac Vassallo followed it up with more direct references, the 215 guys were tagged multiple times under the songs, 215’s Eddie Fresco took to Instagram to throw some shade, and then followed it up with his own diss track, literally photoshopping the two rappers’ faces for the track’s cover.

Last night, the whole thing restarted with Ben Miller releasing his second (more pointed) track, Seen

Yesterday’s track definitely doesn’t hold back, with 215’s Eddie Fresco, Yannick and Caro all being name-dropped in the cheeky Seen.

“You gave me one week just to come up with a diss? I wrote mine last night when I was taking a shit,” Ben Miller kicks the three minute track off by cheekily quipping.

Miller even goes on to allege that Eddie Fresco, perhaps the most active member of 215 Collective, is actually paying for the impressive number of plays he’s been getting lately. “Views mean jack shit, Gangnam Style has a billion fucking views,” Miller continues, in a callback to the 2012 YouTube sensation.

As expected (considering how much more direct this latest track ended up being), friends and fans of Ben Miller’s crew were here for this latest diss track.

Today, it was 215’s turn to reply… twice

Currently knee-deep in the release week for his debut EP KAM this Friday, Yannick took to Instagram last night to criticise Ben Miller for releasing Seen so soon.

“Done being nice to y’all,” Yannick stated on 215 Collective’s Instagram story (and his own). “We said we ain’t responding to your bum ass cause of my project coming out next Friday, and y’all have the audacity to drop a tracking during KAM Week? Yea aight.”

Yannick went on to call Ben Miller’s choice to release Seen this week the “weakest move by a Maltese artist in history”.

Then, at 2pm today, Yannick released his own diss track.

Sitting at a lengthy four and a half minutes, Laughing At You marks Yannick’s first involvement in this beef, and he definitely doesn’t hold back.

“You’re the reason they say Maltese artists and music ain’t never gonna make it,” the young rapper spits around the halfway mark.

Then, at 5pm, Caro released another diss track, Facebook Rappers

If the title of that track wasn’t enough to get you stuffed on tea for the rest of the day, then you’re going to want to listen to the three-minute track Caro just dropped.

Definitely not holding back, Caro targets everything from Ben’s homemade beats to Isaac’s “dumb” request for him to drop his British accent.

“Please give up on your dream, before it gives up on you.” Eesh.

What do you make of this current rap beef? Have you picked a side? Let us know in the comments below!

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).