Ex Factor: When Artists Diss Exes Musically

Music stars strike back at their former flames.

Usher, "Papers" - Usher's 2009 single "Papers" addresses his divorce from Tameka Foster-Raymond head-on: "For you I gave my heart and turned my back against the world/'Cause you were my girl, girl, girl, I done damn near lost my mama, I done been through so much drama/I done turned into the man I never thought I'd be/I'm ready to sign them papers." Interestingly, co-writer Sean Garrett said he penned the song before he even knew that the singer’s marriage was disintegrating.  (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Adele, 21 - Adele had the last laugh after a devastating break-up with her partner. The U.K. chanteuse's sophomore album, 21, which explores her feelings after the split, sold over 20 million copies worldwide and won multiple Grammys.  (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Junior M.A.F.I.A., "Get Money" - We'll always love you Big Poppa, but this was ice-cold. The video for this classic seemed to be an extended diss of Big's then estranged wife, singer Faith Evans. Femcee Charli Baltimore starred in the video as a money-hungry philanderer wearing a blonde wig. And to make matters worse, Biggie later had an affair with Baltimore. Dead wrong.  (Photo: Courtesy Atlantic Records)
Marvin Gaye, Here, My Dear - In a bitter divorce settlement, Gaye, who was having money problems due to drug use and extravagant spending, agreed to give his ex-wife, Anna Gordy, half of the royalties from his next album. The result was 1978's Here, My Dear, which featured acerbic, detailed, shockingly personal songs like "You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You" and "I Met a Little Girl," which ends with the lyric "Hallelujah, I'm free."(Photo: Courtesy Motown Records)"Rap God" - Eminem sends a warning shot to anyone that thinks he's fallen off with this lyrical act of terror. "Only realized it was ironic I was signed to Aftermath after the fact / How could I not blow, all I do is drop F-bombs, feel my wrath of attack / Rappers are having a rough time period, here's a maxi pad / It's actually disastrously bad for the wack," he raps. (Photo: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson /Landov)

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Adele, 21 - Adele had the last laugh after a devastating break-up with her partner. The U.K. chanteuse's sophomore album, 21, which explores her feelings after the split, sold over 20 million copies worldwide and won multiple Grammys.  (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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