Hip Hop Besties:Rappers Who Are Best Friends

Think of your relationship with your best friend. What would happen if he got a divorce? Went to jail? Dissed you in a popular song? Friendships are hard to maintain, but if these hip hop besties have taught us anything, it’s that nothing is more powerful than friendship itself.

A$AP Yams passed away unexpectedly this weekend. His imprint on the hip hop scene lives on, but fellow rappers and artists continue to mourn his death. A$AP Yams and fellow A$AP Mob member A$AP Rocky were best buds. Watch the two interact with Riff Raff in a Noisey episode of Back & Forth.
Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole
These two have been best buds since they were both still considered “underground,” but in 2013, they had some brief beef. It started when Kendrick dissed J. Cole in his guest verse on Big Sean’s “Control.” J. Cole fired back on the “Black Friday Remix” of Justin Timberlake’s “TKO,” but all was made well by the time J Dot invited K Dot on stage with him during his Dollar & A Dream Tour last year. Kendrick congratulated his bestie on his new album in a recent interview with Hip Hop Wired and announced that he and J. Cole plan to pick up where they left off on the joint project they first teased three years ago.
Chris Brown and Tyga
Tyga revealed he’s picky when it comes to friends in an interview with Vibe late last year. He told Vibe he signed to Young Money because of Lil Wayne, and made it clear he didn’t do it to be associated with Nicki Minaj or Drake, whom he called “fake.” Tyga went on to speak about C Breezy, his friend of six years. “That’s my real genuine friend,” Tyga told the magazine. “We hang out all the time.” Chris and Tyga live near each other in California, allowing them to both make music together and be each other’s main hang. Catch them performing together with Trey Songz on the Between the Sheets Tour.
DJ Mustard and YG
DJ Mustard and YG beefed over the holidays, but the pair has since made up. Their friendship goes back to 2008 when they started the Pu$haz Ink hip hop label. DJ Mustard went on to produce most of YG’s 2014 Def Jam debut album My Krazy Life, and even appeared on the song “Left, Right” off the album. DJ Mustard called YG one of his “best friends” in an interview with HipHopDX. “I know what he don’t like, what he like,” he said. “I used to live with him. I slept in his garage.” If you can remain friends after living together, you know you’ve reached BFF level.
Jhene Aiko and Childish Gambino
Jhene Aiko is an R&B singer, but who knows? Maybe J Henny has plans to venture even further into rap. Jhene shut down rumors of her dating either Childish Gambino or Drake while in Hot 97′s station for an interview, but that doesn’t mean that she and Childish aren’t close friends. They’ve spent time in bed together in Jhene’s video for “Bed Peace,” and have collaborated multiple times. Jhene starred in Childish Gambino’s “Telegraph Ave” video, and Childish directed the video for Jhene’s “The Pressure.”