They were once friendly contemporaries, coming up as proteges of Dr. Dre – but the relationship between Snoop Dogg and Eminem has soured in recent months.

It all began last year, when Snoop threw some low-key shade at the Detroit rapper by saying that he wouldn’t be in his Top 10 Rappers of All Time – and gave credit to Dre for steering him to greatness.

“[Dre] has probably put Eminem in the position where he would be considered one of the top 10 rappers ever,” he said. “I don’t think so, but the game feels like that he’s top 10 lyricists and all that that comes with it. That’s just because he’s with Dr. Dre. and Dr. Dre helped him find the best Eminem that he could find.”

Eminem’s new song ‘Zeus’, released three weeks ago, responded to Snoop’s comments with lyrics like “As far as squashing beef I’m used to people knocking me / But just not in my camp / And diplomatic as I’m tryin’ to be / Last thing I need is Snoop doggin’me / Man, Dogg, you was like a damn god to me / Meh, not really (haha) / I had dog backwards.”

He also said in an interview that he was surprised by Snoop’s comments. “Him saying Dre made the best version of me, absolutely, why would I have a problem with that? Would I be here without Dre? F**k no, I wouldn’t,” he said. “The rappers he mentioned from the 90s — KRS One, Big Daddy Kane, G Rap — I’ve never said I could f**k with them.”

He added: “I just saw you, what the f**k? It threw me for a loop. I probably could’ve gotten past the whole tone and everything, but it was the last statement where he said, “Far as music I can live without, I can live without that sh*t.” Now you’re being disrespectful. It just caught me off-guard.”

In recent days, Snoop has fanned the flames when asked by an Eminem fan page on Instagram to comment on whether he was being disrespectful, saying “Pray I don’t answer that soft-ass shit.”

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good rap beef, and this one could run… unless Dre comes along and clips them both ’round the ear, of course.