In the red-is-for-roses corner, hit maker and self-declared ‘love king’ The-Dream. In the she’s-turning-blue corner, creepy r’n’b upstart The Weeknd.

According to Complex, two of R&B’s most mercurial stars have been engaged in a war of words via Twitter. The catalyst for the row was allegedly an onstage comment by The-Dream at a recent gig in Manhattan:  “I haven’t done a show in close to two years. And ever since then, there’s like, four niggas that sound like me now. I’m just being honest.”

Abel Tesfaye [above], taking offence, subsequently took to his Twitter feed to send back a few counter-barbs. These range from the playground (“ham burglar [left] looking’ ass nigga” / “this nigga is so hood, he things my name is the weekender…”) to the plucky (“you get at me, i get at you…ain’t no sideways shit about it”)

Terius Nash, being the older of the two, has responded fairly philosophically: “Like my father said. Say ur piece son if a man feel uncomfortable enough a cheat, and a liar will identify his self. Amen. Now I know 4 Sure”. A volley of similarly tough-love messages are still up on his Twitter feed.

Nash has had some fairly interesting things to say about comparisons between him and Tesfaye in the past. In a separate interview for Complex, he said:”I think he’s an incredible melodically driven artist. People often say to me that he sounds a lot like what I do, and I’m sure that the influence is there.

“But he’s not me, nor is he trying to be me. He has his own culture of those guys that like that music. He’s an artist first. I’m a songwriter first.”