R&B/Hip-Hop

Beef has been the flavor of the year for hip-hop in 2024. Ice-T is well-versed going to battle for his fair share of wars over his career with the scars to prove it, but the rapper-turned-actor doesn’t believe it’s smart for rhymers to engage in feuds with social media prevalent.

The West Coast legend hopped on the Boss Talk 101 podcast on Monday (Nov. 4) where he compared today’s rap beef to his previous decades, and pointed to social media as an amplifier in spoiling the fun to raise tensions.

“The disses that’s going on, like, I can outrap you is one thing. But then when you take it to the next level, like, ‘When I see you it’s a problem,’” he said. “The problem with beef is that it can escalate away from you. Say I have beef with Treach and I’m talking s–t about Treach. I could run into one of his fans on the street who wants to get active.”

Ice-T continued: “Having beef is just not smart if you can avoid it… They didn’t have social media, big difference. Social media is an amplifier to everything. It amplifies everything… It forces reaction that really could be squashed so much simpler.”

The 66-year-old explained that when beef goes to the internet and millions know about it, then it warrants a further response. “It forces reaction that really could be squashed so much simpler,” he added. “Why people have beef and take it to social media is beyond me, especially if you know a n—as’ phone number.”

When continually asked about the Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud earlier this year, Ice-T brushed off the commentary and only offered up that he was concerned with securing the bag at this point.

“I’m sorry if I’m not interested in current Rap Beef or random Male Gossip. I’m a HUSTLER. I’m only focused on the Bag,” he said on X at the time.

In the same vein as social media amplifying beef, Ice-T revealed he cleared up any static he had with Jay-Z when speaking to Big Boy earlier this year.

Jay’s multi-platinum top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hit “99 Problems” interpolates Ice’s 1993 track of the same name and Hov caught up with Ice at the 2024 Grammy Awards to show him love and make sure there was no issue.

“I’m at the Grammys and Jay-Z comes to me. He says, ‘Ice, you know I love you, right?’” Ice-T said. “I say, ‘Yeah!’ He says, ‘Well, it’s on the internet that you mad.’ I said, ‘I’m not mad! They’re bringing up all kinds of interviews about it and they asked me the story, and I told them the true story.’”

Watch the clip below.

Pharrell Williams may be a music mogul today, but his first job at McDonald’s wasn’t exactly a resounding success.

Reflecting on his early days, the 51-year-old—now a Grammy-winning artist and fashion entrepreneur worth an estimated $250 million—recalled how his love for McNuggets landed him in trouble during his fast-food stint.

“McDonald’s was my first and only job,” he told BBC Radio 2. “I got fired three times. I was eating the chicken nuggets.”

Pharrell admitted that his McDonald’s career was short-lived. “The first two times it was just because I was lazy,” he explained. “The third was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re just sitting there eating nuggets?’”

While his time in fast food ended quickly, Pharrell would go on to achieve monumental success on the Billboard charts, kicking off his musical career in music production duo The Neptunes with Chad Hugo in 1992. In 1999, Pharrell, along with Hugo and drummer Shay Haley, formed the band N.E.R.D and released their debut album, In Search Of… in 2002.

As one of the defining artists of the 2000s, Pharrell has topped the Billboard Hot 100 four times, including a remarkable run with his single “Happy,” which held the No. 1 spot for 10 consecutive weeks in 2014.

Despite his early struggles at McDonald’s, “Happy” demonstrated Pharrell’s knack for creating a hit, leading Billboard’s Digital Songs Sales chart with 402,000 downloads in one week. It also marked his first No. 1 as a lead artist—a milestone that took 12 years and one week from his debut entry, setting a record for the longest wait for a Hot 100 No. 1 as a lead artist.

Pharrell’s talent for creating hits extends beyond his solo work. In 2013, he made Billboard history by holding the No. 1 and No. 2 spots simultaneously with “Blurred Lines” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” making him only the 12th artist ever to achieve this feat.

His work on these chart-toppers solidified his reputation, earning him the title of Billboard’s “Producer of the Decade” in 2010. His illustrious career has earned him 1,544 weeks across 68 different Billboard charts.

Beyond music, Pharrell’s influence has reached fashion with his Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream labels, and in 2023, he was appointed as the men’s creative director for Louis Vuitton.