R&B/Hip-Hop

While Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Drake diss has swept the rap world by storm and permeated other dimensions of pop culture, Ice Cube wants everyone to know that he still reigns supreme in the diss track category.

Cube took the stage at the California Roots Festival in Monterey on Sunday, and ahead of performing “No Vaseline,” he let the crowd know that it remains the premier diss record in the hip-hop culture.

He replayed scenarios of fans telling him that 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” or Nas’ “Ether” and K. Dot’s “Not Like Us” have the top spot over him, but the West Coast icon doesn’t think they measure up.

“I love Nas, but it’s not. I love Kendrick Lamar now — maybe it’s him. I love those songs, but ‘No Vaseline’ is the best diss song in the history of hip-hop,” he said before explaining his reasoning. “And I’ll tell you why: One MC — myself — I took out four motherf—ers and the manager. You can’t beat that.

All of these decades later, the hate has subsided and Cube made sure to reiterate he’s got nothing but love for Dr. Dre and the late Eazy-E, along with the rest of N.W.A. “But we did that over 30 years ago,” he added. “So as it stands today, I ain’t got nothing but love for N.W.A.”

After leaving N.W.A in late 1989 due to what he perceived as shady business practices by the group’s manager, Jerry Heller, the group provoked him with jabs on their 100 Miles and Runnin‘ EP and N—az4Life project, which led to Ice Cube redefining the standard for diss tracks with his eviscerating “No Vaseline” in 1991.

The bristling diss landed on Cube’s Death Certificate album and saw him shredding his former groupmates Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Yella, MC Ren and manager Jerry Heller one by one.

While “No Vaseline” remains No. 1 in Cube’s mind, the track actually came in at No. 4 on our 15 Most Scathing Hip-Hop Diss Songs of All-Time list. 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” took home the No. 1 spot, with Pusha T’s “The Story of Adidon” and Jay-Z’s “Supa Ugly” rounding out the top 3.

Watch Ice Cube’s “No Vaseline” speech below.

Dame Dash is making news again, and this time it’s for saying something about his former business partner and friend Jay-Z. Dame recently sat down with Omari Heflin and Terone Johnson of the “Moguls in the Making” podcast and made a big claim about one of the most legendary rap songs of the early 2000s: Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’.”

After giving his thoughts on the Drake and Kendrick feud, Dame was asked about Future using his name in a bar on a recent song. “Big pimpin’, rockin’ wit her like I’m Dame Dash,” Future raps on “Fried (She’s a Vibe)” off his and Metro’s No. 1 album We Don’t Trust You. “I f—k with Future for that,” says Dame.

The hosts then throw a curveball, saying that they heard the entire song was actually about him. Dame takes a beat and then reveals, “everything Jay said, he was pretending to be me.”

Dash reiterated after co-host Terone Johnson said, “I heard that whole song was actually about Dame Dash.” Co-host Omari Heflin tries to confirm asking, “So you saying he ain’t tellin’ his story, he tellin’ your story?” to which Dame answered with a simple, “Duh.” You can watch the full interview here.

Billboard reached out to Jay-Z’s representatives for comment.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time Dame has made this claim. Last month, when he was a guest on the “My Expert Opinion” podcast, Dame was asked about getting name-dropped by Future. The Roc-A-Fella co-founder gave big ups to Future, saying, “Shout out to Future, ’cause he said my name on a current record. And, don’t think I don’t appreciate it. You know what’s cool about it? Future was talking about my past in the present.”

Dame then asked the room why Future would name drop him when he’s not the guy who made the record. “You were one of the stars of the video,” said Mecca, one of the hosts. “‘Cause n—s know it was about me,” Dame replied, as all the hosts started laughing.

It’s been reported that Dame regrets his behavior in the “Big Pimpin’” video — in a video released via TMZ back in 2017, Dash said he was “embarrassed” when he looked back on those days. “I would never want my daughter to have to go through that and if I ever saw my son Boogie doing that, we would have some serious issues,” he said.

Check out a clip from Dash’s appearance on “Moguls in the Making” below:

21 Savage is stuck playing mediator as a friend to both parties in the heated feud between Metro Boomin and Drake.

Savage was on Instagram Live over the weekend, when Metro continued to playfully troll him about his OVO ties and allegiance to his Her Loss collaborator.

The super producer jokingly jabbed at the Savage in the IG Live comment section while referring to him as “OVO Savage” and alleging that he “JUS KNOW [21 Savage] GOT A OWL TRAMP STAMP,” as noted by HipHopDX.

Savage then welcomed Metro into the IG Live session before giving him the boot. He even used Drake’s “Push Ups” diss against him in the process.

“Oh, you was talking s–t, b—h? Get off my Live,” 21 said. “I’m finna block this n—a. Metro, shut your ho- a– up and make some drums, n—a.”

Metro and Drake are still beefing and neither party has disclosed the source of their friction. Drake dissed him on the aforementioned “Push Ups” and dropped Metro Boomin’s government name (Leland Wayne) and called him “f—–g lame” on “Family Matters.”

Metro responded with the “BBL Drizzy” beat giveaway, and remixes to the AI-assisted instrumental have taken on a life of their own. Drake even rapped over the diss beat on Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything.”

Earlier in May, while fans flooded another 21 Savage IG Live, he fired back with his belief that Drake and Metro will eventually figure things out and become cool again.

“Don’t keep coming on to my motherf—–g Live talking about no motherf—–g beef. Metro my brother and Drake my brother. Those n—-s going to figure that s–t out eventually,” he said.

21 actually brought Drake out as a special guest at his Toronto concert on Monday night (May 27) as part of his American Dream Tour. They performed collabs like “Knife Talk” and “Rich Flex.” Savage then gave Drizzy his flowers before he left the stage.

“That’s a good n—a right there, a genuine n—a. We need more n—-s like him in the culture. On my momma, straight up,” 21 stated.

Watch a clip from Metro Boomin and 21 Savage’s IG Live below.