Currently, Ice Cube is on a press run that is seeing him leave no stone unturned. Days after discussing his contempt for artificial intelligence with the Full Send podcast, Cube joined the Earn Your Leisure show on Tuesday (May 23) to give a piece of his mind regarding other matters.
Videos by American Songwriter
While discussing the “Golden Era of Hip-Hop” with hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings at the one-hour and 12-minute mark, Cube listed his top 5 battle/diss songs of all time in the genre. But first, he made sure to note that he was No. 1 on the list.
When asked if “‘No Vaseline’ is the top battle song of all time?” the 53-year-old responded, “And it’s not even close.”
Cube put out “No Vaseline” in 1991, which was a diss track aimed at his former group NWA, who he left in late 1989 to pursue a solo career. Mostly spurned by his contentious relationship with NWA manager Jerry Heller, Cube’s departure led to some ill-will with his former friends, who later dissed him on their 1991 album N****z4Life where they likened him to Benedict Arnold.
“No Vaseline” would appear on Cube’s sophomore album Death Certificate five months later in October 1991, and it saw him unleash ravenous lyrical assaults on the NWA members and Heller.
Ayy, yo, Dre, stick to producing
Calling me Arnold, but you been a dick
Eazy-E saw your ass and went in it quick
You got jealous when I got my own company
But I’m a man and ain’t nobody humping me
After making sure “No Vaseline” sat atop his list, Cube included other disses like Tupac’s “Hit Em Up” and Nas’ “Ether” in his top 5.
“I mean, I would go with, you know, ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ is a good one,” he said. “‘Ether’ is dope. I would go with ‘The Bridge Is Over’ [by Boogie Down Productions] and I don’t know, I think I gotta go with ‘Let’s Go’ [by Kool Moe Dee].”
Check out Ice Cube’s interview with Earn Your Leisure below.
Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
