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.