During an appearance on the Earn Your Leisure podcast, Ice Cube said his 1991 diss track "No Vaseline" is the best diss in hip-hop history.
Speaking with hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings, it was suggested to him at the 1:12:00-mark of the video above hat he's got "one of the top battle songs ever," to which Cube replied, "The top."
Asked to clarify his comment, he was asked, "'No Vaseline' is the top battle song ever?'" to which Cube replied, "And it's not even close." Cube later gave props to some of his favorite diss tracks not made by him, and named 2Pac's "Hit Em Up," Nas' "Ether," Boogie Down Productions' "The Bridge is Over," and Kool Moe Dee's "Let's Go."
He went on to suggest that "No Vaseline" is the best diss track because it "took out" four rappers and their manager. "Can't beat that," he said. It was pointed out to him that "Ether" took out an entire record label, to which Cube replied, "I broke up a group! That was kind of the beginning of the end for Ruthless."
Cube's infamous 1991 diss track "No Vaseline" appeared on his second solo album Death Certificate, serving as a vicious attack on his former N.W.A. bandmates following his departure in 1989. On the song, he directed his ire at Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Mc Ren, DJ Yella, and the group's manager, Jerry Heller. The song features a slew of homophobic slurs and was labeled as antisemitic for some of the lyrics directed at Heller, who is Jewish. In his 2006 book Ruthless: A Memoir, Heller suggested that he didn't think Cube was actually antisemitic, however.
In a 2014 appearance on The Breakfast Club, Cube said he was only inspired to record "No Vaseline" after he was on the receiving end of a number of disses from the N.W.A. members who stuck with the group. "I said, ‘Okay, man, I’m tired of this. I’ma end this real quick," he said. "We gon’ set it all the way off.’ So that’s when I wrote ‘No Vaseline,’ recorded it. I put it on that ‘Cinderfella’ track, that Dana Dane track… we flipped it and it became a smash.”
Watch Cube's appearance on Earn Your Leisure above.
Related Stories
Ice Cube Discusses Conspiracy Theory That Suge Knight Injected Eazy-E With HIV
Ice Cube questioned whether it's possible that Suge Knight injected Eazy-E with HIV, but bluntly said he doesn't "put shit past nobody."
Ice Cube Threatens Lawsuit Against Anyone Who Uses AI to Recreate His Voice
The West Coast rap legend doesn’t seem to be a fan of artificial intelligence.
Logic Addresses "It Was a Good Day" Cover Criticism, Says He Received Ice Cube's Approval
Logic has once again responded to criticism of his cover of Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day,” which he said got approval from the West Coast legend himself.
