“I'mma fight to kill, John Wick style” — Common opens up about his rap beef with Ice Cube in the 90s

Rapper Common recently recalled his beef with Ice Cube from the 90s in a recent segment of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast by Carmelo Anthony and The Kid Mero.

Speaking to the hosts, Common said he is a "warrior" and would "defend himself" and fight "John Wick style." He said:

“At the end of the day I'm a warrior too. Meaning I'm from the south side of Chicago. If you at a certain point, if you just come at me, I'mma defend myself and I'mma go at you, I'mma fight to kill, John Wick style.”

The rapper further stated that they ultimately kept it "just on wax." He recalled a confrontation he had with Cube at Atlanta in 1995, but claimed they resolved it before it turned "ugly." He said:

“But ultimately because I felt good that we kept it just on wax. It was getting to that point with me and Cube, because they just was looking at me like, ‘Oh, Common just the backpack dude.’ But then we had a little confrontation in Atlanta and this was like '95 where, and like I said, me and Cube, it is all love...now, but at that point it was like a little, we had a little confrontation and I was like, ‘Man, this might get ugly."

The beef between Common and Ice Cube began in the 90s, when the latter was offended by the former's lyrics analogy in his track I Used to Love H.E.R.

He took a dig at Com in Mack 10's song Westside Slaughterhouse. Finally, Com responded to his diss in his song The B*tch in Yoo but the feud ended there.

Common and Ice Cube's beef in the 90s explained

The beef between Common and Ice Cube began after the latter took offense at the former's hit song, I Used to Love H.E.R. Cube reportedly believed that the song was a dig at West Coast rappers. As per Hip Hop DX, Cube had an issue with the following line:

“I wasn’t salty she was with them Boyz N the Hood.”

Ice Cube responded to the track through Mack 10's song Westside Slaughterhouse, where he had a few lines of rap. He rapped:

"All you suckas wanna diss the Pacific, but you busta n***as never get specific/Used to love H.E.R., mad 'cause we f*cked her/P*ssy-whipped b**ch, with no Common Sense."

Com responded to the song through his diss track, The B*tch in Yoo, where he said Cube had “backed into a Four Corner Hustler.” The lyrics also said:

"A b*tch ni*ga wit an attitude named Cube/ Step to Com wit a feud/ Now what the f*ck I look like dissing a whole coast/ You ain't made s*it dope since AmeriKKKa's Most."

Cube did not respond to the track. The beef was resolved with the help of Minister Louis Farrakhan, who got the two rappers together and arranged a sit down.

Cube was a member of the Nation of Islam at the time of the feud, so Farrahkhan stepped in as a mediator.

The sitdown between Com and Cube arranged by the minister was attended by several hip-hop stars, including Tha Dogg Pound, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Fat Joe, Mack 10, WC, Too $hort, and Chuck D. It took place at the Nation of Islam's headquarters in Chicago in 1997.

Speaking in his interview in 7PM in Brooklyn, Com thanked the minister for resolving the matter at the time. He said:

“And thank God for Minister Farrakhan ‘cause at that time, Biggie had just passed, obviously [2Pac] passed before him and it was just like, man, you don't know who going to do what."

Ice Cube recently recalled his feud with Common in the 90s

Speaking to Talib Kweli in a segment of his podcast, People's Party, Ice Cube recalled his beef with Common. The rapper said the beef was "squashed" for good. He said:

“Sometimes, you have a beef with somebody and you squash it but it’s not really squashed. It’s still that thing in the back of your head, saying, ‘Man, f**k that… It wasn’t that way with Common and myself. It was truly squashed.”

The rapper also admitted it was a "dark time in his career and called Com a "good dude". He said:

“Common was a good dude, I don’t think he deserved it. I was just in my feelings."

Com and Cube later worked together in the film Barbershop 3. Ice Cube explained his casting choice in the aforementioned interview, claiming Com had a "different presence." He noted:

“We knew we wasn’t going to get Michael Ealy back and we was looking for a guy who could be that and bring a different presence. When [Com’s] name came up, I was like, ‘Hell yeah.'”

The rapper continued to explain how Com being a "Chicago dude" worked for the film. He added:

“He’s a Chicago dude, a good dude, he’s for the culture. He’s improved it over and over. He not into beefing with nobody and we need to show the world that no matter what happened in the past that we could still work together and be brothers… It was just a misunderstanding.”

The two have reportedly remained friends since the end of their feud in 1997.

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