Amidst the current climate of rap feudalism, Ice Cube doesn't exactly figure among the participants, but that doesn't mean that he's lost his edge. Ice Cube jumped on Instagram to remind everyone that his diss record "No Vaseline" stills stands as the best of all-time. Before you laugh it off, consider the circumstances, and the causal impact the song has had on the industry, forevermore.
Before Ice Cube became the magnate he is today, Ice Cube was a key contributor in the emergence of NWA, alongside Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella and MC Ren, to whom "No Vaseline" is directed. The record was intended as a wake-up call to his former bandmates who were getting jerked around by their manager Jerry Heller. Ice Cube described the group's work dynamic under Heller as a one-armed "Gang-Bang," he was smart enough to escape.
He criticized Dre and Yella for co-opting a harder image, which before "No Vaseline," was a well-kept by the members of the group, including Cube. Like the diss records of Today, what made "No Vaseline" so effective was the emotional gravity of his tone, but also a masterful use of unknown information. For what it's worth, most of the individuals that Ice Cube dissed on "No Vaseline" have either rebounded successively, passed away, or faded out of public view. How do you rate "No Vaseline" on an all-time list?