Blessed are the peacemakers. While hip-hop fans seem to encourage beef, loving when rappers exchange words via social media, or even more preferably on record. A few years back, long before Drake dropped Views, DMX hit the radio circuit with some inflammatory words about the 6 God; he felt particularly incensed about Drizzy's involvement on a posthumous Aaliyah album, and claimed the Old X would "catch him in the elevator and beat him up." Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, and the "beef" was settled. Drake even went on to sample DMX on the Views cut "U With Me?" News quickly broke that the legendary N.O.R.E. helped facilitate the clearance, acting as a peace-keeper of sorts between the two rappers.
In an interview with Montreality, N.O.R.E opens up about his role in making "U With Me?" come to fruition. It started, he explains, through his close relationship with Drake's right hand man 40. Apparently, Drake's team were looking for X in order to clear the sample. Apparently, DMX was an elusive one, and managed to keep under the radar. Eventually, he managed to ensure that Drake could personally get on a call with X. "The reason I respect Drake even a hundred times more than I did is because when you sample an artist's record that's a legend, that's not dead, call them!"
He continues, saying "that's the most respect an artist can give another artist....For Drake to do that, you can't get more hip-hop than that." It's cool to see how the Drink Champs host has accepted his role as an "ambassador of peace." Respect is earned, not given.
For more from N.O.R.E, peep the video below.