The way rapper Common sees it, he has fellow rapper Fat Joe to thank for “saving” his life.
In a Friday, Aug. 20, interview with Hot 97, Common talked about how Fat Joe looked out for him following an earlier beef he’d had with rappers Ice Cube and Mack 10. He shared that he, Fat Joe, Goodie Mob and Mack 10 were in Los Angeles getting ready to shoot a Sprite commercial, and at this time that one-time beef with Ice Cube and Mack 10 had been “squashed.”
“Fat Joe was representing the East, Goodie Mob was representing the South, I was representing the Midwest and Mack 10 was representing the West Coast.” Common said he learned a friend of a friend was staying at the same L.A. hotel where he was and he decided to invite him to the shoot. “We go to the commercial, and he start like basically staring down Mack 10, grilling him.” Mack 10 allegedly responded by saying, “Man what you looking at homie,” and the guy said, “Man I’m from Chicago; we look niggas in they eye.”
Common added that Mack 10’s people went and got “that thang.” He admitted that his friend was “agitating the situation.” That’s when Fat Joe told Common that his friend would need to leave before things got worse. “He left, but my man came back and busted some windows,” he said.
As a result, Mack 10’s team “roughed him up a little but it wasn’t nothing too bad.” Common said he spoke with Fat Joe later and said Mack 10’s crew was “ready to get” him but Fat Joe intervened. Common posted a snippet of the story on his Instagram page to which Fat Joe responded, “Love you my brother.”
Common, Ice Cube and Mack 10’s issues began when “The Kitchen” actor dropped his 1994 single “I Used To Love H.E.R.” In the song, Ice Cube believed that Common was dissing West Coast rappers, and, in response, he was featured on Mack 10’s “Westside Slaughterhouse” song where he took direct shots at Common.
He rapped, “All you suckas want to dis the pacific / But you buster ni—s never get specific/
Used to love her mad cause we f-cked / Her p–sy whipped b–ch with no common sense
Hip Hop started in the west / Ice Cube bailin’ through the east without a vest.”
But Common did not back down, dropping his own verse where he addressed Ice Cube by name several times. He spit, “ A b–ch n–ga wit an attitude named Cube / Step to Com wit a feud / Now what the f–k I look like dissing a whole coast / You ain’t made shit dope since AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted to cease from the Midwest to the East / On the d-ck of the East for your 1st release.”
After the legendary Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac were gunned down over their East Coast- West Coast beef, Minister Louis Farrakhan, stepped in to hold a peace summit in 1997 for rappers that were feuding. It was at this event that Common and Ice Cube found peace.
Fast forward to 2016, when Common joined the cast of Ice Cube’s “Barbershop” sequel, “Barbershop: The Next Cut.”
