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Ice Cube has rapped over some incredible beats during his time, but, of all of them, there’s one that especially stands out to him. Naturally enough, it was crafted by his old bandmate Dr Dre.

Cube was the subject of a Guardian feature in 2023, during which ordinary people reached out to ask him some questions. One person wanted to know what his favourite beat that he ever rapped on was, and his answer was unambiguous. “‘Natural Born Killaz’ by Dr Dre,” he replied.

‘Natural Born Killaz’ was released as a single in 1994, and both Cube and Dre rapped on it. It marked the first time that the pair had worked together since NWA had ended in acrimony, so, for fans of the group, this was a big deal. Cube and Dre were back.

The track appeared on the soundtrack of the short film Murder Was the Case, which starred the young Snoop Doggy Dogg. It was directed by Dre and Fab Five Freddy, and it depicted Snoop’s death and resurrection following a deal with the Devil.

But while ‘Natural Born Killaz’ found a home on the soundtrack for this strange little film, it could have worked out differently. It began life as a track called ‘The Heist,’ which was meant to be used by Sam Sneed and J-Flexx. Both these men remained involved with the track once Dre and Cube took it on, but certainly they were no longer the main men. Sneed is credited as a co-producer, while J-Flexx isn’t officially acknowledged at all for ghostwriting Dre’s verses.

Sneed, for his part, wasn’t too pleased about being pushed out as a leading force of the track’s creation, as he acknowledged during an interview on Conversations With Chad in 2011. “It was me and Dre rapping on it at first and we had Ice Cube on the hook,” he recalled of his early involvement. “Later on, the label said Dre and Cube need to be rapping on it, Sam don’t need to be on it.”

Sneed was understanding of this decision, but it still annoyed him. “I can understand the political move,” he said, “but at that time I wasn’t wanting to hear that because my lyrics went right with scenes of the movie. I just don’t have one of those killer voices like Dre and Ice Cube, so it’s not believable.”

Once Dre and Cube were involved with the track, they were always going to dominate it. In fact, they had apparently planned to include it on a collaborative album they were set on making. This was meant to be called Heltah Skeltah, but, in the end, the project never happened. ‘Natural Born Killaz’ entered the world as a song on the Murder Was the Case soundtrack.

For all the ups and downs in its creation, the song had a great beat—and Ice Cube adored it when he heard it. “It’s just everything I love in a beat,” he said in that Guardian feature, “it’s dynamic, it’s thick, it’s terrifying. It fitted my style like a glove. When I first heard it, I just went crazy. [Dre] said, “You wanna be on this?” I never wanted to rap on something so bad.”