American rapper LL Cool J was allegedly not targeting Jay-Z with his recent comments about a certain inactive rap artist.
The controversial statement arrived during Cool J’s tour stop in Houston on Friday, August 25th. “Let me shout it out to all you rappers trying to play mystery man: stop fuckin’ up your legacy,” he said, careful not to divulge a name. “Get on this goddamn stage, man.”
Naturally, Cool J’s fans began speculating, with some suggesting the statement was aimed at Jay-Z. The legendary rapper has been off stage for a while and has a complicated history with Cool J.
Despite this conjecture, Twitter user @EriqEnigma posted a popular explanation on Monday to offer clarity on the situation. “I was LITERALLY at this show,” they wrote. “He and Questlove had just finished performing Whodini’s “Freaks Come Out At Night” and was saying he had tried to get Jahlil from the group to come on the tour but he declined.”
Continuing: “THAT’S who his referring to here. ANYTHING for engagement tho right?”
The supposed rift between Jay-Z and Cool J flared up back in 2007 when JAY-Z sang, “I’m already the G.O.A.T. – next stop is the billy,” in his 50 Cent collab, ‘I Get Money (Forbes 1, 2, 3 Remix)’.
Not long after, Cool J appeared on BlokTV addressing the lyric. “I don’t even know why you did that to yourself. Instead of doing that verse, you should’ve been doing your job,” he said.
However, during a subsequent listening party for his American Gangster album, Jay-Z explained that the line was never supposed to target Cool J.
“He’s a legend,” JAY-Z said. “I’m not doing that. That type of shit comes back to you …I believe in karma. He’s upset, not me. If he wanna work it out, I’m more than willing to do that.”