RAP BEEF TIMELINE · 1989–1994
N.W.A. vs. Ice Cube
Royalty disputes and “No Vaseline”
Ice Cube’s exit over royalties turned N.W.A.’s internal fracture into a full record-for-record battle. “No Vaseline” became the unforgettable closing argument; by the mid-’90s, former members were collaborating again.
THE RECORD
The moments
Business dispute · disputed account
Ice Cube leaves N.W.A.
Ice Cube exits N.W.A. amid a royalty dispute. The group’s most explosive internal conflict begins as a business split before it becomes a musical one.
Read the receipt ↗Diss track
“No Vaseline” is the solo counterattack
After N.W.A. takes shots on its post-Cube releases, Ice Cube answers with “No Vaseline,” a five-minute diss that becomes a permanent fixture in rap-beef history.
▶ Watch “No Vaseline”Read the receipt ↗Reconciliation
The conflict cools into collaborations
Former members begin appearing on records together again, closing the most volatile chapter of the N.W.A. breakup.
Read the receipt ↗
THE RECEIPTS
Sources and listening
Complex — Biggest hip-hop feuds ↗Genius — Revisiting history's biggest rap beefs ↗ARTIST LENSES