Recently, Ice Cube dished on turning down Verzuz battles with both LL Cool J and Scarface, though he had a wholesome reason for doing so.
The subject came up on The Bootleg Kev Podcast, where Ice Cube was joined by Too $hort and E-40.
During the West Coast legends’ sit-down, they began discussing Verzuz battles, which memorably came in clutch during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bootleg Kev went on to ask Cube, who never performed in the web series, if he was approached to participate.
In response, Ice Cube confirmed that organizers were potentially interested in match-ups with LL Cool J and Scarface. However, the “It Was a Good Day” rapper ultimately decided against following through with the ideas.
“I think they was talking LL at one point. they were talking Scarface at one point. I said no.”
He went on to explain that, rather than going head-to-head like a traditional Verzuz, he would’ve preferred another approach.
“Verzuz is good, but my concept would have been, ‘Yo, I’m a fan. You do this song for me.’ Like, okay, I get to have LL do my favorite LL songs, and he gon’ have me do my favorite Ice Cube songs. And it’s not Verzuz, but it’s love…That would have been my concept.”
Cube then shared that, because he has so much respect for both LL and Scarface, he wouldn’t be able to “go against” them.
“I can’t go against people I admire. LL’s an OG to me in the game, so I can’t see it. Me and Scarface love each other, but we don’t communicate enough to do a Verzuz together.”
He wrapped up his commentary by noting, “I don’t want it to be competition.”
This Verzuz revelation comes on the heels of Ice Cube opening up about another matter from the pandemic era.
As The Shade Room previously reported, Cube admitted that he lost out on a $9 million role over his refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Specifically, he initially said he “turned down” a role alongside Jack Black in Oh Hell No. However, he later confirmed that he was dropped, as he was adamant about not getting “the jab.”
“Those motherf***ers didn’t give it to me because I wouldn’t get the shot. I didn’t turn it down. They just wouldn’t give it to me. The COVID shot, the jab…I didn’t need it. I didn’t catch that s**t at all. Nothing. F**k them. I didn’t need that s**t.”
What do you think about Ice Cube’s comments, and would you have liked to see him participate in a Verzuz battle against LL Cool J or Scarface?