No Vaseline
| "No Vaseline" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Ice Cube | ||||
| from the album Death Certificate | ||||
| Released | October 29, 1991 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Genre | Hardcore hip hop | |||
| Length | 5:13 | |||
| Label | Priority Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ice Cube | |||
| Producer(s) | Ice Cube, Sir Jinx | |||
| Death Certificate track listing | ||||
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"No Vaseline" is a diss track by Ice Cube from his second album, Death Certificate. The song was produced by Ice Cube and Sir Jinx. The UK release of Death Certificate omitted this song, along with the 46-second long "Black Korea".
The song contains vicious lyrics towards Ice Cube's former group, N.W.A, which Cube left in December 1989 due to royalty issues. The antagonists are his former bandmates, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella and their manager, Jerry Heller, whom Ice Cube blames for causing the rift in the group. Ice Cube recorded this song in response to the comments N.W.A made towards him in their albums 100 Miles and Runnin' and Niggaz4Life.
The first minute of the song is a reference to N.W.A's "Message to B.A.", in which they call Ice Cube "Benedict Arnold" as well as an "Ice-T wannabe". Ice Cube then begins his full-blown diss on the group and their manager.
Ice Cube addresses Eazy-E and Heller with particularly harsh words, criticizing Eazy's decision to align himself with Heller ("Heard you both got the same bank account!/Dumb nigga, What you thinkin' about?!/Get rid of that devil real simple, put a bullet in his temple!/Cause you can't be a niggaz 4 life crew, with a white Jew tellin' you what to do", and "It's a case of divide and conquer, 'cause you let a Jew break up my crew") and accusing both Eazy-E and Heller of unfairly exploiting the rest of the group ("You little maggot, Eazy E-turned-faggot/With your manager, fella - fuckin' MC Ren, Dr. Dre, and Yella"). Ice Cube also refers to his decision to leave Ruthless Records in the lyric: "You lookin' like straight bozos, I saw it comin', that's why I went solo ... You got jealous when I got my own company. But I'm a man, and ain't nobody humpin' me." Cube also references Eazy's appearance at the lunch benefiting the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle, hosted by then-President George H. W. Bush, repeatedly saying, "I never have dinner with the President."
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