Once upon a time, Ice Cube was beefing with Common. While we often hear tales of the East Coast versus West Coast rap beef taking the lives of some of our favorite artists, those who lived through it have stories of face-to-face confrontations between rappers. In 1994, Common released “I Used To Love H.E.R.” where he seemed to take aim at the West Coast hip hop scene as he referenced Eazy-E’s hit “Boyz-N-The-Hood.” It reportedly wasn’t meant as a diss but a take on the rap scene moving into gang culture, but Ice Cube and his crew—including his Westside Connection collaborator Mack 10—took the lyrics as being offensive.

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A back and forth ensued and there was a point when the beef was escalating to heights that worried the industry. The two were able to mend their differences, but Mack 10 revisited those days with Vlad TV when he was asked about an incident that occurred in Los Angeles with Common. According to the interview, Fat Joe and Common recently caught up and spoke about Common running into Mack 10 and his crew in L.A. Common was apparently in the City of Angels filming a commercial when he bumped into the rapper. Fat Joe was also there, and as a friend of both Common and Mack 10, he stepped in and made sure that nothing went down. Joe reportedly said that he saved Common’s life that day.

“The issue was with his homeboy. It wasn’t even about the diss record,” Mack 10 said. “The issue came [from] his homeboy stepped out. I don’t know, maybe he was feeling some kind of way about the diss record. So, it was Common’s homeboy that kicked it off.” Mack 10 paused so Vlad interjected and said, “Things started to escalate.” Mack replied, “They did escalate.” Vlad said, “Fat Joe managed to diffuse it?” Mack replied, “With Common.”

Mack 10 clarified and said they were able to smooth things over with Common, but the rapper’s friend was another story. Watch Mack 10 tell his side of the story below.

It's strange how a rumor can begin. In the 1990s, Ice Cube united with rappers Mack 10 and WC to form Westside Connection. The supergroup was poised to become the next big thing out of West Coast hip hop, but due to internal disagreement, they disbanded before they'd even peaked. Mack 10 has sat down with an interview with Vlad TV where he revisits his rise to fame and working with Ice Cube. During the conversation, Mack 10 was asked about a comment Cube allegedly made years ago about Westside Connection reforming.

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Vlad wanted to know what Mack thought about hearing Cube say that the only way the trio could work together again was if Mack would "kiss the pinky ring." Westside Connection reportedly broke up after Mack had a physical altercation with Cube's brother-in-law, and according to Mack, he hasn't spoken to his former friend in 10 to 15 years.

The rapper added that back in the day when he heard of what Cube allegedly said, he thought it was comedy. Obviously, it would be something he would never do, and soon a fan tweeted Cube about the incendiary comment. "Never happened," the rapper wrote. However, 10 years ago in 2010, HipHopDX wrote about Cube addressing a fan who asked if Westside Connection would ever reunite. The rapper allegedly answered, "I never say never, but he has the kiss the ring first." Watch Mack 10 talk about never kissing Cube's ring below.

Back in the 1990s, hip hop fans just knew that they were on their way to receiving an entire catalog from Westside Connection. The rap supergroup consisted of Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC, but after releasing two studio albums—Bow Down and Terrorist Threats—the trio were no more. There have been plenty of rumors floating around over the years as to what led to the demise of Westside Connection, including gossip that Ice Cube’s brother-in-law’s beatdown was the last straw.

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However, Mack 10 recently sat down with Vlad TV to set the record straight. “It was conflict,” he said. “But I went to Cube about four or five times before the conflict jumped off and told him to correct the situation. That’s the part that everybody leave out, I think. I didn’t—Nobody didn’t intend on starting nothing, even like, escalating to that level. If you go to somebody five times before it escalates, then you was trying to be diplomatic about the situation.”

Vlad added that because it was Ice Cube’s wife’s brother, it puts the rapper in a difficult position. Mack 10 responded by saying if it was his wife’s brother, he would have made it clear that “he can’t f*ck my money up. And he can’t be out of line with anybody I’m getting down with and if you got that big of a problem with him, stay at home.” Mack 10 also said that he didn’t fight with Cube, but things became so heated that it became a “misunderstanding” that ultimately seemed irreparable at the time. Watch Mack 10’s clip below.

Inglewood’s Finest, Mack 10, may have been silent on the rap scene in recent years, but the West Coast hip hop icon is a staple in the culture. The Westside Connection emcee made waves with his classic single “Foe Life” and the hip hop supergroup’s fan favorite, “Bow Down.” Mack 10 sat down with Vlad TV and talked about his rise to stardom, including how he linked up with friends Eazy-E and Ice Cube.

“I met Eazy before I met Cube,” Mack said. “It was just about music. I was a pretty good writer. In the hood, my music was growing. I was in a group called First Amendment. My music was growing. My popularity was growing. The homegirl knew [Eazy-E], she introduced us over the phone one day. I think he pulled up or something one day. That’s how I met him. It was just about music. It wasn’t about I’m from Inglewood, I’m from Compton. It was just about music.”

Mack 10 added that Eazy-E didn’t attempt to sign him to his label, Ruthless Records, but he did end up writing for the rapper. “It was a normal experience. He was a cool dude,” Mack added. “I [wrote] a couple of records. I don’t even know if they came out or whatever. When I first went around Eazy, it was just about writing records. It wasn’t about nothing else.”

The Inglewood icon said he never saw Eazy-E in the booth laying down tracks that he’d written, but did joke that he was paid “a little bit of nothing.” Mack 10 said Eazy would “go in his sock” and pull out money to pay him for a song. “Everybody who knows him knows he’d go right in the sock!” he said with a laugh. Check out the clip below along with Westside Connection’s “Bow Down.”