Ice Cube Insists Rhymes Are Shout-Outs, Not Disses

Forthcoming album I Am The West references Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella

Shots fired? Well, not quite.
Ice Cube toys with some pretty popular names on his forthcoming album, I Am The West, spitting rhymes that leave Jay-Z, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella's monikers in murky waters.

But the veteran MC says that, upon closer listen, his lyrics are just referencing others for context — they aren't personal attacks.

"To me, it's styling and finesse, that's where I come from," Cube told MTV News after previewing the album. "It's a lot of MCs out there, it's not dissing [them]. I guess when you mention these MCs that's at the top of the game and you mention yourself in there, you letting [people] know you on top of your game, too. It's on that tip. It's just fresh, fly-ass lines. I couldn't let them go once I thought of them; I had to write them down. But it's not dissing."
Earlier this year, Cube released "Drink the Kool-Aid," which featured the lines: "I ain't the doctor/ This ain't the patient/ This ain't that n---a always on vacation/ This ain't no white boy's rehabilitation/ This is crazier then a boatful of Haitians."
The blogosphere jumped to a quick conclusion that the Los Angeles rapper was taking aim at his former N.W.A groupmate Dr. Dre.
Cube, however, took to his Web site and .
"I met Dr. Dre in the studio last night," Cube wrote. "When I got there, Snoop was in the booth laying the finishing touches on another classic from the dynamic duo. He played me some tracks set for the up-and-coming Detox record and we talked about me jumping on board the project. Of course I talked about him doing sh-- on my record, and he said he'd bless the album."
Last month, though, Cube told MTV News he and Dre for I Am The West.
"He's been M.I.A. for two to three months now," Cube said, laughing. "But I don't feel bad, because Snoop can't find him either."