Ice-T Says Having Hip-Hop Beef Isn’t Wise in Today’s Social Media Age

Ice-T doesn’t think that it’s smart for rappers to have beef today in the digital age.

The legendary West Coast rapper voiced his opinion during a recent appearance on the Boss Talk 101 podcast in which he expressed how big that beefs between rappers can get. “The disses that’s going on, like, I can outrap you is one thing. But then when you take it to the next level like ‘When I see you it’s a problem,'” said Ice-T. “The problem with beef is that it can escalate away from you.”

“Say I have beef with Treach and I’m talking shit about Treach. I could run into one of his fans on the street who wants to get active,” Ice-T continued. “Having beef is just not smart if you can avoid it. ”

Ice-T explained why beef between rappers is much bigger today than it was during his prime years (when he had a competitive beef with LL Cool J in rap’s Golden Age). "They didn’t have social media, big difference,” the rapper said. “Social media is an amplifier to everything. It forces reaction that really could be squashed so much simpler."

“Why people have beef and take it to social media is beyond me, especially if you know a nigga’s phone number,” he continued.

This isn’t the first time that Ice-T has voiced his opinions on beef in hip-hop. Earlier this year, after Drake and Kendrick Lemar dropped “Family Matters,” “Meet the Grahams,” and “Not Like Us,” Ice-T hopped on X to let everyone know what he thought about their back-and-forth — or better yet, to let everyone know that he wasn’t thinking about it.

"I'm sorry if I'm not interested in current Rap Beef or random Male Gossip," he wrote. "I'm a HUSTLER. I'm only focused on the Bag💰."

Back in February, Ice-T reflected on the time that Jay-Z approached him at the Grammys to ask if they had beef over the rapper’s 2004 version of “99 Problems” that interpolated the former’s 1993 track of the same name.

“I’m at the Grammys and Jay-Z comes to me. He says, ‘Ice, you know I love you, right?’” Ice-T said. “I say, ‘Yeah!’ He says, ‘Well, it’s on the internet that you mad.’ I said, ‘I’m not mad! They’re bringing up all kinds of interviews about it and they asked me the story, and I told them the true story.’”