LL Cool J has responded to journalist Bonsu Thompson's theory that the Notorious B.I.G. dissed the rapper and actor on his 1994 track "Who Shot Ya?"
At around the 19-minute mark of LL's recent interview on SiriusXM's Sway in the Morning, as seen above, he was played a clip of Thompson suggesting he had heard there was some shade thrown by Biggie on the song. “I need him to stick to his day job, and if that is his day job he might wanna reassess that shit,” he said after laughing off the suggestion there was animosity between him and Biggie.
"Nah, I got love for him, I’m just teasing. I'm just teasing, man, don't get mad at me,” LL said. “No, that’s not true. I was in the studio when Biggie wrote ‘Who Shot Ya?’ Literally. Like, I was literally in the studio when he made the song. I was literally, physically in the studio with Notorious B.I.G. when he wrote ‘Who Shot Ya?’... I said ‘Biggie, yo, why you smoke so much weed when you write your joints?’ At this time, I guess he was still writing. ... He said, ‘It makes me feel like I’m in the track,’ and we just started laughing."
He said he didn't want to disrespect Thompson but he made sure to stress that he was there when the track was made, and there were never any issues between them. "Big was my man, I did 'Flava in Your Ear' remix, we did that together," he continued, calling the suggestion Biggie dissed him "100 percent false."
"He was just a great dude and I liked him a lot. And nah, he wasn't taking a shot at me," said LL. "He was saying whoever wanted it can get it, that's regular. That comes with the territory."
Thompson shared his theory with Sway a few months back after he said a certain rap "legend" shared the rumor with him.
"I've heard this before, from a certain rap legend... Who said that, you know, Big didn't care for LL," Thompson said, as seen in his interview on Sway in the Morning. "He bit too much. I don't have any confirmation on this." When he heard about these rumors, he started to make connections thanks to some lyrics on "Who Shot Ya?"
The specific line he thought was a diss, though, was in the first verse: "Old school new school need to learn though/I burn, baby, burn, like 'Disco Inferno.'" It's also been suggested it might've been a subliminal diss directed at 2Pac because of his song "Old School."
