LL Cool J Clarifies Jay-Z Battle Rap Story, Claims ‘Loungin’ Wasn’t a Shot at Him

LL once joked that he doesn’t get a Roc Nation brunch invite because he laughed at Jay rapping in high school.

LL Cool J in a black hoodie and beanie, and Jay-Z in a black tuxedo with a bow tie, are smiling and embracing at a music event

(Photo by Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

LL Cool J has cleared up the rumors that he battled Jay-Z in a parking lot and dissed him on the song “Loungin’.”

On Friday, Charlamagne Tha God published a sit-down interview with LL to promote his new album, and the Queens rap legend was asked about his alleged friction with Hov. There was a longstanding rumor that these two rap legends battled in a Manhattan parking lot, and LL used a verse from his song “Funkadelic Relic” that led Jay and his crew to ridicule him.

According to LL, that wasn’t the case. The battle happened, but he didn’t use that specific verse and instead ran out of rhymes. The match wasn’t going to work in his favor either, as he was already years into his career while Jay was still trying to get signed.

“First of all, I didn’t rap a verse from ‘Funkadelic Relic.’ Okay? That’s the first fucking thing,” he said before recalling the battle. “It’s bullshit. It’s not true. What did happen, though, is I see guy and he’s in the club flashing money to get my attention and I’m looking like, ‘Okay.’ And then this man Sauce [Money] came up to me and was rapping. Remember, I’m albums in now.”

He continued, “You know, these are guys that ain’t had that deal. So when I ain’t have a deal, there was a suitcase of rhymes. Now I’m albums in. Sauce said some rhymes. I said a couple of rhymes. Then I said a little bit of a song, ‘Ain’t No Stopping This.’ A little bit. Then Jay came up rapping. I was out of rhymes, b. In no scenario was I like fully loaded and ready to rhyme. If I was, I’m not exactly like, you know, the first rapper that you really want to get into that shit with.”

Twitter: @ArtOfDialogue_

LL admitted that his rhyme bank was low, and Jay got the best of him as he was a much hungrier rapper than his Queens counterpart. He then compared it to someone attempting to shadowbox Floyd Mayweather right after he stepped out of the ring from a fight.

“So yes, did I run out of rhymes? Was I finished rapping? Abso-fucking-lutely. Was it their peanut gallery? Absolutely,” he added. “But do you really wanna get into some of that kind of shit with LL? You really want that? Do dudes really want those problems or is it just a nice story to have?”

He added, “It’s like Floyd taking off the gloves and stepping out the ring and you shadowboxing in front of him. Like ‘I caught you’ and it’s like ‘Ok.’ Y’all caught me…I wasn’t prepared. I ran out of rhymes. You know he been rapping on the corner for 10 years, he got fucking a thousand rhymes. I ain’t got none. I’m out of rhymes. He raps. Okay, congrats you got that one.”

Charlamagne then asked LL about “Loungin'” being a Jay-Z diss song which he claimed wasn’t but explained he was inspired by Hov to rap those lyrics on the song. In the music video for “Loungin’,” LL rides around in a Lexus, a car that Jay-Z was known to whip around in the mid-90s, and fans believed that and a few lines were directed at the Roc Nation boss.