Kid Cudi and Lupe Fiasco have been at odds for years, but long before they became adversaries, Cudi had a feeling that things between them would go south.
In a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the INSANO rapper recalled a near encounter with Lupe in 2008 at the BAPE store in New York City, where he worked before his music career took off.
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Cudi explained that he made an effort to stay out of the way if any famous rappers swung through the store for fear they’d use his retail job as ammo against him in a future feud — and that was the case with Lupe.
“Lupe Fiasco came to the store one day. I was in the back and they were like, ‘Yo, Lupe’s here.’ I was like, ‘Oh shit!'” he said. “Stayed down the stairs [in the stock room], waited until he left. [My colleagues] were like, ‘What you down here for?’
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“I explained it to my dude the same way I explained it to you. I was like, ‘Yo bro, if I get famous one day, I don’t ever want this n-gga saying like, ‘He sold me clothes. You my son!’ We can’t have that!'”
Cudi continued: “If you think about it, he hates me to this day! He hates me. So I was right, I was onto something. I sensed something in the universe. I was like, ‘Fuck this, I can’t have nobody making a diss record like, ‘Yeah, you rang me up, muthafucka.'”
Check out the interview with below. The story about Lupe Fiasco starts at the 34:50 mark.
The beef between Kid Cudi and Lupe Fiasco began in 2014 when the two rappers went back and forth on Twitter over Lupe charging fans $500 for a personalized verse, which Cudi called out for seeming “a bit sketch.”
The following year, Lupe dissed Cudi at a show in Milwaukee, warning the Cleveland native that it’s on sight if they ever run into each other.
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“P.S.: To all my enemies, you are now forgiven/ Except Kid Cudi, ’cause that’s not my muthafuckin’ buddy/ If I see him in the streets, it’s getting’ muthafuckin’ ugly/ Now I know you might be a fan/ Me and him share similar shit and you like, ‘Damn!’/ But that don’t matter, they gonna be back into the chatter,” he rapped during an impromptu freestyle.
Later, in March 2022, the “Kick, Push” rapper took another shot at Cudi while addressing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, letting it be known that their rivalry was very much still alive.
“I hope they can find some time to come to terms with what happened, reconcile, and move on,” he tweeted. “But it’s still Fuck Cudi 4 life.”
In December of that same year, a fan on Twitter asked Lu if, in light of all the younger rappers ending their feuds, he could see himself doing the same with Cudi. The response was concise, yet very clear: “Never. Fuck him 4 life.”
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When another fan caught wind of the comment and jokingly replied that everyone seems to hate Kid Cudi, the Chicago MC reiterated his disdain while also acknowledging his foe’s talents.
“Outside of his musical genius, fame and success, Cudi is a really sneaky punk bitch ass bitch…it’s not even that controversial or spicy of a take. His personal resume outside the spotlight is trash,” he wrote.
