Cipha Sounds has claimed that he was threatened by Noah “40” Shebib after the producer believed he had played Kendrick Lamar‘s Drake diss “Not Like Us” during a gig in Toronto.
Speaking on his Juan Ep Is Life podcast with Peter Rosenberg, the former Hot 97 DJ revealed he received a direct message from 40 in which he called him a “bitch” and threatened to “smack” him in the mouth.
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Reading out the alleged message, Cipha said: “How about I go to your city and play a song where someone calls you a pedophile? I knew you never liked us. You act nice, but you really a bitch. It’s on sight. When I see you, I’m gonna smack you in the mouth.”
However, Cipha later denied spinning “Not Like Us” in the Canadian capital and claims the whole thing was a big misunderstanding.
OVO 40 allegedly threatened DJ Cipha Sounds in DMs because 40 thought he played Kendrick's Drake diss 'Not Like Us' in Toronto 😬
"How about I go to your city and play a song where someone calls you a ped*phile? I know you never liked us. It's on sight, when I see you, I'm gonna… https://t.co/x7ijtX7JEM
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) May 30, 2024
In a video posted to Instagram on Thursday (May 30), the radio personality turned comedian explained that he was doing some comedy shows with Dave Chappelle in Toronto and that his social media manager simply put the song over some photos from the events.
“Hi, my name is Cipha Sounds and apparently I’m involved in some crazy internet controversy right now, so I’m gonna clear things up,” he began.
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“First and foremost, there’s a bunch of blog headlines and Instagram posts saying that OVO 40 threatened me because I played Kendrick Lamar ‘Not Like Us’ in Toronto. Not true, whatsoever.
“So here’s the deal: first of all, I’ve been going to Toronto since 1998. It’s my second home. I got so my many friends there, so much family. I love the city.
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“People that know me know I’m not no fuck face idiot that would go to Toronto and play ‘Not Like Us.’ That is a stupid thing to do.
“I hate all this beef shit. I hate controversy, I hate smoke, I hate drama. I hate that those two are beefing with each other. It’s nasty for the culture, it’s negative and it’s detrimental.”
Cipha Sounds then explained the situation in more detail, blaming the naivety of his young social media manager and expressing hope that he and 40 could patch things up.
“Here’s what happened: I did some shows with Dave Chappelle in Toronto two weeks ago and some pictures of those shows went up,” he continued.
“This kid that’s now helping me with my social media — brand new, just hired him — put up the pictures from that show and put the Kendrick Lamar song underneath.
“And I was like, ‘Uh oh, woah, don’t do that. Craziness.’ Called him, said, ‘Hey, thats a dumb dumb move. Take it down.’ He was like, ‘I thought it would be funny.’ It wasn’t. ‘Take it down.’ [He] took it down immediately. Pictures are back up. Had a great time in Toronto.
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“40 was mad at me. I’m hoping that, man to man, we can still have this conversation. I told this story on my podcast because I was hurt about what happened. Hopefully we can talk it out. I want no smoke. I want no drama. Love the guy. I’m a big fan.”
He added: “Again, I would never be disrespectful and I did not play the song in Toronto. I wasn’t even DJing. I was doing stand-up comedy.”