“Ain’t Got No Haters” by Ice Cube (Ft. Too $hort)

In “Ain’t Got No Haters”, rappers Ice Cube and Too $hort are using the assertion of ‘having no haters’ as an analogy of the good life they enjoy in general. Or a different way of saying this is that everybody likes them, and accordingly they have no reason to be upset in life. So for instance, in the chorus instead of Cube mentioning enemies or misfortunes, he rather focuses on the fact that he is living it up.

In the first verse Ice Cube gives us a rundown of the different people who like him. This includes you the listener, your woman and the little kids in the hood. Moreover he claims the police (who are traditionally his enemies) favor him as well as his employers, who don’t report him even when he screws up at work. Near the end of the verse, he does acknowledge that he has some haters, but even they ‘love his style’.

Afterwards, Too $hort comes in and like Ice Cube immediately lets us know that he receives “nothing but love”. Then he details specifically what this means to him, which is basically being able to live at a higher standard than the rest of us. For instance while the average man is grinding to make a living, he’s traveling overseas to do shows. And while the rest of us take financial considerations into account when buying stuff, Too $hort doesn’t “shop for bargains”. Ultimately his verse concludes with him bragging that he has been getting paid to rap for three decades now.

Ice Cube then ends the track with another verse where he once again insinuates that his claim not to have any enemies is not to be taken literally.  In other words the purpose of this track is not to present his life as one without opposition.  Rather it is to show those who do hate him that not only does he have better things to think about, but also that he’s a realer and more-successful G.

Facts about “Ain’t Got No Haters”

• This track was penned by Ice Cube and Too $hort alongside Ken Gold, DJ Pooh and Michael Denne.
• “Ain’t Got No Haters” is the number 9 song on the track list of Ice Cube’s 2018 album dubbed, Everythang’s Corrupt.
• “Ain’t Got No Haters” was released on the 7th of December 2018. It was released via record labels; Interscope Records and Lench Mob Records.
• In addition to co-writing “Ain’t Got No Haters”, DJ Pooh worked on its production.
• The video for this track was directed by Alan Ortiz.

Is this the first time Ice Cube is working with Too $hort?

This is not the first collaboration between Ice Cube and Too $hort. Their first work together came in 1990. That year, the duo collaborated on a track named “Ain’t Nothin’ but a Word to Me” on Too $hort’s album named Short Dog’s In The House.

Does “Ain’t Got No Haters” contain samples?

Yes. This track samples at least two other songs. They are; “Oh Honey” by Delegation and “Summertime In the LBC” by The Dove Shack ft. Arnita Porter.