MursFans who flocked to the annual Paid Dues Festival this year were treated to some live performances from West Coast vets like Ice Cube, Murs and Tha Dogg Pound, but they may have wondered why one up-and-comer wasn't included on the bill. Jay Rock, the Watts, Calif. native, was noticeably missing from the line-up, an omission that festival organizer Murs claims wasn't made by accident.

Murs, who is in charge of booking talent for the event, opted not to include his friend Jay Rock because of the recent online beef that hatched between he and headliner Ice Cube. "There was some fear on the part of other rappers that there might be something happening," Murs told Shade 45 personality and Paid Dues host Angela Yee. "When certain artists come and you have to provide a certain amount of security for them and they are already in fear of what's gonna happen and you invite the person they may be in fear of, then he might not perform and I can't have that."

Murs claims that the decision to exclude Jay Rock was done as a business decision, and that it wasn't personal. "I don't know Cube, I respect him, but I don't know him. He's not a friend. I know [Jay Rock's] Top Dawg [Entertainment] and that was hard," Murs continued. "I had to make a businessman decision. I had to put on my business hat. It was mainly my business partner that kept pushing me in that direction 'cause I was like 'F--- it, I don't give a ... ' But then for somebody to get on stage and talk s--- about the New West, I'm like, why would you do that? We're young kids who respect you. I'm showing respect. I'm paying you to come out, but maybe he wasn't talking to me, maybe he wasn't talking to Jay Rock. I don't know."

The beef between Ice Cube and Jay Rock extends back to March 2010, when Cube posted a blog on his website stating, "[I]f you didn't have a record out before 1986 ... you probably can't tell me s---." Jay Rock took to his Twitter page to respond, taking the comments personally. "WATTS UP WIT ICE CUBE TALKIN KRAZY ABOUT NEW WEST N-----," he tweeted. "IF HE GOT A PROB WIT 1 OF US HE SHUD SAY R NAME N STOP BN SCARED 2 CALL A N---- OUT."

Ice Cube is currently prepping the release of his ninth studio album, 'I Am the West,' currently scheduled for a September 28 release. Murs is gearing up to release nine more albums this year, while Jay Rock is set to release his long awaited debut album 'Follow Me Home' in the near future.

More From TheBoombox