Common Disses Drake on 'Stay Schemin (Remix)': Is Serena Williams Reason for Rap Battle?

Rapper Common has fired back at fellow artist Drake in a new remix of Stay Schemin, a Rick Ross track that originally featured Drake. As the track goes viral, Twitter users and fans have been speculating on the cause of the first diss by Common and Drake's response on the original track.

To those fans wondering what started the battle between the two rappers, however, the answer may lie not in rap, but in tennis star and romantic interest Serena Williams.

Common Disses Drake

Stay Schemin was a track off the Ross mixtape Rich Forever, which came out Jan. 7. In the original song, Drake disses Common for his recent attacks on the rapper, with lyrics like Don't be ducking like you never wanted nothin' and Back when if a n---a reached, it was for a weapon/Nowadays n---as reach just to sell their record.

The song was a response to a Common track called Sweet, where the rapper made fun of you soft motherf---as and admitted to MTV News was partly aimed at Drake.

Only days after Stay Schemin was released, however, Common had an answer. My motto is Chicago b---h, Common rapped on the remix: I'm taking too long with this amateur guy/you ain't wet nobody, n---a, you Canada dry.

He ends the song by calling Drake out by name: Soft n---a, make no mistake, I'm talking to Drake. It's the remix. Rick Ross, Common and that hoe a-- n---a.

Is Serena Williams Cause of Rap Battle?

Drake Diss, Common and Canada Dry have all been trending heavily on Twitter, but one name has also begun to pop up, and she may be the cause of Drake and Common's rap battles: Common's ex-girlfriend Serena Williams.

After the tennis star broke up with Common, Williams began an increasingly cozy relationship with Drake. In an interview with Complex magazine, Drake made a point of praising Williams back in November 2011, saying she was someone he was proud to know.

I really, really love and care for Serena Williams, he said. She's definitely in my life and I'm in her life. Drake provided no further details about the nature of their relationship.

It may be that ambiguity that caused Common to diss Drake so virulently, spouting off a thinly-veiled reference to both Williams and Drake's biracial background in one particularly cruel line.

Can't say my name, but rap about a n---a's wife/ You so black and white tryna live a n---a's life, Common rapped.

'Your all I know I can't let go.'

But if the battle between Common and Drake started over Serena Williams, it's almost certainly not because Drake is dating the tennis player now. In fact, Common's diss may be because the other rapper snubbed her.

On Friday, the same day the original Stay Schemin came out, Williams had a Twitter meltdown about an unspecified failed relationship, saying she was heartbroken and couldn't stop thinking about the man who'd wronged her.

I tried. Hard, Williams wrote in a post fans believe was directed at Drake, rumored to be back with model Dollicia Bryan. I've been doing everything I can to bite my tongue... But.... But really?? Shocking.

I'm afraid to sleep, she continued, because I keep dreaming about you... Even though I try I can't let go, something in your eyes captured my soul. Every night I see u in my dreams. Your all I know I can't let go.

The 29-year-old then posted a close-up, with the caption: You suck.

Only one day later, meanwhile, Serena Williams was cozying back up to ex-boyfriend Common, responding to a Twitter post where the rapper asked which of the 12 songs on his new album The Dreamer, The Believer was the fan favorite.

loving I lost, Williams tweeted back. oh yea? Common posted. U wanna B N the video?

Listen to Common Dissing Drake

Whether or not Serena Williams was the cause of the rap battle between Drake and Common, her relationship with both men undoubtebly brought an edge to the disses the two rappers have been exchanging in 2012.

Now that Common has fired back at Drake so quickly, fans on Twitter, Tumblr and music blogs are waiting eagerly to see what Canada Dry will end up calling Common.

Wonder if Drake gone diss back, one fan tweeted. Common just gave Canada Dry a new meaning in his diss toward Drake, another wrote. This is hip hop yall gettin soft.

Below, listen to Common's diss on the Stay Schemin Remix: