Back in the mid 90s a rap beef started to bubble that escalated into an all out verbal war between
two artists who are considered by many to be the best rappers from their respective boroughs
and went on to be considered two of the greatest rappers of all time. It didn’t just stop at music
though, this one got very personal too. You’ve seen the title, you know the drill, this is the
Rap Beef series. I’ve briefly mentioned this beef in the previous video where I talked about Jay-Z
vs Prodigy as they had happened around the same time and Nas and Prodigy were both dissed on the
classic diss track “Takeover” so if you haven’t seen that video check it out after this. Like
that one this also started off with subliminals in the mid 90s. This beef was a long time in
the making and there’s a lot of lines that can be considered shots back and forth but aren’t direct.
If there’s any missed feel free to toss ‘em in the comment section below. There’s multiple claims
to how the beef started and before I get into the tracks, I’m going to be breaking down the
potential reasons why it began. In June 1996 Jay-Z dropped his debut studio album Reasonable Doubt,
on it was a track titled “Bring It On”, and on this track alongside Jay-Z are Jaz-O and Sauce
Money but it was apparently supposed to have Nas and his friend and frequent collaborator
AZ on the song instead but they never showed up to record. Also Nas was allegedly supposed to
be on the song “Can I Live” from the album as well but once again did not show up to record.
Jay-Z not being able to get Nas on the album at all had a Nas line sampled from his song “The
World is Yours” for the song “Dead Presidents II” also on Reasonable Doubt. Some would say that this
is what sparked the beef, Jay-Z feeling slighted or ignored by Nas. Others would have their own
opinions on the start of the beef between the two, one example being Carmen Bryan, Nas’ ex fiancee
and mother of his first child, Destiny. According to interviews as well as her tell-all book titled
“It’s No Secret From Nas to Jay-Z , From Seduction to Scandal– A Hip Hop Helen of Troy Tells All”
she claims that the beef between the two started because of her relationship she had
with Jay-Z including getting pregnant by him. According to Carmen she met Jay-Z shortly after
Reasonable Doubt released in 1996 and they became romantic roughly a year later. On the flipside
another person very close to the situation claims that they were the start of the beef. That person
being Memphis Bleek, who was a younger friend of Jay’s and considered to be his protege for a time.
Bleek claims that the beef started because he heard that Nas was dissing him on a song
so he dissed Nas back. Personally I believe it started simply from Nas not showing up to record
and everything else just worsened it. Regardless though the facts are that it happened, so let’s
get a bit further into a timeline of the beef shall we? Since Nas never showed up to record Jay
had sampled his voice instead, this would only be the first time that he would sample Nas however.
The next year in 1997 Jay released his second album, In My Lifetime Vol. 1 and on the track
“Rap Game/Crack Game” he sampled a Nas line from the song “Represent” also from Illmatic.
Jay also mentioned Nas on the song “Where I’m From” with the line “I”m from where niggas
pull your cards and argue all day about who’s the best MC, Jay, Biggie, or Nas”. Not a diss
really but another example of Jay showing his admiration for Nas and also the competitiveness.
At the time of the album release Biggie had been murdered months prior, so that conversation would
be between Jay and Nas now. Luxury rides were a topic of conversation too at one point as Jay-Z,
in multiple songs on Reasonable Doubt expressed his fondness of Lexus vehicles and also used
them in multiple music videos. Nas then on his second album, It Was Written released the week
after Reasonable Doubt has a line referencing Lexus as well which was seen as a shot at Jay-Z.
Years later in an interview with Complex Nas stated that the line was inspired by Jay but not
a diss towards him. Later on in August of 1999 Memphis Bleek released his debut studio album
Coming of Age which featured the song “Memphis Bleek Is” which some would say was copying
Nas’ song “Nas Is Like” from his third album, I Am which was released earlier that same year.
I can see the similarities in the title and the chorus and along with the fact that they were
released not too long after one another on top of the beef brewing between them it makes sense to
come to that conclusion. Also on the album is the track “What You Think of That” which features a
verse from Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek on the chorus says “my whole team rock rocks we don’t speak
to cats, ima ball till I fall what you think of that?” a line that would be responded to a little
later on by Nas. Also on the song Bleek and Jay throughout their verses have lines that can be
considered as subliminal shots at Nas. Around this time multiple songs from Nas and Jay would
have lines referencing themselves as the King of New York for example Nas’ song “We Will Survive”
from his “I Am” album which had a verse dedicated to Biggie during which he says “It used to be fun
makin records just to see your response but now competition is none since you’re gone and these
niggas is wrong using your name in vain and they claim to be New York’s king? It ain’t about that”
Then on his fourth album, Nastradamus released later that same year he responded to Bleek’s line
from “What You Think of That” with the lines “You wanna ball till you fall I can help you with that,
you want beef I could let a slug melt in your hat”. Bleek then responded on the
song “My Mind Right”, on the first verse he makes a clear reference to Nas with the lines
“Your life’s a lie, but here’s the truth, you ain’t hype to die but you hype to shoot, you let
the henny talk for you” and so on. Hype here being a double entendre for Hype Williams who directed
multiple music videos of Nas’ as well as directed the film Belly which was Nas’ first film role
and the hennessy reference is funny as years later Nas would go on to be a brand ambassador
for the drink. In the second verse Bleek goes on to make a reference to Nas’ second album, It Was
Written with the lines “Your lifestyle’s written, so who you supposed to be, play your position”
as well as ending the verse with a reference to Biggie who had beef with Nas at one point as well.
Also on his second album,The Understanding as well as the European version of Jay-Z’s
Vol 3 album was the song “Is That Yo Chick?” which is seen by many as a subliminal diss to Nas
as the song features Jay-Z and is all about a woman being unfaithful to her man.
This being something that wound up being true considering the affair between Jay-Z
and Carmen was likely going on at this time. Nas then responded back to Bleek and the rest
of Roc-a-Fella Records with his “Stillmatic Freestyle”, specifically with the line
“Rip the Freeway shoot through Memphis with Money Bags stop in Philly order cheesesteaks
and eat beans fast.” aimed at Memphis Bleek and State Property artists Beanie Sigel and Freeway.
That was followed by multiple lines aimed directly at Jay-Z such as claiming that Jay is copying him,
his rhymes about coke are fake and his clothing line is wack, he also sends a shot at former
friend and collaborator Cormega who he was beefing with at the time as well. All of this led up to
the Hot 97 Summer Jam where Jay-Z put the Prodigy picture on the screen and performed the first two
verses of Takeover dissing Prodigy with that last line aimed at Nas. Then in September 2001
Jay-Z released his 6th album, Blueprint and on it was the completed version of “Takeover”
aimed at both Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Nas. The third verse being 32 bars instead of 16
as verses typically go show just how much Jay had to say about Nas. I will admit that this is
a good diss track and I like it but some of the claims that Jay directs at Nas are inaccurate,
which in diss tracks happens sometimes as the public doesn’t always know or care at the moment
what’s correct but in hindsight we often have a clearer picture.
He attacks Nas’ rap career by claiming that he was good at first but has basically fallen off,
which is something at the time that was considered by many to be true as Nas’ first two albums were
loved by many and considered classics while his third and fourth albums were considered to be a
big fall-off in quality and are considered still by many to be the worst in his discography. Some
had questioned if he would ever be back to the standard he had set at the start of his career.
Since then Nas’s subsequent albums have mostly been considered back to form, especially his
most recent ones. Jay goes on to call him a fake thug and claim his rhymes are just things
he witnessed but never lived it himself as well as mentioning the situation with sampling Nas’ songs
and states that Nas didn’t get paid from the sample, MC Serch from Third Bass did instead. MC
Serch in an interviews would state that he only administers Nas’ publishing so he did get paid
but that he doesn’t own it. Jay-z also goes at Nas with the infamous line “You said you’ve been
in this 10 I’ve been in it 5, smarten up Nas, four albums in ten years nigga? I can divide”
This line is biased in favor of himself, understandably so but still incorrect since
Nas’ first song was indeed released in 1991 but his first album didn’t drop until 1994 and Jay-Z
has been featured on songs since 1986 with his then mentor Jaz-O and the group High Potent MCs.
If you go by then it would be roughly 15 years not 5. Lastly he ended the verse off
with what is probably the most truthful and hardest blow of the verse to Nas personally,
hinting at the affair with Carmen Bryan who as I mentioned earlier is the mother to Nas’ daughter
Destiny. Due to the diss being what it was along with the decline in quality from Nas that was
perceived from fans you could assume that many had counted Nas down for the count at the time.
This was not the case however as on his next album, Stillmatic, released in December 2001,
Nas came back on the song “Ether” which is a vicious verbal assault to Jay-Z and Roc-a-Fella
Records. From the intro it’s made quite clear about how Nas felt about Jay-Z at the time.
It starts with the gunshot sound sampled from Biggie’s song “Who Shot Ya” to the“F Jay-Z” sample
from 2Pac’s song “F Friendz” which already is a good shot at Jay-Z as considering the history
behind them. The chorus comes in with anger and a bold stance of claiming victory already,
bravado that is backed up easily throughout the verses. Nas clearly states his claim as
the better rapper and to be influential to the rappers following him, Jay-Z being one of them
as he sends a shot at Jay at the end of verse with the lines “Name a rapper that I ain’t influenced,
I gave yall chapters but now I keep my eyes on the Judas, with Hawaiian Sophie fame kept
my name in his music” Pretty much all of Jay-Z’s albums up to this point had some
kind of Nas reference whether it was a sample, a diss, or simply acknowledging his skills.
In the second verse Nas goes on to take aim at those who had his back and turned on him,
continuing from the Judas line at the end of the first verse and also this is where the infamous
“Gay-Z” and Cock-a-Fella Records” line comes in as well as comparing Jay-Z to a camel and calling him
out for biting Biggie’s lyrics and claiming that he’s better than him after Biggie died. For the
third verse Nas makes his verse an extended one like Jay-Z did in “Takeover”. He gets much more
personal with Jay going after his appearance again and even getting parental with him with lines like
“My child, I’ve watched you grow up to be famous and now I smile like a proud dad watchin his only
son that made it “You seem to be only concerned with dissing women, were you abused as a child
scared to smile they called you ugly?” He goes on to continue the onslaught with lines dissing Dame
Dash a friend and business partner of Jay at the time in Roc-a-Fella by comparing them to Biggie
and Puffy and goes on to again mention how Jay steals Biggie’s lines as well as how Jay is a stan
for always wanting to have worked with Nas. “Takeover” and “Ether” are considered to be
the biggest songs of the beef and also considered two of the best all time diss tracks in hip hop
and I myself rank both highly as well though my preference of the two is Ether slightly.
It even became a verb in the culture for when someone gets dissed. It gets a bit of hate because
of the beat compared to Takeover but I think both are good. Once again, it’s music and that comes
down to preference. Shortly after the release of Ether, Jay-Z responded with “Supa Ugly”. The
song has Jay-Z rapping over the “Got Ur Self a Gun” beat then Dr. Dre’s song “Bad Intentions”
and he goes in on Nas here with more lines about Nas being a fake thug and making up his rhymes
about being a drug dealer as well as a claim that Nas had to buy his chain back when it got robbed.
In the third verse Jay goes on to tell everyone what he alluded to back on verse 3 of Takeover
which was that he had an affair with Carmen Bryan, the mother of Nas’s child,
and here is where the song gets to be mostly low blows such as
claiming that they had sex in Nas’ cars and left condoms in it as well
as also mentioning that Allen Iverson has had sex with Carmen as well which is something
Carmen would confirm in her tell-all book. The disrespectful nature of the song
even caused Jay-Zs’s mother, Gloria Carter to make Jay-Z apologize on the radio for those
lines in particular about Carmen. According to an interview by Carmen “Supa Ugly” was corny and
an emotional reaction to Ether and the line about the condoms in the car seat was untrue
as her daughter wasn’t even using a car seat at that age. She also states that
A.I. confronted Jay-Z in a club for mentioning his name in the song as well. For the 2002 Summer Jam,
Nas wanted to diss Jay-z like Jay did to Prodigy and him in the previous Summer Jam. The radio
station however denied Nas the chance to do so which led him to go on their rival station 105.1
and diss Hot 97 as well as various members of Roc-a-Fella. Later on in November 2002 Jay-Z
dropped his 7th album, Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse which the title track “Blueprint 2” is
another diss to Nas. This one being a bit more calculated than Supa Ugly. He goes in on Nas
for being fake and also makes mention of how Nas doesn’t give back to the community like he does
and that he’s donated money after situations like Columbine happened to help the victims,
something that according to him Nas hasn’t done. He dedicates a decent portion of the second verse
about the topic of charitable donations. Also like he did on Takeover he makes this second verse
much longer than the first. He goes on to call Nas a hypocrite with the lines “Is it
Oochie Wally or One Mic? Is it Black Girl Lost or shorty owe you for ice?” Overall it’s another
good diss track and goes a bit under-the-radar compared to songs like “Takeover” or “Ether”.
Following this, Nas released his 6th album, God’s Son, in December 2002.
On the song “Last Real Nigga Alive” Nas starts off by detailing the story between him and Biggie
and then goes on to do the same regarding the beef between him and Jay. He admits that Kick in the
Door by Biggie was about him as well as confirming that Carmen did indeed have an affair with Jay-Z.
He also states his mother was sick while Jay-Z was dissing him and that’s why it took him a while to
respond. He also makes claims of his victory over Jay-Z and Roc-a-Fella ending his verse
with the lines “I was Scarface, Jay was Manolo, it hurt me when I had to kill him and his whole
squad for dolo”. As I said with Blueprint2, Nas also approaches this more calm and calculated.
I don’t consider this a diss track necessarily as it’s more so giving backstory on the issues rather
than adding insults or anything to the situation. However this is one of my favorite Nas songs ever.
After this the beef had settled down immensely until a few years later in 2005 when they appeared
on stage together during a concert titled “I Declare War” where Jay invited Nas on stage and
they shook hands, officially ending the beef. Then on Nas’ Hip Hop Is Dead album released in
December 2006 they appeared on a song together for the first time as Jay-Z featured on the song
“Black Republican”. After a decade Jay-Z finally got to do a song together with Nas. Also in 2006
Nas signed to Def Jam which at the time Jay-Z was the president.
The next year on Jay-Z’s American Gangster album they collaborated yet again on the song “Success”.
Then on the Ludacris album Theater of the Mind released in November 2008 they were both featured
on the song “I Do It for Hip Hop” Years later on the DJ Khaled album titled Khaled Khaled
released in April 2021 they were again featured on the same song along with Beyonce titled “Sorry Not
Sorry” The beef would finally be over publicly, but in 2018 when Nas released his album Nasir,
Jay-Z and Beyonce released their collaborative album Everything Is Love that same week which
many online would say was intentional in order to take attention away from Nas’ album release. This
however is of course speculation from fans and not proven however if true it would show that there’s
still some slight competition there if nothing else between the two but this is hip hop after
all of course. Both Jay-Z and Nas have had careers where they’ve made history in this genre and are
respected by many as two of the greatest to ever do it. Their beef went on for years subliminally
and then a few more years publicly and resulted in the two eventually working together which is
great to see, especially compared to some other beefs that wind up with violence or just never get
squashed officially. That’s it for this episode of the Rap Beef series. What’s your favorite diss
from this beef? Which artist is your favorite? What beef would you like me to cover next? Feel
free to answer in the comment section below and remember to click that like button and subscribe.