The Jay-Z vs. Nas feud was a hip hop rivalry during the early-2000s and one of the most high-profile feuds in the history of hip hop music. It was characterized by comments (both on- and off-record, figuratively as well as literally) between Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Nasir "Nas" Jones from 2001 until resolved in 2005. The conflict received public attention owing to the critically and commercially successful nature of both artists. It is one of the most followed feuds in hip hop history, especially after the aftermath of the East Coast and West Coast hip hop rivalry of the 1990s.
Initially, Jay-Z was a fan of Nas, who became well known after dropping his landmark debut Illmatic in 1994. In 1996, while recording Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt, producer Ski used a vocal sample from Nas' "The World Is Yours" as the chorus to his song "Dead Presidents". Nas was invited to appear on the album and Jay-Z and his business partners, Damon Dash and Biggs Burke, also wanted to sign Nas' group The Firm to their label, Roc-A-Fella Records. It was also planned that Nas and his groupmate AZ would appear on the song "Bring it On." However, the two never showed up to record their verses, creating the beginning stages of animosity between the two camps; in addition, payment and credit for the Nas sample became an issue between the two artists later in the feud. The Firm ended up signing to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, releasing their eponymous album in 1997.
Nas and Jay-Z connected through their respective relationships with rapper The Notorious B.I.G. aka "Biggie Smalls". Biggie went to high school with Jay-Z. As Jay-Z and B.I.G. began to make their reputations in the music industry, they collaborated on songs for each others' albums, Reasonable Doubt and Life After Death, respectively. Nas initated a self-professed rivalry with Biggie. Biggie took issue with a Nas freestyle "Kick in the Door," which was intended for several other rappers as well. Both Nas and artists from B.I.G.'s camp have said it was a friendly competition. In the 2002 song "Last Real Nigga Alive," Nas addresses his entire relationship with Biggie, as well as Jay-Z.
When The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered on March 9, 1997, New York's hip-hop scene began to look for someone to fill the void as its greatest artist. Attention fell on Nas, one of New York's top-selling hip-hop artists, and Jay-Z, who was beginning to build a career buzz of his own. Aligning himself with Bad Boy Entertainment CEO Puff Daddy, who served as executive producer of his second album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, Jay-Z appeared to consciously step up to fill the spotlight held by Biggie. Also, Nas' 1996 second album, It Was Written, was commercially and critically well-received, and Nas was under pressure to succeed even more in the hip-hop landscape.
Prodigy fuels the feud: 1999-2000
Throughout the late 1990s, Jay-Z and Nas avoided competition. Nas became more isolated due to his caring for his ailing mother. However, in August 1999, Roc-A-Fella artist Memphis Bleek made a vague reference to Nas in his song "Mind Right". The line "your lifestyle's written", was interpreted as a diss to the title of Nas' second album, It Was Written. Prodigy was one half of the duo Mobb Deep - who were close to Nas professionally as both artists were both from the Queensbridge projects and had appeared on each others respective second albums. Prodigy took issue with this and also with the lyrics and imagery in the music video to Jay-Z's 1997 single "Where I'm From": “So when I heard that, I was like, “Who is Jay talking about who is talking about hanging in Marcy in they line?” Then I thought about “Trife Life” in my verse I said “jetted through Marcy ‘cause D’s ain’t baggin’ me” because I was out there...Then “Shook Ones” came out, then Jay came with the plastic cups, football jerseys in the projects, taking jabs at us. I was like Nas, what we need to do is go at these niggas because number one, his lil’ man is trying to shit on you; talking about your life is written and all this shit.”
Thereafter, according to Prodigy, Nas continued to ignore the prospects of a beef, and elected not to lash back outright. Prodigy began taking shots at Jay-Z, berating him in an interview in The Source over his lyrics in some of his songs. Afterwards, tensions between Prodigy and Jay-Z increased.
First Round of Disses: Summer Jam 2001
Jay-Z made the first public overtures toward a conflict at Hot 97's Summer Jam hip hop festival in 2001. Reciting the opening verse to the first single for his album The Blueprint, "Takeover", a diss to Nas and Mobb Deep, which ended with the line, "Ask Nas, he don't want it with Hov. No!" Nas responded with an attack on Jay-Z during a radio freestyle over Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full" beat, dissing most of the R.O.C. members — specifically Jay-Z, Freeway, Memphis Bleek, and Beanie Sigel. Initially, the freestyle was untitled but was it was later called "Stillmatic" (which also became the title of Nas' next album) or "H To The Omo" (a direct reference to Jay-Z's song "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)").
Second Round of Disses & Fallout: 2001-2002
In 2001, Nas put out the single "Ether," finally addressing the feud with Jay-Z in full. The song mocked Jay-Z's early years as an aspiring young rapper and accused him of being a misogynist, as well as exploiting The Notorious B.I.G.'s legacy by supposedly stealing his lyrics. On his album, Stillmatic, there were more implied Jay-Z disses, especially on the song "Got Ur Self A...". "Ether" was the most concerted critique of Jay-Z.
Just days after Stillmatic's release, Jay-Z put out "Supa Ugly", a freestyle over "Got Ur Self A..." and Dr. Dre's song "Bad Intentions." The song contained claims that Jay-Z and basketball player Allen Iverson had both slept with Carmen Bryan, the mother of Nas' daughter Destiny, while they were still together. Jay-Z's mother heard the song on the radio and demanded Jay-Z publicly apologize to Nas and his family, to which Jay-Z obliged. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jay-Z claimed that mentioning his relationship with Bryan was fair game when Nas implied Jay-Z was gay in "Ether". The feud continued to simmer, and rumors of a live pay-per-view freestyle battle began to circulate but never came to fruition.
Nas appeared on Power 105 and attacked both the music industry's control over hip hop and the rappers who he saw as submitting to it, including Jay-Z, his label mate Cam'ron, Nelly, N.O.R.E.: "Y'all brothers gotta start rapping about something that's real.... Rappers are slaves." This brought Cam'ron into the Jay-Z/Nas feud; Cam'ron controversially made disparaging remarks about Nas' mother. This caused Nas to retaliate against Cam'ron on the track "Zone Out" on his 2002 album, God's Son. Nas said "You got a house in Virginia, the only way you sicker than us, gettin' bagged with a .22 now you a ridiculous fuck," commenting on the rumor that Cam'ron was infected with HIV.
After Stillmatic, Prodigy bowed out of the feud in awe of the "Ether". Despite "Ether" beating out "Supa Ugly" in a Hot97-sponsored radio phone-in poll, Jay-Z and Nas continued to feud, including Jay-Z criticizing Nas for his apparent hypocrisy on his The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse album's title track. On "Blueprint 2", Jay-Z begins his diss against Nas in the second verse by attacking his street credibility. Jay-Z also says that while he himself is more successful, he is more generous than Nas with his money. Jay goes on to mock Nas' spiritual persona from Stillmatic, and after accusing Nas of using both this appearance and convoluted lyrics in an attempt to appear more intelligent than he is. In the lines immediately after, he also accuses Nas of being contradictory for putting out commercial/materialistic-oriented tracks and then denouncing materialism and misogyny on other songs. Jay-Z also says, "My momma can't save you this time / Niggas is history" referencing the public apology his mother made him make after "Supa Ugly" was released. Meanwhile, on his track "Last Real Nigga Alive" from his album God's Son, Nas compared himself to Tony Montana, and Jay-Z to Manolo respectively from the film Scarface (Montana and Manolo were partners, but towards the end of the film, Montana kills Manolo in a fit of rage), The track details how Jay-Z forced Nas into battling him by attacking him while he was raising his daughter, and caring for his dying mother. After 2002, though, both artists essentially discontinued the feud; Roc-A-Fella Records was embroiled in lyrical battles with Ruff Ryders, mainly Jadakiss and his group the L.O.X.
Fan Response: 2003-2005
For two years after the de facto end of the rivalry, fans speculated consistently on the outcome of the battle while Nas concentrated on recording and his record label under Columbia Records, Ill Will. Jay-Z, meanwhile, began campaigning for his impending retirement, labeling 2003's The Black Album his last project and making headlines for accepting a position as President of Def Jam Records. Neither side directly addressed the conflict until October 2005, when Jay put on a comeback concert called "I Declare War". The rapper invited a slew of guests to perform, including Roc-A-Fella artists and past associates such as Puffy and the L.O.X.; toward the end of the concert, Jay invited his 'surprise guest,' Nas, onstage to pose for photos and perform a blended version of Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents" and Nas' "The World is Yours".
Reconciliation: 2006-Present
The feud was put to a formal end in 2006, when Nas signed with Def Jam, of which Jay-Z was still President at the time. Nas and Jay-Z toured, recorded and appeared on television and radio together throughout 2006; the artists collaborated on Nas' Def Jam debut, Hip Hop is Dead, on the song "Black Republican"; Nas returned the favor by appearing on Jay-Z's 2007 album, American Gangster on the song "Success." They also collaborated on "I Do it For Hip-Hop," a song from Def Jam artist Ludacris' album Theater of the Mind.
Jay-Z was one of several noted individuals who supported Nas' initial decision to name his 2008 album as Nigger. However, Nas backed down, and released the album without a title.
List of relevant records
Jay-Z - "Dead Presidents" - Feb.1996
Jay-Z - "The City is Mine" - Nov.1997
Nas - "The Message" - Jul.1996
Memphis Bleek - "What You Think Of That" - Feb.1999
Nas - "We Will Survive" - Apr.1999
Nas - "Nastradamus" - Oct.1999
Memphis Bleek - "My Mind Right"
Nas - "Come Get Me" - Nov.1999
Jay-Z & Memphis Bleek - "Is That Your Bitch?" - Dec.2000/Jan.2001
Nas - "Da Bridge 2001" - Dec.2000
Mobb Deep - "Talkin Reckless" - Jun.2001
Jay-Z - "Takeover" - Jul.2001
Nas - "Stillmatic Freestyle (H To The Omo)" - Aug.2001
Jay-Z - "The Takeover (New verse)" - Sep.2001
Nas - "Ether" - Oct.2001
Memphis Bleek - "The Crew" - Oct.2001
Jay-Z - "People Talking (Nas Diss)" - Nov.2001
Nas - "Destroy & Rebuild" - Dec.2001
Nas - "You're Da Man" - Dec.2001
Jay-Z - "Supa Ugly" - Dec.2001
Mobb Deep - "Crawin'" - Dec.2001
Beanie Sigel - "Hot 97 Freestyle (Jadakiss & Nas Diss)" - Dec.2001
Jay-Z - "Don't You Know" - Dec.2001/Jan.2002
Jay-Z Feat. (Cam'ron, Juelz Santana & Freeway) - "Hot 97 Summer Jam Freestyle 2002" - Jun.2002
Nas - "U Wanna Be Me" - Oct.2002
Dipset/Roc-A-Fella - "Tell A True Story (Nas & Nashawn Diss)" - Oct.2002
Jay-Z - "Blueprint 2" - Nov.2002
Nas - "Last Real Nigga Alive" - Dec.2002
Cam'ron - "Show You How (Freestyle)" - Jan.2003
Jay-Z - "H.O.V.A (Super Hero Music) (Nas Diss)" - Jan.2003
Bravehearts - "Quick To Back Down" (feat. Nas & Lil Jon) - 2003
