Dwelling on rap beef isn’t always wise. More often than not, time heals all wounds. In the case of JAY-Z and Nas, who once squared off in one of hip-hop’s greatest feuds of all time, the pair have since gone on to be recurring collaborators. Though the occasional shared release date sparks tinfoil theories of lingering animosity, for all intents and purposes, the dust has settled around this once cataclysmic bout. Still, the memories remain, with many fans debating a victor to this day.
It’s not entirely surprising that JAY and Nas’ beef still elicits such passion. Both emcees are genuine GOAT contenders, and being that fans love nothing more than ranking rappers in numerical order, it makes sense that their battle would be an effective deciding factor. In this case, “Takeover” and “Ether” are the primary exhibits, as the opening shots were among the most immediately impactful. While the former struck Nas with the unexpected brutality of a drive-by shooting, Nas retaliated with the full force of his own considerable arsenal.
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JAY might have tipped the scales in his favor with “Super Ugly,” a freestyle over Dr. Dre and Knoc Turn-al’s “Bad Intentions” that aired out some personal drama in an uncharacteristically petty fashion. So much so that JAY’s mother actually admonished him for releasing the track in the first place. Despite the blatant disrespect, “Super Ugly” did not mark the conclusion of the beef as “The Story Of Adidon” did for Pusha T and Drake. There was indeed a second round, and while it isn’t discussed nearly as much as the first, it still gave us two incredible songs from both corners in Hov’s “Blueprint 2” and Esco’s “The Last Real N***a Alive.”
In terms of quality alone, there’s a case to be made that the second round is even better than the first. Though the impact of the blows was admittedly lessened — which probably explains why it’s seldom discussed with the same reverence as “Takeover” and “Ether” — the tracks shine for different reasons. For one, both are far more reflective, positioning Nas and JAY as strategic generals rather than soldiers carving it up on the battlefield. Impressive though it was to marvel at their martial prowess, it was equally compelling to observe how they assessed the rap landscape in the wake of the bloodshed. The way one reacts to adversity reveals true character. In JAY’s case, he opted to reserve the title track of his expansive Blueprint 2 for his official second-round response. Given the inherent significance a title track possesses, it was clear that he had a lot to say.
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There are some who would go so far as to call “Blueprint 2” the realest shit JAY-Z ever wrote. It would not be a hot take. One does not queue up an instrumental built from Ennio Morricone score from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly only to phone it in. Shortly after “unleashing the flutes,” a tone is set. That of a lone wanderer surveying a desolate wasteland, dangerous to approach and wise beyond measure. Hov suits the archetype well, only briefly breaking immersion to channel one of cinema’s great alpha males — Austin “Danger” Powers.
After establishing his mindset in the opening verse, JAY shifts focus to Nas in the second, likening him to a false prophet — “the rap version of T.D. Jakes.” Yet rather than focusing entirely on tearing down his foe, he instead spends ample time building himself up. Citing his role in relief efforts for both Columbine and 9/11, Hov admonishes listeners for failing to see the bigger picture. “And y’all buy the shit, caught up in the hype, cause the ni*ga wear a kufi, it don’t mean that he bright,” he raps. “Cause you don’t understand him, it don’t mean that he nice / It just means you don’t understand all the bullshit that he write.” Directly afterward, Hov accuses Nas of hypocrisy, highlighting oppositional messages within his music — with particular focus on his attitude toward women. “Is it Oochie Wally Wally or is it One Mic? Is it Black Girl Lost or shorty owe you for ice?” he ponders, giving fans space to draw their own conclusions.
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Interestingly, Hov appears to acknowledge himself as the loser of the conflict, taking solace in lessons learned in defeat. In doing so, he also presents a new angle with which to attack: the narrative that in sparking the beef, he played a direct role in revitalizing Nas’ career. “You street dreamin’, all y’all ni*gas livin’ through me, I gave you life when ni*gas was forgetting’ you emcee,” he raps. “I’m a legend, you should take a picture with me / You should be happy to be in my presence, I should charge you a fee.” Between the calculated authority with which JAY-Z raps and the song’s undeniably triumphant aesthetic, “Blueprint 2” has gained much retrospective acclaim in the years since its release. If not for anything, it showed that were he provoked further by a potential Nas response, he was ready and willing to square up for another round.
Despite JAY having written off his opponent as inauthentic and essentially non-threatening, at the end of the day, there’s a reason Nas is a staple on so many top ten lists. His pen game can be truly incisive, his storytelling pedigree elite. It’s perhaps unsurprising that he decided to take that route for his “Blueprint 2” response, loading up his God’s Son album with the historically-dense “Last Real N***** Alive.” In similar fashion to Hov, Nas stayed his hand in favor of a more introspective analysis. As JAY moved to paint Nas as an unreliable narrator, Esco retaliated by placing his cards on the table. In the opening lyrics, he reflects on his upbringing alongside Jungle, Lake, and the late Ill Will, who passed away in a fatal shooting. Acknowledging his discomfort with the street life, Nas explains that his skill behind the mic ultimately garnered the early attention around his name.
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It’s that very skill he moves to attack JAY with, as he reflects on the complex dynamic between himself, the Notorious B.I.G, and Raekwon. As he tells it, the latter two never got along, often accusing one another of biting Nas’ slang. Nas acknowledges that he drew influence from Big and Rae alike, pointing out that JAY shifted from spitting dexterous triplet-flows (pioneered by his mentor Jaz-O) into the more popular mafioso rap style of the early nineties. By cementing himself as a key player in pioneering that particular subgenre alongside Rae and Big, Nas directly positions himself as a direct influence of JAY’s style. He later acknowledges how JAY broke out with “Ain’t No Ni**a,” a more mainstream-friendly radio track; in other words, Nas flips Hov’s previous “Is It Oochie Wally Wally or is it One Mic?” criticism by highlighting a time JAY followed a similar trajectory in pursuing commercial success.
Though “Blueprint 2” and “Last Real N***Alive” represent round two of the feud, the shadow of “Super Ugly” cannot be ignored. A round-one-and-a-half of sorts, JAY’s highly disrespectful freestyle was too incendiary to go unacknowledged, and Nas did his best to contextualize the salacious revelation. “Baby moms thought I was too quiet, couldn’t stand it,” admits Nas, a brutally honest moment of self-assessment. “She hit the streets, later on she hittin’ the sheets / With a rapper who wanted me on his songs, thinkin’ he strong / I taught her how to watch for cars who might follow / Taught her street shit that I know / Her weakness was shine yo.” Note the double entendre in the final line, with “shine” sounding an awful lot like “Shawn.”
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Rather than dragging his rival through the mud in a similar fashion to “Ether,” Nas instead attempts to rationalize JAY’s motivation, chalking it up to misguided ambition. “In the middle of that, Jay tried to sneak attack,” he raps, noting how he took a moment away from the spotlight to nurse his ailing mother. “Assassinate my character, degrade my hood, cause in order for him to be the Don, Nas had to go.”
Considering how furiously Nas and Hov attacked in their opening round, “Blueprint 2” and “Last Real N***a Alive” can sometimes feel anticlimactic. Yet in reality, both songs are as impactful as their predecessors, and arguably superior in some regards. While there’s something to be said about two formidable warriors locked in furious combat, the post-battle reflection can be equally fascinating. Seeing how JAY-Z and Nas reacted to their widely publicized bout of bloodsport exemplified their pedigree as emcees.
Considering how the “King Of New York” position was an underlying factor in their feud, it’s interesting to note how both parties responded as a wise King should. One does not last as long as they have by plunging headlong into needless conflict. In that sense, JAY and Nas concluded their beef with the most ideal outcome. Though neither backed down, by offering a more contemplative — and occasionally self-critical– reflection on the conflict, both lyricists were ultimately able to walk away with their pride intact. And perhaps ironically, given how frequently they tried to assert dominance over one another, as equals.
Should round two of JAY and NAS’ legendary conflict be spoken with the same reverence as round one?
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LISTEN: JAY-Z – Blueprint 2
LISTEN: Nas – The Last Real N***a Alive