Did Big Pun really smash a bottle over Jay-Z’s head amid Terror Squad beef?
Hip-hop beefs vary in nature. Sometimes, they are very public-facing and obvious. These kinds of feuds see diss tracks being exchanged and disrespectful comments circulating on social media. However, there are often opaque feuds that aren’t noticeable to the average fan. Big Pun was involved in the latter.
Low-level feuds simmer but usually never get addressed publicly, and, to the surprise of many, there are a lot of them. Whether it’s concerning treatment behind the scenes or label troubles, artists often seek to use their music to jab and taunt their foes softly.
That said, the beef between Terror Squad and Roc a Fella must be one of the most low-profile feuds in rap history. Fat Joe was a big business in the early 2000s, and so was Jay-Z. However, the only public-facing feud fans saw involving Fat Joe was with 50 Cent. The same can be said for Jay-Z, as many only saw his feud with Nas. Following that, he seemed to have no issues with anybody in hip-hop except for 50 Cent, who was non-existent, to say the least.
However, reports of a clash between the two crews first surfaced in the late 1990s. According to various reports, an altercation occurred at the celebrity hotspot, Club Carbon. However, all the recollections of that night seemed to contradict one another, and nobody could sort the truth from the lies.
The reporting, which was fuzzy at best, seemed to indicate that Fat Joe and Big Pun’s Terror Squad clashed with Jay Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records at the club. One of the more sensationalist stories even suggested that Big Pun had stuck Jay-Z with a bottle during a fight.
Furthermore, as people scavenged for information, stories about guns and knives in the club began to circulate. Furthermore, as people scavenged for information, stories claiming guns and knives were used began to circulate. Despite the lack of evidence, all versions of the story had one common denominator: a fight between Terror Squad and Roc-a-Fella occurred. Whispers in Brooklyn and the Bronx all had embellishments, but for years, New York hip-hop enthusiasts have been keen to know whether or not Big Pun smashed a bottle over Jay-Z’s head.
Many decades after the event, former Terror Squad member Cuban Link, who was at the club, answered fans’ questions and set a few things straight during an appearance on Vlad TV. While recollecting events, he insisted that it was Memphis Bleek, not Jay Z, who was on the receiving end of some confrontation.
Detailing the night in Club Carbon, Cuban Link stated, “People got it twisted with that. It was two altercations with Jay Z. That one—the club—was a whole different thing. Jay Z wasn’t even there … That time it was Bleek.”
Moreover, Cuban Link revealed that it was the complete inverse of what people think and asserted that Memphis Bleek was the one attempting to use a bottle and that the Terror Squad simply responded, unveiling, “Bleek rocked somebody [from Terror Squad] with a bottle… Ni—as came back to the VIP bleeding and then after that, [we] got it popping. Ni—as started chasing the whole Roc-A-Fella.”
Several subliminal shots were thrown in tracks after the event. One was reportedly recorded by Sauce Money and released on a mixtape by DJ Whoo Kid. However, in several interviews, Sauce Money denied recording a diss track for Big Pun and even apologised if they misinterpreted it.