Was Nelly and KRS-One’s beef the most boring in rap history?
Hip-hop has seen some legendary beefs and some not-so-epic face-offs. However, many clashes have just been weird, and in the early 2000s, the old school met the new school when Nelly found himself facing off against KRS-One.
KRS-One was involved in one of the first big hip-hop battles, ‘The Bridge War’ against MC Shan of the Juice Crew. As part of Boogie Down Productions (BDP), the Bronx lyricist challenged the entire neighbourhood of Queensbridge and put himself in the firing line.
Still, he is respected in hip-hop as a formidable rapper who has been involved in the culture since its early days. However, he is also known as a hip-hop purist who has a particular disdain for where the culture went in the late ’90s and 2000s.
As such, it is unsurprising that KRS found himself in a bizarre back-and-forth with Nelly during Nelly’s prime. Following the release of his debut album, Country Grammar, in 2000, Nelly was one of the biggest rap stars in the world and sold nine million copies after just one album.
In 2002, Nelly released his sophomore project, Nellyville, which featured hits such as ‘Hot In Herre’ and ‘Flap Your Wings’. That said, the same year the St Louis emcee released a diamond-certified album, KRS-One spoke out about the commercialisation of rap music on the song ‘Clear Em Out’ from the compilation The Difference.
On the song, KRS raps, “You tired of me saying what’s real hip-hop/ Well I’m tired of you biting my sh-t to go pop” adding, “Sales don’t make you the authority/ It only means you sold out to the white majority.”
Nelly noticed the jab and took great offence at the song. As such, he released ‘#1’ from the Training Day soundtrack, on which he insisted he hadn’t sold out. However, in an MTV News interview, KRS-One insisted he wasn’t talking about Nelly, stating, “I have 16 years of history in hip-hop! When I diss somebody, I say the [rapper’s] name, the name of the crew and possibly the label, and we go all at it. Every battle rhyme I put out, that was my basic stance.”
Still, Nelly responded directly to KRS-One on Freeway’s ‘Roc the Mic’ remix where he spelt out his rival’s name letter-by-letter, rhyming, “I strike a nerve in old MC’s wanting a comeback / I got the strength that he’s lost and that’s fact / Like K – ‘Know’ one here even said your name / R – You really feeling guilty bout something mayn / S – Sad to see you really just want just / One – more hit please please!/You the first old man should get a rapper’s pension / No hits since the cordless mic invention.”
KRS responded by calling for a boycott of Nelly’s album, Nellyville, which was scheduled to drop that summer, and declared himself a “sovereign power” during an MTV News interview about Nelly, asserting, “Nelly challenged a sovereign power!”
He continued, “The MC part of it, I can slap him around for days. I got joints for days!” KRS also released the diss track, ‘Ova Here’, where he says Nelly “sounds like an NSYNC commercial.”
Despite being a battle, the beef was slightly ridiculous. KRS-One is many years older than Nelly, and it seemed strange that someone ruling the charts would reply to an artist who hadn’t had a hit since the 1980s.
Despite being a battle, the beef was slightly ridiculous. KRS-One is many years older than Nelly, and it seemed strange that someone ruling the charts would reply to an artist who hadn’t had a hit since the 1980s. Furthermore, it seemed pointless as battling was nothing but a distraction for Nelly.
Although it was funny, the feud was boring to many and seemed futile to many.