The songs Jay-Z and Nas have collaborated on
Jay-Z and Nas are two of the best lyricists in hip-hop history and are always mentioned when people look to name their top five rappers of all time. Both New York MCs burst onto the mainstream in the 1990s. However, before the turn of the millennium, Nas (real name Nasir Jones) was far more well-known and respected.
Jones’ first two albums, Illmatic and It Was Written, were lyrical masterpieces and many saw him as untouchable. However, as Jay-Z began to rise in the ranks of hip-hop, by 2001, Jay (real name Shawn Carter) was at the forefront of the culture, and, boastfully, he took it upon himself to diss Queensbridge natives Mobb Deep and Nas.
On his Blueprint track ‘Takeover’, Carter rapped, “I don’t care if you Mobb Deep, I hold triggers to crews / You little fuck, I got money stacks bigger than you”. However, aiming at Jones, he also rhymed, “You guys don’t want it with Hov / Ask Nas, he don’t want it with Hov, no!”
Unfortunately for Jay, Nas caught wind of this diss not just aimed at him but aimed at his Queensbridge counterparts Mobb Deep. In response, he released ‘Ether’. The Stillmatic song was disrespectful but also comedic in reminding listeners that in Jay-Z’s first-ever music video appearance, he wore a Hawaiian shirt, which ultimately undermined Jay-Z’s gangster image and was highly comical.
He drew comparisons between the rapper and Notorious BIG, highlighting how similar they were, making listeners question Jay-Z’s originality. The track severely damaged Hov’s credentials as a top-tier emcee, as he was lyrically outwitted and outsmarted by Nas.
The track was raw and clear, with the first three words being “F*ck Jay-Z”, so there was no ambiguity surrounding who the song was aimed at. Following the exchange of records, there was a lingering tension between the two. However, as years went by and Jay-Z began to break records, the pair eventually put their differences in the past.
In 2021, during an appearance on Rick Rubin’s Broken Records podcast, Nas reflected on the feud and looked back at it fondly, stating, “The art of emceeing was right there on full display,” he said. “It was like, if you’re in the rap game, this could happen, a battle. It was like, ‘This rap thing is real. A battle could really happen.’ So I was honoured to have that part of my life happen because that’s how I saw the greats do it coming up. I saw some of the greats do it.”
Jay-Z has previously admitted that it was a great moment in hip-hop, and Nas seems to have reflected that sentiment with Rick Rubin. That said, since the beef, the two have collaborated on a number of occasions.
Only five years after their 2001 record exchange, Nas and Jay-Z teamed up for ‘Black Republican’, a track which featured on Nas’ 2006 album Hip-Hop Is Dead. The track sampled Nono Rota’s ‘Marcia Religiosa’, a song from the soundtrack of The Godfather III.
Two years later, the New York legends hit the studio with Atlanta star Ludacris as he released ‘I Do It For Hip-Hop’ from his 2008 project, Theatre Of The Mind. Nas also appeared on Jay’s 2007 project American Gangster.
However, one of their best collaborations was ‘BBC’ a star-studded lineup that included the best of 2000s hip-hop and R’n’B artists, seeing appearances from Nas, Beyoncé, Timbaland, Pharrell, Justin Timberlake and Swizz Beatz.
You can hear ‘BBC’ in the video below.