Angie Martinez: Nas v Jay Z

[Arithmetic]

And despite this nikkaz still argue to death that Jay won

 

[wingstop]

nas was calling hov gay and talking about him having dikk sucking lips

but when jay talks about fukking nas's baby mama suddenly its too far

jay got him on blueprint 2 too

 

[MouseTeeth]

Both them shyt's was filled with opinions. nikkas need to stop with this rhetoric. It's bullshyt. "Hip hop heads". nikka the streets was fukkin wit both IWW and I Am heavy. Jay himself said his opinions didn't echo what he said on the record. He was tryna play to the public perception. And it backfired. Cause Nas went straight at the nikka neck. I don't wanna hear that "only one verse" shyt. Jay had 2 more diss songs towards Nas after Takeover. That European Hov shyt. And Super Ugly. And STILL couldn't get the job done.

I was gonna type a long response but it occurred to me we're still arguing about this battle 15 years later, shyt's crazy....GOAT hip hop battle

 

[Piff Perkins]

When people question the power of personality and bullshyt I point to Hov convincing two generations that Takeover was all "facts" and Ether was all lies. Even disappointed former Nas fans in 2000 wouldn't go so far as to say he only had one "good" album. No real rap fan could hear "you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song" and think oh man that's a fact.


In many ways Hov has made Takeover a perpetual diss in the sense that he continues to peddle this "facts" mantra. It still makes me annoyed to this day tbh.

 

[spliz]

I was gonna type a long response but it occurred to me we're still arguing about this battle 15 years later, shyt's crazy....GOAT hip hop battle

Lmao. U right. It is what it is at this point.

 

[Standing on business]

Jay easily won

 

[the cac mamba]

jay got him on blueprint 2 too

how, by whining about donating to charity and making austin powers impressions?

 

[the cac mamba]

When Flex debuted "Super Ugly" on the radio, he played it and "Ether" all night back-to-back over and over. The phone lines were going crazy; people were eating it up. Not only in New York, but we were getting calls from all over the country

At this point Flex wanted to make sure that we made the most of this moment and that, as a station, we owned it: "We're gonna bring Battle of the Beats back, Ang!!!! We're gonna let the city decide who wins this!!! And we're gonna do it on your show tomorrow!"

My show? Why?! Flex said my voice was one of authority, and the contest could start at night with his show and could go into the day and end with me in the afternoons when I would announce the winner. The thought made me uncomfortable, but Flex convinced me that with Power looking to capture our audience it was important to remind people that if it happens in hip-hop, it happens here. And he reminded me if we didn't do it, someone else would. So I agreed. Although I didn't know how the vote was going to go, you could feel the Nas wave building

In all this, Nas was being portrayed as the real MC, the underdog. What I've noticed in our culture is that everybody roots for the underdog, myself included. The only thing about the underdog theory that bothers me is for some reason we feel the need to knock somebody down to build someone else up. In general, this is something that has always irritated the shyt out of me. It's such a terrible, dysfunctional way to treat anyone successful who comes from where we come from. I have always made it a point not to subscribe to that mentality. We should celebrate success and be inspired by it, even while we're championing someone new. But nobody wants to hear that shyt when you're in the middle of a battle

We sat there and hand-counted the votes until the winner was clear—sixty percent of our listeners chose "Ether" over "Super Ugly." As much as it irritated me to hear the venom toward Jay, I agreed that "Ether" was the better of the two records. I'm literally getting ready to announce the winner when I look into the hallway of the station and see Jay Z walking into my studio. "And the winner is 'Ether.'" I had to deliver Jay that blow while he was standing right there

To say he was uncomfortable is an understatement. I couldn't really figure out why he'd agreed to be interviewed in this moment. But evidently he had been under pressure. Like I said, a lot of people felt he had gone too far. Even his mother felt that way. She was the one who suggested that he apologize for getting a woman and a child involved by even mentioning them

I can see him sitting there like it was yesterday—defeated. I had never seen him like that before. He's somebody who's always so big and confident. And I hated to see him down. This is a friend, and I was a part of the machinery that brought him to this point

After the interview, we walked outside the studio to talk alone. "Yo," I said. "Are we okay?"

"Of course. I don't blame you for this," he said. "This was just something that you kind of got sucked into. I'm clear. It's cool."
Angie Martinez – Jay Z vs Nas (Excerpt from My Voice) Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
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That Hov interview remains one of the most awkward things I've ever seen in hip hop lmao

how can you read this and think that jay z WON the battle

you have to be an absolute stan to finish this story like "yeah, that guy won "

 

[Ball]

When people question the power of personality and bullshyt I point to Hov convincing two generations that Takeover was all "facts" and Ether was all lies. Even disappointed former Nas fans in 2000 wouldn't go so far as to say he only had one "good" album. No real rap fan could hear "you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song" and think oh man that's a fact.


In many ways Hov has made Takeover a perpetual diss in the sense that he continues to peddle this "facts" mantra. It still makes me annoyed to this day tbh.

So true yo. I hate that radio dudes like Cthagod, DJ Vlad, even Peter Rosenberg keep saying that takeover is all facts. Read the damn lyrics... it's mostly opinions. shyt had a nice flow to it and the beat is crazy. But for a diss song, Ethers beat is more effective in my opinion.



Takeover Lyrics

How many bars in that verse are really "facts?"

 

[ciubaca]

nas was calling hov gay and talking about him having dikk sucking lips

but when jay talks about fukking nas's baby mama suddenly its too far

jay got him on blueprint 2 too

how, by whining about donating to charity and making austin powers impressions?

 

[Ball]

Seeing them go from that battle to performing together a few times is crazy

 

[wingstop]

how, by whining about donating to charity and making austin powers impressions?

Can't y'all see that he's fake, the rap version of T.D. Jakes
Prophesizing on your CDs and tapes
Won't break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes


And y'all buy the shyt, caught up in the hype
Cause the nikka wear a kufi, it don't mean that he bright
Cause you don't understand him, it don't mean that he nice
It just means you don't understand all the bullshyt that he write
Is it "Oochie Wally Wally" or is it "One Mic"?
Is it "Black Girl Lost" or shorty owe you for ice?
I've been real all my life, they confuse it with conceit
Since I will not lose, they try to help him cheat

I get the spoils cause the victor is me (me, nikka)
You're an actor, you're not who you're depicted to be
You street dreaming, all y'all nikkas living through me
I gave you life when nikkas was forgetting you emcee
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
I'm Big Dog, Glenn Rob, listen God you a flea
And the little homey Jungle is a garden to me
What's the problem B? You not as hard as me

 

[ciubaca]

Can't y'all see that he's fake, the rap version of T.D. Jakes
Prophesizing on your CDs and tapes
Won't break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes


And y'all buy the shyt, caught up in the hype
Cause the nikka wear a kufi, it don't mean that he bright
Cause you don't understand him, it don't mean that he nice
It just means you don't understand all the bullshyt that he write
Is it "Oochie Wally Wally" or is it "One Mic"?
Is it "Black Girl Lost" or shorty owe you for ice?
I've been real all my life, they confuse it with conceit
Since I will not lose, they try to help him cheat

I get the spoils cause the victor is me (me, nikka)
You're an actor, you're not who you're depicted to be
You street dreaming, all y'all nikkas living through me
I gave you life when nikkas was forgetting you emcee
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
I'm Big Dog, Glenn Rob, listen God you a flea
And the little homey Jungle is a garden to me
What's the problem B? You not as hard as me

you forgot to add the part where he admits that he lost

 

[the cac mamba]

Can't y'all see that he's fake, the rap version of T.D. Jakes
Prophesizing on your CDs and tapes
Won't break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes


And y'all buy the shyt, caught up in the hype
Cause the nikka wear a kufi, it don't mean that he bright
Cause you don't understand him, it don't mean that he nice
It just means you don't understand all the bullshyt that he write
Is it "Oochie Wally Wally" or is it "One Mic"?
Is it "Black Girl Lost" or shorty owe you for ice?
I've been real all my life, they confuse it with conceit
Since I will not lose, they try to help him cheat

I get the spoils cause the victor is me (me, nikka)
You're an actor, you're not who you're depicted to be
You street dreaming, all y'all nikkas living through me
I gave you life when nikkas was forgetting you emcee
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
I'm Big Dog, Glenn Rob, listen God you a flea
And the little homey Jungle is a garden to me
What's the problem B? You not as hard as me

but the whole tone of this shyt was someone who lost, trying to regain any respect

 

[wingstop]

you forgot to add the part where he admits that he lost

cause they helped him cheat