If Nas never dropped Ether on Stillmatic

[Sinister]

Would Stillmatic be as good? Would Nas and Jay be looked at the same?

Imagine if instead of Ether Nas put Salute me or everybody's crazy on there instead.

To be honest I think "braveheart party" was a terrible song. I'm not trying to hate on it getting 5 mics but I wonder if Benzino working on the intro had something to do with it? (Like Lil Kim getting great reviews after working with him). It was written was arguably better...maybe even lost tapes.

Nas himself said he thought about not responding to Takeover at all and that he felt it was garbage and didn't need a response.

What it look weird having an album chalked full of subliminals with no direct real response record? What if he never mentioned Jigga by name? What if he said he spoke to Steve Stoute and decided that he didn't want to take it there after what happened with Big or Pac? Or if he said Jay dissed him as a publicity stunt? What if Nas was all "Terrorism just hit us. We don't need more division, especially amongst black people".

We'd have no super ugly, don't you know, blueprint 2. No summer jam controversy or power 105 rant dissing Cam, Nore, Nelly, Flex, Angie, etc. All the countless songs referencing ether like brooklyn high, venus vs mars, hustlers, last real nikka alive....no shether either. Ron Browz wouldn't call himself ether boy.

I guess I'm trying to make the argument that responding to a diss song can make a huge difference in a career, album, or legacy.

 

[NerlensNoLs]

Of course it would be different, ain't no arguing that shyt. Nas knew it too, knew he needed that return to form. Nastradamus had something like half the sales of "I Am" and it looked like Nasir was going the way of a lot of other rappers.

Personally though...first track I listened to was You're Da Man, and I couldn't give two fukks about Ether. That shyt was prime Nasir.

 

[ThirdAct]

Ether isn't even the best song on Stillmatic. If anything it would just be replaced by a better song that was recorded in those sessions ike No Idea's Original, Purple, Doo Rags or Star Wars

 

[Stick Up Kid]

ETHER isnt even a top 10 song on the album

-2nd Childhood
-Ur Da Man
-What Goes Around
-Every Ghetto
-Stillmatic Intro
-One Mic
-Smokin
-My Country
-The Flyest
-Got Urself a Gun

 

[JustCKing]

"Ether" was a GOAT diss, but there's at least five other songs better than "Ether" on Stillmatic.

 

[Pop123]

Ether isn't even a top 7 record on the album, and it's fire, so no, that album is excellent with or without it

 

[areohbee824]

Yeah it would be easily. Listened to "Stillmatic" few times yesterday actually

 

[Sinister]

Ether isn't even the best song on Stillmatic. If anything it would just be replaced by a better song that was recorded in those sessions ike No Idea's Original, Purple, Doo Rags or Star Wars

ETHER isnt even a top 10 song on the album

-2nd Childhood
-Ur Da Man
-What Goes Around
-Every Ghetto
-Stillmatic Intro
-One Mic
-Smokin
-My Country
-The Flyest
-Got Urself a Gun

"Ether" was a GOAT diss, but there's at least five other songs better than "Ether" on Stillmatic.

I am not arguing that it's the best track top 5 or anything.

I'm talking about how big Takeover was then. How nobody expected for Nas to come that hard. How every diss track list to beef dvd to countless radio segments and tv specials followed this event.

Ether is why you use the word "ether" and "Stan".

Would hip hop allow Nas to get away with forfeiting to Jay? Would his credibility take a hit? Would Takeover be considered the goat diss by many were there no Ether?

Would Jay and Kay Slay have still been cool.

There's more to a rapper, his image, and career than what tracks we think are better on a talk about on a forum 16 years later.

 

[JuvenileHell]

Ether isn't the best song on the album. it's the most impactful song though

 

[JuvenileHell]

I am not arguing that it's the best track top 5 or anything.

I'm talking about how big Takeover was then. How nobody expected for Nas to come that hard. How every diss track list to beef dvd to countless radio segments and tv specials followed this event.

Ether is why you use the word "ether" and "Stan".

Would hip hop allow Nas to get away with forfeiting to Jay? Would his credibility take a hit? Would Takeover be considered the goat diss by many were there no Ether?

Would Jay and Kay Slay have still been cool.

There's more to a rapper, his image, and career than what tracks we think are better on a talk about on a forum 16 years later.

Oh well when you put it that way, yeah if Nas didn't drop Ether it might've been over for him. Takeover is just WAY too big of an elephant in the room for him to ignore

 

[Tasha And]

I don't even listen to Ether when I revisit Stillmatic. I don't listen to Takeover when I listen to Blueprint either. Nas needed to drop Ether but it didn't necessarily;y have to be on the album for the album to be considered good.

 

[SuburbanPimp]

Obviously Ether helped the buzz for the album and the whole beef probably inspired Nas to make a dope record...

But the album is really good without the song itself on there

 

[JustCKing]

I am not arguing that it's the best track top 5 or anything.

I'm talking about how big Takeover was then. How nobody expected for Nas to come that hard. How every diss track list to beef dvd to countless radio segments and tv specials followed this event.

Ether is why you use the word "ether" and "Stan".

Would hip hop allow Nas to get away with forfeiting to Jay? Would his credibility take a hit? Would Takeover be considered the goat diss by many were there no Ether?

Would Jay and Kay Slay have still been cool.

There's more to a rapper, his image, and career than what tracks we think are better on a talk about on a forum 16 years later.

If Nas hadn't responded with "Ether", Stillmatic had enough heat to where Nas would have saved face in terms of the talk of him "falling off". He would have had to respond to Jay eventually though.