Nas Reveals Jay-Z Said He Was Better Than Biggie And That Tupac And DMX Were Not Lyricists in 2000

After an unreleased Nas track dissing Tupac was unearthed last week, many rap historians and critics have revisited the battle for New York City rap supremacy in which Nas was a contender during the late ’90s and early aughts. In addition to Nas, the other key players were Jay-Z and DMX, who also had their own subtle rivalry dating back to their mid-’90s rhyme war in a Bronx pool hall.

Now a 2001 Nas interview with FELON Magazine has resurfaced and is shedding new light on one of the most creative and competitive eras in hip-hop’s history. Ahead of the release of his highly anticipated album Stillmatic and at the height of the Queens Bridge rapper’s monumental beef with Jay, Nas circled back with the outlet after initially declining to discuss the conflict, saying, “You know what? I want to talk about this s**t with Jay-Z—FELON is a street magazine, and I f**ks with the street magazines. It’s only right that I keep it real with the streets.”











Esco went on to allege that during a party thrown by Steve Stoute around 2000, Hov said that he was a superior emcee to the late The Notorious B.I.G. and that DMX and Tupac only appealed to “starving street ni**as.”

“We were kickin’ it and he told me that he’s better than Biggie now,” Nas shared with FELON. “I looked at him like he was crazy. Then, he started telling me Memphis Bleek was a fan and that I shouldn’t go at him. He predicted that Beanie Sigel would never sell more than 600,000 copies. He said that Sauce Money was to him what Nature was to me. Then, he really got crazy. He said that Tupac and DMX were not lyricists—they just had the hungry, starving street nikkas coppin’ their shyt—but me and him had all the money nikkas buying ours. I told him that I disagreed with him—that Tupac was the greatest ever—period, and that DMX really brought that street shyt back into the game.

When asked about the root of his feud with Jay-Z, Nas speculated that it could be a number of things, but said that Hov needs to let it go. “I don’t know—I don’t know if it’s over a bytch, I don’t know if it’s over the joint I didn’t do with him, I don’t know if he’s trying to show me ‘I told you so’—meaning that he would be as successful or more successful as me—and if it’s that, it shouldn’t be because I never told him that he wouldn’t or that he couldn’t. All I know is that something is really bothering him and he needs to address it, release it, and get over it.”

While DMX would get wind of Hov’s comments, exacerbating his disdain for the Brooklyn-bred rapper, the two would never engage in an all-out war like Nas and Jay, which continues to captivate the public even 20 years later.

 

Seems like a conscious effort to stir shyt back up.. this from 2001 interview... why would it matter now

 

I believe all that shyt. Jay was really feeling himself around that time. Ether humbled the camel. Brought him back down to Earth.

 

I was just listening to the Miss Jones interview that was posted in the Nas thread.

The way Nas stayed sonning Jay around this time was hilarious. “I didn’t mean to break his spirit, but Ether burns, but I hope he recovers cause his my brother”

 

Biggie the GOAT

 

I remember reading this

it’s been 20
Years man

 

NONE OF THIS IS NEW INFORMATION



This shyt kills me that these publications act like this shyt hasn’t been said ad nuaseum.


Everybody who knows about the battle
Knows about the conversation between Nas and Hov that and that Nas took issue with some of Jay’s comments. This is literally old ass shyt

 

Wow could we be seeing one of the greatest feuds in Hip Hop History....REVISITED????

 

Yea, I actually copped this issue of FELON when it came out because Nas was on the cover (I never was a big fan of FELON magazine). I believed every word Nas said even back then.

 

People forget, the condescending tone Nas had during those Hot 97/Power 105 interviews was as Etherious as the song.

that nikka said Beanie Sigel needed a stern handshake and a talk.

 

Was a wild time in the GOATs life. His mother was literally dying of cancer. He really wasn't in the mood for that sucka shyt Jay was doing.

 

He resurrected that tone a few times over the years.


When he talked about camron dissing him
and he said “THE NERVE!?” with the face.




When he said that Mobb Deep signing to G-Unit was a DISGRACE to Hip Hop


When he was asked about Baby and Wayne kissing and he said “If i catch one of you New York dudes kissing another New York dude on the mouth…i’m moving to RUSSIA”

 

It shows the current generation of
“journalists” don’t research shyt . Know the history. Idiots pretend like the past was never documented

 

I remember these statements almost verbatim. Never knew it stemmed from this interview. Me and one of my friends were talking about this in like 2002.