In 2001, I didn’t know I was getting ready to be exposed to a huge moment in rap when my dad called me into the basement where his Djing equipment was to listen to a new Jay-Z song. The song Takeover was a song of unfettered braggadocio. The 1st verse was nothing unusual, Jay-z was bragging about how he is the best rapper alive and will crush the competition. Nothing new. The second verse was a shot against Prodigy from Mobb Deep. Lines like "I got money stacks bigger than you" and "Back in 88, you were a ballerina" were great lines, but not meaningful. No one would argue that Jay-Z wasn't better than Mobb Deep. But at the end of the second verse, Jay-Z exclaims "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov, nooooooo". As the chorus broke, I was thinking to myself, he's not going to say something about Nas, right? Nas is a legend. He can't take a shot at another rapper from Queens. He did.
"You went from, Nasty Nas, to "Esco's trash" had a spark when you started but now you're just garbage. Went from top 10 to not mentioned at all till your body guard's Oochie Wallie verse was better than yours".
This wasn't just the normal bragging, I'm better, you're not very good. This was 100 percent true, and a damning commentary on Nas's career to that point. Nas, despite having an amazing debut album, had a career on a downward spiral. Nas's verse on "Oochie Wallie" was godawful. Then, in what might be the best lines of the song. He describes Nas as having a "One hot album every 10 year average". Followed by the grade school taunt "You know who, did you know what, with you know who, let's keep that between me and you" The 4th verse really good, but in my eyes the damage was done. What would happen next? How would Nas come back?
“Fuck Jay-Z”
“Fuck Jay-Z”
“Fuck Jay-Z”
And so began a song that created a new term in rap music "getting Ethered", using a Tupac sample no less. Was it a technically better song? I hold the minority opinion that it wasn't. Was it bolder? Absolutely. “Ether” by Nas was a focused effort that ripped the doors off of Jay-Z's effort. From small shots, like calling Jay-Z a camel to larger themes like Jay-Z copying older, more established artists especially the Notorious B.I.G. He even dismissed Jay-Z’s claim to best rapper by using Jay-Z’s line from “Where I’m from”. Jay-Z said people argue every day about “who’s the best emcee Biggie, Jay-Z, or Nas.” In Ether, Nas asks and answers the question, “Who’s the best, Pac, Nas, or Big? Ain’t no best.” I thought that was the strongest line that Nas had.
The popular opinion is that Ether was a better track than Takeover. I’ve already shown my hand. Takeover was a better track for many reasons. First, it’s less dependent on direct gay jokes for punchlines. To be fair, this practice was more accepted 10 years ago, but still it comes across as unfunny looking back on it. Second, Takeover wasn’t just a Nas diss, it was also took out Mobb Deep and essentially ended their status as Class B stars. Third, Takeover featuring a then barely known producer named Kanye West had a much better beat than Ether (although the Tupac sample from Ether is much better than the David Bowie interpolation from Jay-Z’s song). Fourth and more importantly, the focused effort from Takeover is a more meaningful set of shots against Nas at that point of his career than the shots against Jay-Z at that point of Jay’s career.
This battle rejuvenated Nas's career. Ether reminded people that Nas is a great emcee. Jay-Z's career and image took a tiny hit. Afterward, lots of rappers from Joe Budden to Lil’ Wayne took shots at Jay-Z, mostly getting destroyed because they lack Nas’s talent. Despite the public beating Jay took because of this and getting outrapped against Eminem on the same album, he came back on the Black Album and continued to enjoy the success he previously had. Most importantly they later settled their public issues and created “Black Republicans” and “Success”, 2 great song collaborations. Most important, it presented a great set of moments for rap that didn’t end in gunfire and me losing any of my favorite artists.
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