At one point, they even took a poll about the beef, with 58% of listeners saying they preferred “Ether” to “Supa Ugly”. Radio stations like Hot 97 would encourage the feud by playing “Ether” and “Supa Ugly” back to back. In the two rappers’ native New York City, the atmosphere was particularly intense. Some claim that Roc-A-Fella artist and JAY-Z protégé Memphis Bleek was brought into the feud with his first single from his Coming of Age album, "Memphis Bleek is.," which has arguable similarities to Nas’ "Nas is Like." Most notably, however, is the track “What You Think of That”, where Bleek raps, "My whole team rock rocks, we don't speak to cats/I'mma ball till I fall what you think of that?"
However, he also dropped a line on "Where I'm From," which many consider to be his first shot fired at Nas: “I'm from where n***** pull your card, and argue all day about/Who’s the best MC’s, Biggie, Jay-Z, and Nas.” In March of that year, Biggie Smalls passed away, and JAY-Z did not hesitate in making a claim for the New York hip-hop throne on his song "The City is Mine." Chapter Two: The Bleek Beef Then in 1997, JAY-Z sampled Nas’ voice once again on "Rap Game/Crack Game," another friendly nod to his rival. It wasn’t necessarily a shot at him but because the song was a shot at everybody, he fell into that. It’s not a shot at him but he inspired that line. It wasn’t a shot at Jay but it was just saying that’s the minimum you gotta have. I got rid of my Lexus at that point and I was looking for the next best thing. There can never be the end of poets, that's just impossible."I saw JAY-Z driving a Lexus with the TVs in them. "I think the death of hip-hop is just very premature and wildly exaggerated," he said. Considering the response that song and his album's gotten, Jay-Z's certain that despite perennial reports to the contrary, hip-hop's here to stay.
His favorite track off "The Blueprint 3": "Empire State of Mind," is the duet of "hope and emotion" that he and Alicia Keys will perform at Game 1 of the World Series Wednesday night as the New York Yankees take on the Philadelphia Phillies. 1's, it's just beyond anything that I can fathom." Just for my name to be in the same sentence, let alone surpass him for most No. "You never think that your name will be mentioned with someone as legendary as Elvis Presley. "You just never fathom that that's possible, as an artist, any artist, in any genre of music," he said. 1 records in the chart's 50-year history.
1 position on the Billboard 200 chart, crushing Elvis Presley's record and making him the solo artist with the most No. But music brought Jay-Z back in the news again earlier this year, when his latest album, " The Blueprint 3," gave him his eleventh No. "You had to have the equipment to be a DJ, invest in the equipment, but this is a fun way to enter into it."Įxploring new territory makes sense for Jay-Z - since establishing himself as a ruler in the realm of popular music, he's branched off into fashion (starting the Rocawear clothing line), nightlife (opening New York's 40/40 club), and sports (co-owning the NBA's New Jersey Nets). "I think people are making their own playlists and they're their own DJs so to speak, they just didn't have the technical devices to really do it and do it in a loose way," he said. The rapper hopes the game will allow players to dabble in beat-mixing without shelling out tons of dough. original mixes that DJs contributed to the game."
"The reach it has and the blending of different genres of music, it was like 'Guitar Hero' for me taken to the next level," Jay-Z said. A special edition of the game, "DJ Hero Renegade Edition," features a turntable controller and two compilation CDs, one from Jay-Z and one from fellow rap all-star Eminem. Having dominated the realm of popular music, he's off to conquer the world of video games, lending his beats and rhymes to "DJ Hero," in stores today. Jay-Z waxed poetic about the president, the future of hip-hop, and the New York Yankees while promoting his latest project. It's going to take at least two years to uncover all that." But you've got to figure that we just went through eight years of the worst administration ever. "I feel he's done a great job and I feel he's not running away from issues, he's taking them head on, which is going to put him in the line of fire of criticism, but that's part of his job description," the 39-year-old hip-hop impresario told Monday. 27, 2009 - President Barack Obama is getting high praise from one of his most visible pop culture supporters through the campaign and beyond: Jay-Z.