Today in Hip Hop History On October 27, 2005, Nas and Jay-Z – two legends who once fiercely opposed each other – shared the stage at the “I Declare War” tour in East Rutherford, New Jersey, ending a years-long feud. The performance rocked the arena, the audience erupted in emotional screams, and the whispers between them were so emotional that it was hard to believe they were truly affectionate.
Nas unexpectedly “rekindles the legendary beef” with JAY-Z: Confesses to still texting each other about Ether and Takeover!
In the track “Thun” from the album King’s Disease III, Nas sent shockwaves through the hip-hop community when he suddenly brought up his decade-long war with JAY-Z. Just a few rap lines were enough to make fans “freeze”:
“No beef or rivals, they playing Ether on TIDAL… Sometimes I text Hova like, ‘N**a, this ain’t over’, laughing.”*
Not only did he declare that he no longer had a grudge, Nas also revealed that he still occasionally texts JAY-Z to tease him about the “old war” – as a joke between brothers after the storm.
But if we go back to the 90s – early 2000s, it was the number 1 battle in the history of American rap: back and forth words in real life, diss in music, and finally created two “bombs” Takeover and Ether – legendary diss songs that are still analyzed and argued about to this day.
After Supa Ugly and Last Real N**a Alive*, no one thought that two people who “chopped each other to pieces” on beats could share the stage. But they did the unthinkable: rap together on stage, shocking the entire music industry. The next twist? Nas joined Def Jam, where JAY-Z was the president.
From enemies to collaborators, the duo collaborated many times, most recently on DJ Khaled’s “Sorry Not Sorry.” Nas even said on the Broken Records podcast that he was “honored to be a part of the most iconic beef in hip-hop history.”
And now? It looks like Ether and Takeover aren’t completely dead — at least in the… messaging of these two “big guys.”