Tag Archives: jay-z vs. nas beef

Today in Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z’s Landmark LP ‘The Blueprint’ Turns 20 Years Old!

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On possibly the world’s most tragic day in recent history (9/11), Hip Hop mogul Jay-Z released one of his best LPs, The Blueprint, on his own Roc-A-Fella Records imprint. The fall of the World Trade Center obviously overshadowed the release on that date, however, before the end of 2001, The Blueprint introduced Jay-Z as the head honcho of the game that we see today.

With a full-scale battle brewing between him and Queensbridge legend Nas, Jay utilized this spotlight to showcase his versatility, his ability to make mainstream hits as well as take on an MC or two that think he’s not qualified to sword fight on the mic. Even though it was polled in NYC by Hip-Hop radio station HOT 97 that Nas defeated Jigga on wax 58% to 42%, however, with Hov’s acquisition of the presidential position at Def Jam just a few years later, it sort of ended up being a draw with Nas as one of Jay’s artists.

Some of the memorable tracks from the album’s theme were “The Takeover”, the initial blow threw at Nas, the romanticized “Song Cry”, the sinfully soulful “Heart Of The City” and the epic “Renegade” track featuring Eminem.

Shout out to Jay and the entire staff at Roc-A-Fella for this timeless Hip-Hop classic!

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z’s Landmark LP ‘The Blueprint’ Turns 20 Years Old! appeared first on The Source.

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DJ Khaled’s Upcoming Album Will Have Jay-Z And Nas On Same Song

DJ Khaled, Nas and Jay-Z

DJ Khaled pulls off the ultimate collaboration. “The album is 100% done.”

Over the past month, DJ Khaled has continued to build the anticipation for his 12th studio album. The Grammy Award winning producer has frequently given fans an inside look every time he receives the vocals for an artist feature. From Roddy Ricch to Justin Timberlake and Megan Thee Stallion, those are only a short list of artists on another highly anticipated DJ Khaled album.

Back in 2020, DJ Khaled tapped frequent collaborator, Drake, for two tracks: “Greece” and “Popstar.” When Drizzy couldn’t make the “Popstar” video shoot due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Justin Bieber stepped in for the role. It is safe to say that Khaled Khaled features each and every fan favorite.

In addition to the tracklist announcement, Khaled dropped a snippet to visuals for his latest track “Sorry Not Sorry.” The historic moments feature Jay-Z, Nas, & James Fauntleroy. Knowing the history between the two New York emcees, this is one for the books of Hip-Hop history. While it is a coincidence that the two NY rappers have shared the same release date for years in the past, they are now trading bars on the same track.

DJ Khaled took to his IG to post the snippet if the video.

JAY-Z said: Khaled GOD LOVE YOU 
I said: I LOVE GOD! 

GOD BLESSED MY ALBUM. MY FAMILY BLESSED MY ALBUM. JAY-Z BLESS MY ALBUM. NAS BLESSED MY ALBUM. THE HIVE 🐝 BLESSED MY ALBUM. 
#KHALEDKHALED THIS FRIDAY APRIL 30 TH”

Peep the snippet video below.

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Today In Hip Hop History: Nas Released His ‘Stillmatic’ LP 17 Years Ago

On this day in 2001, the self crowned “King of New York” released his fifth studio LP, Stillmatic. During Nas‘ musical absence the power in New York had shifted and Jay-Z had stepped up and eclipsed Nas as the best MC in New York. The title itself shows that Nas had a chip on his shoulder and used this album to show the world who was STILL the best rapper alive out of the five boroughs.

Nas and Jay-Z were in the midst of one of the biggest feuds in rap. With this being the theme of the time, the lyrics of this album carried a malicious flavor. This new side to Nas’ sound is most prominent on the track Ether that is one of the most straightforward diss tracks in rap. The disrespect that was put on on this record makes the Drake/Meek Mill conflict look like a childhood dispute. Throughout the album Nas continues to showcase his no-holds-barred style of lyricism, dropping names of those he feels have disrespected him left and right and setting records straight about his spot in Hip Hop. With every bar you can feel Nas attacking the game and making sure his place is felt by everyone listening. This album is also a lot less openly righteous than his previous work. Nas is a righteous individual so there will always be undertones of positivity in his work, but on this album the focus was on the cold and darker side to Hip Hop and New York City in general.

Released on Columbia Records, the album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 342,600 albums in its first week. Within a month, the album claimed the #5 spot and was certified platinum January 16, 2002. By July 2008, the album had sold 2,026,000 copies. This “comeback” album received majority positive reviews from critics. Nas was praised by critics from Rolling Stone, AllMusic and The Source, who gave this album the coveted 5 Mics.

After this project, Nas went on to put out five full length studio albums, a compilation album and a collaborative project with Damian Marley. Today, Nas is a spokesperson for Hennessy and still tours performing hits from one of his many classic albums. He has grown to be a titan of the Hip Hop industry and a lot of this success wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the pop culture revival that was Stillmatic.

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