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When rap producer Ron Browz crafted the ominous beat that would ultimately become Nas’ legendary 2001 diss track, “Ether,” he initially had a much different MC in mind: Nas’ rival, Jay-Z, who was offered the instrumental first. But Jay’s then-A&R executive, Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua, passed on the track, with no idea that it would later become the backdrop to one of rap’s most iconic diss records.
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“I get a phone call: ‘Nas wants you to come to hear what he did to the beat,’ ” recalls Browz, who had handed his CD to Nas’ travel agent months prior. “I go to the studio. Nas is in there eating fruit. Calm and no entourage. Just him and the engineer, and he’s like, ‘Yo. Play it for Ron.’ Then I hear the intro: ‘Fuck Jay-Z.’ I was like, ‘Wait. I didn’t put that in there.’ ”
At the time, Browz was living at his mother’s house in Harlem and had only scored one other placement, for the late rapper Big L’s “Ebonics.” “I’m in shock, but the whole time, [I’m thinking], ‘Ron, this is your introduction,’ ” Browz says. “In my mind, I’m like, ‘Is this a good thing or bad thing?’ Because it was going at the No. 1 artist in the game. I just remember sitting there with the great Nas, who said, ‘I’m putting this out on Friday,’ which was Jay-Z’s birthday. Jay-Z’s birthday is Dec. 4, and my birthday is Dec. 6, so it was like a fly birthday present.”
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“Ether” proved to be the game-changer Browz’s career needed, swiftly propelling him into the spotlight upon its late-2001 release. And, 23 years later, his story still resonates with many producers, especially in today’s competitive hip-hop climate where feuds are more prevalent than they’ve been since the 1990s or early 2000s. This year alone, there have been clashes between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion, Latto and Ice Spice, Chris Brown and Quavo — and, of course, Drake and Kendrick Lamar, whose blockbuster beef yielded seven diss tracks in a month, including Lamar’s Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper, “Not Like Us.”
Produced by Mustard, “Not Like Us” was the producer’s first-ever No. 1 on the chart — and arrived three years after his most recent top 20 Hot 100 song, Roddy Ricch’s “Late at Night.” “Mustard worked like a machine, sending beats daily because he was trying to get [Kendrick] on his album. This went on for months,” says Meko Yohannes, Mustard’s manager and co-founder of their record label, 10 Summers. “He was just overwhelming him with beats. As long as [Kendrick] said, ‘Keep them coming,’ we kept them coming.”
“Not Like Us” immediately became a pop culture phenomenon. Actress Taraji P. Henson used the song during her opening monologue at the 2024 BET Awards. Serena Williams crip-walked to the track while hosting this year’s ESPYs Awards. Multiple professional sporting leagues, most notably the NBA, used the song during their broadcasts. And at his Juneteenth Pop Out concert, livestreamed on Amazon Prime, Kendrick performed it five times. “I didn’t know what we were getting ready for,” Yohannes says. “I don’t think anybody did. Mustard always wanted to work with Dot. That was one of the things missing from his résumé. For the first time working together, not only is it Mustard’s biggest record, but it’s also Dot’s biggest record.”
Even if a diss record doesn’t become a “Not Like Us”-size hit, it can still significantly increase the profile of the producer involved. Though “Ether” failed to chart on the Hot 100 and only peaked at No. 50 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, it boosted Browz’s visibility in New York, where top-tier producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland reigned supreme at the time. “Ether” “was all you heard in the neighborhood, coming out of cars and anything with a radio,” Browz recalls. “Cars, stores, everything. It stopped the city.”
Browz, who had received $1,500 for Big L’s “Ebonics,” earned his “first big check” with “Ether,” for $10,000. But while he landed placements for DMX and 50 Cent following the song’s success, he also experienced some growing pains.
“This time, in New York, the club scene is crazy. Once we started going to the club, I worked with DMX, Lil Kim, Fat Joe, Ludacris and 50 Cent. Artists would say, ‘I need that “Ether.” Send that.’ I remember doing that for a while. I was getting the placements, but they weren’t the singles,” he says. “Singles had to be bright and happy, so I had to switch the sound, and that’s how my hit ‘Pop Champagne’ ” — the 2008 single that hit No. 22 on the Hot 100 on the strength of a remix with Jim Jones and Juelz Santana — “came about.”
While producing a big diss track has advantages, it’s not always without consequences. Several producers contacted for this story — including The Alchemist, who produced Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams,” as well as Wyclef Jean, who co-produced Canibus’ 1998 track “Second Round K.O.” — declined to speak about their experiences, preferring to leave them in the past due to the significant political implications involved. Reopening an old wound, or potentially straining relationships further after the fact, isn’t ideal for producers looking to expand their networks.
For Mustard, though, it’s working out. As “Not Like Us” remained in the top 10 of the Hot 100 during the summer, Mustard used the momentum to propel the release of his first album in five years, Faith of a Mustard Seed. (Lamar doesn’t appear on the project, but plenty of other hip-hop stars do.) Its first single, “Parking Lot,” featuring Travis Scott, dropped about six weeks after “Not Like Us” and peaked at No. 57 on the Hot 100, becoming Mustard’s highest-charting song as a lead artist since 2020. The track also continues to boost Lamar, who was named the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show headliner in September.
“We held back on [releasing] ‘Parking Lot,’ ” Yohannes says. “We stopped it because we wanted to give room to see how high ‘Not Like Us’ would go. We sat back like everybody else, just watching. It’s something that you can’t just make happen; you got to be ready for it and do your best to build off the momentum.”
This article appears in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.
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There is a thin line between competition and conflict and in the ever-evolving landscape of Rap and Hip-Hop, all it takes is a few words or actions to tilt the scale towards beef.
At their best, the beefs gave us quotables and songs that have become a part of our cultural catalogue from KRS-One’s iconic lines on “The Bridge is Over” or Jay-Z’s jab at Nas’ iconic song “The World is Mine” on “Takeover.” At their worst, the beefs led to violent interactions that served as warnings for the future (rest in powerful peace Tupac Shakur, Christopher Wallace and too many more).
Whether you rooted for the underdog or cheered for the villain, here is a list of nine Hip-Hop beefs that altered the way we listened to the culture’s music to this day.
9. Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J
Considered by many as one of the first instances of rap beef, the two’s feud not only produced some of the biggest rap moments (Kool Moe Dee’s rap Grammy performance and LL’s Jack the Ripper series), but also set a precedent of using rap disses to enlarge both stars’ brand. For LL, he’d become one of rap’s earliest commercial successes, leading the line of success and respect into the 90s and beyond. His rise also foreshadowed a theme with the pioneer’s anger with younger MC’s who felt slighted by the next generation’s hubris.
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8. Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown
Kim’s ascent into rap in 1996 alongside the Notorious B.I.G. and Junior Mafia brought a new aesthetic for female rappers as she embraced a more sexual and aggressive energy. Unfortunately, competition between her and fellow Brooklyn rapper Foxy Brown became inevitable as the two traded words over the years on various songs including Kim’s verse on Lil Cease’s 1999 song, “Play Around,” “The Notorious Kim”, and Mobb Deep’s “Quiet Storm Remix”. Foxy’s venomous verse on “Bang Bang” proved prophetic, and the violence and residual tension that followed over the years make it one of rap’s most memorable beefs.
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7. Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy
For these two southern MC’s who have since gone on to rectify their differences, their dispute over Gucci’s first commercial record, “So Icy,” ushered in a flurry of diss records back and forth that escalated to alleged violence off the records. Unfortunately, their antics and the energy behind it ushered in a new dimension of dissing enemies, encapsulated by Gucci’s gesture of smoking on the remains of an enemy, a move he’s since condemned.
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6. LL Cool J and Canibus
For Canibus, the rising phenom in rap at the time, being featured on a song with someone as accomplished as LL Cool J was an honor. His initial verse on the posse cut, “4,3,2,1,” however innocent, prompted LL’s furious response, and the records that followed only made LL’s battle rap status grow larger. Canibus’ “Second Round KO” and L’s “The Ripper Strikes Back” also introduced whether fans preferred battle records from overtly lyrical rappers or more commercially renowned artists.
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5. 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.
Largely remembered for the shocking claims made by 2Pac against Biggie on the song “Hit Em Up”, the primarily one-sided beef spurred a slew of responses from Biggie and others, both directly and subliminally which fueled the environment that led to their untimely deaths. The behind-the-scenes antics between Bad Boy Records and Death Row only exacerbated the tension and forced former friends to cross all types of lines that rap had yet to see before then.
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4. Jay-Z and Nas
After years of tension and perceived disrespect, Jay-Z and Nas’ early 2000s beef produced two of rap’s biggest diss records, “Takeover” and “Ether,” and simultaneously added to both stars’ classic repertoire of albums and songs. Despite the propensity for violence that existed, both men’s decisions to end their issue and work together represented a rare display of maturity, unlike anything we’d seen at that time for stars of their magnitude.
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3. Ja Rule and 50 Cent
Arguably one of the most influential rap beefs of the early 2000s, 50 Cent’s and Ja’s behind-the-scenes issues spilt onto the national stage when 50 attacked Ja multiple times on his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. 50’s unrelenting vendetta against Ja and Murder Inc. successfully made him a legend in many eyes and all but erased the stellar run of one of rap’s most influential and successful rap labels. Despite both artists moving on to different endeavours, the beef between them remains one of rap’s most noticeable land mines, going off at least once a year on social media without fail.
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2. Ice Cube and N.W.A
In the eyes of many rap fans including Cube himself, his 1991 diss response “No Vaseline” is arguably the most known and well-crafted. Before rap fans became accustomed to the idea of a 20 v 1 type battle, Cube took it upon himself to diss his former group N.W.A singlehandedly, so much so that they decided not to respond. At the top of his game both critically and commercially, his diss carried the same weight as Jay-Z and Nas with a level of sophistication and execution that has yet to be reached by a diss record since.
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1. Kendrick Lamar and Drake
Much like how Jay-Z and Nas’ beef festered over the years before exploding onto the scene, Kendrick and Drake’s feud following his verse on Big Sean’s “Control” grew, culminating in years of subliminal jabs. Kendrick’s feature on the Future and Metro Boomin’ single, “Like That” forced both sides into the competition and from there, we got more rap disses in a week than we’d ever seen from two competitors. The speed of their releases, rollout strategies and cleverness upped the ante for rap feuds that typically played out over time and showed us the lyrical brilliance of both camps regardless of who you felt was the victor.
Culturally, the response to Kendrick’s song, “Not Like Us” both online and during Kendrick’s Juneteenth concert, continues the communal call-and-response aspect of rap disses that we’ve loved since its inception. In a short amount of time Not Like Us has become a rap anthem and one of the year’s most streamed songs, much like Drake’s Back to Back became a Grammy-nominated song.
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Nas announced that he has plans to bring an adaptation of the iconic Hip-Hop film Beat Street to Broadway.
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While making an appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival last Friday (June 14) for a special screening of the film Beat Street, Nas announced his plans to bring the film to the bright lights of Broadway as a musical. He will be joining the creative team currently composed of Arthur Baker, Michael Holman, and British investor Richard Fearn. Other members of the group are expected to be named in the upcoming weeks. Baker served as the co-producer, composer and music producer of the original film, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of its original release in 1984 at the festival. Holman was an original associate producer of the film.
Beat Street follows teens – a DJ, a graffiti artist, and a break-dancer – from the South Bronx who strive to become successful as Hip-Hop grows in popularity. The film, brought to life by the venerable actor and activist Harry Belafonte, starred Rae Dawn Chong, Gus Davis and Jon Chardiet alongside several notable artists and groups of the era including DJ Kool Herc, Doug E. Fresh and the Rock Steady Crew among others. Belafonte would contribute music to the two-volume soundtrack, with the first volume becoming one of the first rap records to become certified gold. Beat Street was directed by Stan Lathan, and would go on to be one of the more impactful films of the culture.
“Beat Street wasn’t just a film – it spread the revolution of hip-hop culture throughout the country and the world. It left an indelible mark, inspiring generations of young artists and creating new Hip-Hop fans alike,” Nas said in a statement. “It’s a thrill for me to join the creative team of Beat Street, bringing the raw energy of Hip-Hop into the fabric of Broadway. It’s an honor to breathe new life into this iconic work and celebrate its enduring legacy.” The upcoming musical adaptation is the Queensbridge native’s first foray into theatre, continuing a stellar career of multiplatinum albums, 16 Grammy nominations and the production and directing of film and television projects through Mass Appeal.
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Nas is a long way from his days in the famed Queensbridge housing projects and the debut of his classic debut album, Illmatic and later this summer, a celebration will be in order. Nas will honor the 30th anniversary of Illmatic by way of a trio of shows in Las Vegas backed by an orchestra.
The 30th anniversary of the release of Illmatic took place this past April with the rapper, real name Nasir Jones, taking to Instagram to bring light to the milestone.
As reported by Billboard, Later this summer, Nas will be joined by the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra for a trio of shows to perform the 1994 classic complete with the backing of live instrumentation.
This isn’t the first time the Queens, N.Y. star has done so, performing with the National Symphony Orchestra for Illmatic‘s 25th anniversary. Employing a similar format, The King’s Disease artist aims to do the same with an entirely new backing band.
“Las Vegas has always served as a creative outlet for my music, and these performances will take that to the next level,” Nas said to Billboard in a statement. “I am excited to partner with the Las Vegas Philharmonic to bring this first-of-its-kind performance to Encore Theater and to showcase my music to my fans in Las Vegas in a whole new way.”
The shows take place on August 29, August 31, and September 1.
Tickets for the event are on sale this Friday (May 24) at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT. Please visit Ticketmaster for purchase here.
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It’s been ages since we’ve heard Hip-Hop legends Nas and Ghostface Killah on the same track, but two of the best MC’s from Hip-Hop’s golden era have once again reunited to give us some new work that gives us that OG feeling of what the rap scene in New York City was like back in the 1990s.
Collaborating for the new cut “Scar Tissue,” Ghostface Killah and Nas got into their bag of bars, but there wasn’t anything sweet in there. The two MC’s laid out the murder game and bodied the track with Ghost spitting, “Payback’s a b*tch ain’t it? That’s why I don’t talk to ni**as, I’m good, I ain’t gettin’ acquainted/Middle finger to the judge, we still killin’ the plaintiff! We Staten Island ni**as, we ain’t gotta explain it!”
Of course, Nas put in some work as well with his rhymes saying, “Nothing bigger than Ghostface and Esco/Legal Mexican cartel money, call me Arnesco/Guzman, Lopez, Garcia, gold-plated AKs lethal when you see us/Between the fingers, smoking on thousand dollar blunts, tell these suckas I got everything they want.”
Man, we need another Wu-Tang album with a Nas feature or two.
Check out “Scar Tissue,” and let us know your thoughts on the track in the comments section below.
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Nas and DJ Premier have made musical magic together throughout their still-ongoing careers, and the promise of a joint album between the pair is seemingly confirmed as fact. The pair connected for the track “Define My Name,” with Nas hinting at the long-awaited collaborative project with DJ Premier.
Fans of Premier know to expect hard drums, heavy basslines, and expert scratching on the hook from the legendary producer and member of Gang Starr. Nas, who has proven to be in great shape lyrically during his recent run with Hit-Boy, hasn’t lost any of that momentum present across all three King’s Disease projects and the Magic trio.
From “Define My Name”:
The definition of my name probably started where/I rode the E train, fingers covered in ink stains/Writin’ was like an escape, excitedly leave the beat flamed/It was Ra, Kane, Kool G and Kris/Few names like Cool James, ‘Face, Cube and Rick
The bar work is exceptional per usual but some fans felt the track from Premier wasn’t strong enough. However, Nas making mention that “it’s album time” near the end of the track caught the interest of Hip-Hop Xitter. The duo have teased this mythical pairing for years and now all signs are pointing to actually happening.
DJ Premier produced three tracks from Nas’ classic debut album, Illmatic, so it’s fitting they’re putting out this new heat today to celebrate three decades of creative excellence.
Also, Nas announced Friday (April 19) that he will embark upon his Illmatic 30-Year Anniversary Tour across Europe and the United Kingdom this fall. Learn more here.
Check out the reactions below along with “Define My Name.”
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Tracy Morgan has been in the entertainment game for decades, but it wasn’t until now that the OG comedian found out that he’s related to royalty in the form of the Queensbridge King, Nas.
According to HuffPost, Tracy Morgan participated in an episode of PBS’s Finding Your Roots series, and it was during that show that he learned that he and one Nasir Jones (Nas) are actually third cousins on his mother’s side. Tracy spoke about the discovery during a recent interview for the Connect The Dots podcast and recalled the moment he broke the news to Nas himself.
“I called him up, and I say, ‘Yo Esco,’” he said, according to HuffPost. “He said, ‘What up, Tray?’ I said, ‘Guess what? I just did ‘Finding Your Roots,’ me and you related.’ He started crying. I started crying. And I said to him, ‘If you ever need me, I’m there, cuz.’ He said, ‘Cuz, if you ever need me, I’m there.’”
Well, at least we know Tracy won’t be asking Nas to borrow money as the man is still living large off that $90 million Walmart settlement he won due to an accident he suffered back in 2014.
Still, it’s not like the men are strangers to one another as they do share a history already with Morgan explaining, “me and Esco was always tight before that. I did a show years ago on Comedy Central, a special called One Mic, that was for Nas’ mom, that just passed away. I named my special ‘One Mic,’ so me and Esco always been tight.”
Don’t be surprised if Tracy Morgan appears on Nas’ next album on a interlude or something.
The Tracy Morgan episode of PBS’s Finding Your Roots is set to air Feb. 20. Will you be tuning in? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Mass Appeal, the company founded by legendary Queens rapper Nas, is the target of a lawsuit from a former white executive alleging racial discrimination among other issues. Melissa Cooper filed suit against Mass Appeal on Tuesday and added that a fellow white executive was also responsible for creating a hostile work environment.
The Daily Beast reports that Melissa Cooper, a longtime documentary producer whose credits include the upcoming Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told, says that she faced racial discrimination and other hostilities while working at Mass Appeal as its head of development.
According to Cooper’s lawsuit, Peter Bittenbender, Mass Appeal’s chief executive and is a white man, and Jenya Meggs, the company’s senior VP for partnerships & content acquisition and a Black woman, “discriminated against her by removing her from several high value projects, creating a hostile work environment, and terminating her employment.”
As the outlet adds, terms like “White folks” and “crackers” rankled Cooper and there was evidence of tension between Cooper and Meggs in relation to the aforementioned Freaknik documentary.
From The Daily Beast:
In a series of these back-and-forth messages between Meggs and Terry Ross, a Freaknik executive producer who is Black and does not work for Mass Appeal, they discuss Meggs’ frustration at Cooper being brought on the project instead of her. Meggs texts, “I blame Alex for Freaknik,” referring to Alex Avant, an executive producer on Freaknik, who is Black and with whom Cooper had a long professional relationship. “Meggs was upset that Avant had decided to pitch the Freaknik project to Cooper and not Meggs, since Avant knew that Meggs was at Mass Appeal as well,” the complaint says. “Ross responded with surprise and said that this was ‘terrible.’ Meggs then texted that there were no hard feelings before qualifying Cooper’s selection for the Freaknik project as ‘Usual white folk behavior.’” In later messages, Meggs complains about Bittenbender’s decision not to hire a candidate she referred to Mass Appeal. Ross responded: “These white folk something else.”
Nas is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit despite his ownership.
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Hip-Hop fans are in for a treat. Amazon is set to livestream a show from Nas and Wu-Tang Clan’s N.Y. State of Mind Tour.
Hip Hop N More is reporting that the streaming platform is giving the culture an opportunity to attend one of the most anticipated concerts of the year virtually. In an effort to further honor the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, Amazon will telecast their respective sets from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. This is a special date as De La Soul will join the bill as special guests.
Originally announced in February of 2022 the N.Y. State of Mind Tour brings two of the most iconic brands in Rap music together for their first ever co-headlining effort. The outing proved to be a major success; so much so the concert series was extended into 2023 with international dates. Produced by Live Nation this year’s run kicked off on Tuesday, May 9th in Auckland, New Zealand at Spark Arena. It has since traveled to New Zealand, Europe, and came back to the United States back in September.
Amazon Music will stream the N.Y. State of Mind Tour on Wednesday, October 18 at 8PM PST.
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Along with Hip-Hop, Nas also turned 50 years old this year and the rapper teamed with Hennessy to celebrate the milestone with a party that featured a gang of high-profile guests including Kendrick Lamar, Diddy, Fat Joe and more.
The festivities went down at The Grill in New York City and featured Nas being presented with a sculpture from artists Kennedy Yanko that was commissioned by Hennessy. The copper sculpture was partially inspired by Nas’ collab with Hennessy on his special 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop Hennessy V.S. bottle.
At the party, the music was in the best of hands with DJ Jazzy Jeff on the turntables and The Roots holding down the stage. In attendance was a who’s who of Hip-Hop and R&B celebrities including Mary J. Blige, NORE, DJ Premier, The Lox,Havoc, AZ, Raekwon, Slick Rick, Q-Tip, Ralph McDaniels, and more. Oh yeah, former NBA star Carmelo Anthony and actor Robert DeNiro were there, too.
Also, you know you’re solid when Raekwon takes time to big you up on your born day.
Check photos from the party in the gallery.
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