Nas’ Response To Jay-Z Could Have Ruined A Lesser Rapper

Daniel Gray-Kontar of the Cleveland Free Times profiled Nas ahead of his show Sunday in the city. Daniel said of the much hyped beef Nas answered to with Jay Z in Ether saying, “The release of ‘Stillmatic’, a decade after his seminal debut, finds Nas at a point in his career that few rappers have ever seen. Five recordings later, Nas is still one of the top five MCs to have ever touched a microphone – even though none of his albums have reached the same plateau as ‘Illmatic’. But the widely publicized battle between Nas and Jay-Z – hip-hop’s two most pivotal male solo artists – has elevated Nas’ status even more. If Jay-Z hadn’t already amassed such a large following, Nas’ response to Jay-Z’s dis on the platinum-selling ‘Blueprint’ could have ruined Jigga’s career in the same way KRS-One ruined MC Shan and LL Cool J ruined Kool Moe Dee. Rarely has such a raw piece of lyrical manslaughter been recorded as ‘Ether,’ Nas’ response to Jay-Z.”