Jay-Z’s beef with Nas was one of the greatest of all time, and Nas’ “Ether” is one of the greatest diss tracks of all time.
Ras Kass told The Art of Dialogue about a time Jay-Z got mad when a DJ played “Ether” in the club.
“It had to be 10 a.m., 11 a.m. when Nas bops in,” he recalls. “He’s usually very chill. Every time I’ve encountered him, he’s humble and nice. Not to say he wasn’t humble then, but he walked in, boppin’. I remember for like an hour, me him and Premier talking, like an overview of the record […] At the time, Jay was crushin’ everything,” Kass says per HHDX.
He continued, “The ironic part is I saw [Nas] during the day at the studio, then at night, I went out to the club,” he continues. “We went out and saw Jay and Dame at the club […] They played ‘Ether’ in the club and Jay was heated, and I remember that. I remember him saying, ‘Dame, tell that n-gga to turn that sh-t off.'”
Ras says Nas defeated Jay.
“But the club was going up, and that’s when I knew it was over. The DJ was like, ‘F-ck that,’ and played that sh-t. And the club went up. That’s when I knew Nas won. The streets had spoken. The DJ played it and Jay was in the building […] Nas beat Jay.”
