Was It Just Good Strategy For Jay Z To Wait Til Nas Was At His Weakest and He Was At His Strongest?

[jim1000]

I think it was just an opportunity that came up and Jay-Z capitalized. On the one end it gave him credibility and fuelled fan boy debates of "who really won tho when Jay 'signed' NaS ?" and on the business side, for Defjam was a good pick up for them to sell records and enhance Jay's reputation as a CEO.

I don't even think it was that deep, if it was NaS wouldn't have signed to him. I do think that NaS needed the money which is why he almost signed to Murder Inc. and why he agreed to sign in the first place. If you look at NaS now he's more entrepreneurial, that's so that he never has to rely on a record label again.

Jay-z didn't sign Nas. L.A. Reid did. Also around that time there was a rumor that Atlantic records offered Nas the position of being a president just like Jay was at Def Jam but nas declined. IMO I think Nas at that time wasn't ready to deal with the bullchit that artist do just like the way the artist was coming at Jay while he was president.

I guess this perception about Jay-Z signing Nas will always be there even though its not true.

 

[jim1000]

Imo...

Good timing...

Attack when your opponent is weak and you are strong...

The bigger missteps were the whole song wasn't about Nas and he kicked some facts but it was mostly opinions, probably didn't expect Nas to strike back either...

No, Takeover accomplished it's goal. Nas was dead in a grave until Ether came out. Nas was flatlined. That's why on the Stillmatic intro Nas said "I crawled up outta that grave, cleanin off the dirt, wipin my shirt."

Nas was considerd done before that due to I Am and Nastradamus, Oochie Wally verse etc...

If anything Jay helped him resurrect his career...

Lol @ Jay killed him for 3 months then Nas went on the release 3 critically acclaimed projects in a row and ethered Jay...

Yup Takeover accomplished it's goal...

Foh...

My question is how was Nas done if he was still going platinum and he nastradamus singles was all over the radio?? Nastradamas, Oochie wally, and you owe me had some serious radio play when at that time when I was still living in NY. Another crazy perception that people thought Nas was done because of what Jay-Z said on Takeover.

 

[jim1000]

Imo...

Good timing...

Attack when your opponent is weak and you are strong...

The bigger missteps were the whole song wasn't about Nas and he kicked some facts but it was mostly opinions, probably didn't expect Nas to strike back either...

No, Takeover accomplished it's goal. Nas was dead in a grave until Ether came out. Nas was flatlined. That's why on the Stillmatic intro Nas said "I crawled up outta that grave, cleanin off the dirt, wipin my shirt."

Nas was considerd done before that due to I Am and Nastradamus, Oochie Wally verse etc...

If anything Jay helped him resurrect his career...

Lol @ Jay killed him for 3 months then Nas went on the release 3 critically acclaimed projects in a row and ethered Jay...

Yup Takeover accomplished it's goal...

Foh...

I fukkin hate when people say Jay helped resurrect Nas career. I'll never understand this. Prodigy never recovered though

Word. Mobb deep never recovered period.

 

[jim1000]

The real question is why didn't Jay have a reply ready better than Supaugly?

He did, it was called Blueprint2 and came out about a year after the beef. It was on the Blueprint2 album.

He could have won the battle altogether if he never released SupaUgly and waited to release Blueprint2.

If it went;

Stillmatic Freestyle

Takeover

Ether

Blueprint2

Jay wins

Disagree because Nas ended it with "Last real Nigga alive" Very clever and interesting POV from Nas on this song.

"I was Scarface, Jay was Manolo and it hurt me when I had to kill him and his whole squad for dolo"

 

[jim1000]

The real question is why didn't Jay have a reply ready better than Supaugly?

Dont You Know, People Talking and South Philly Motherfuckers had better Nas disses than Takeover. He should of kept the OG Blueprint 1 tracklisting and he would of done more damage to Nas career. I cant take takeover serious because 3 FUCKING CLUB RECORDS come on after it. The reason why niggas say Nas won in a landslide because of how he strategically placed his jigga disses on stillmatic. Nas starts with a graceful godlike intro track, he kills him and takes his soul with ether, on got yourself a gun and smokin he taunts and shames him, then on youre the man he throws dirt on Jay Z and buries him. on rest of stillmatic he throws jabs here and there. perfect track transitioning especially on a comeback album. the tone is serious and aggressive. BP1 had takeover, izzo, girls girls girls and dat nigga jigga. nigga were partying and moving their hips like bcotton listening to BP1 and forgot he dissed Nas on the album thats why he lost.

Never thought of it this way. Solid point with the record tracklisting.

 

[jim1000]

Stillmatic Freestyle came out before The Blueprint version of Takeover.

However, The original version of Takeover was live at Summer Jam. But it was just one verse aimed at Prodigy. Then he said, "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov". But he didn't rap the verse about Nas.

I'm not sure what came out first, the Stillmatic Freestyle or the Summer Jam version of Takeover where he says, "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov".

The Summer jam version came out first and then Nas dropped the Stillmatic freestyle. Had Nas not dropped the stillmatic freestly verse then I don't think Jay would have made a whole verse going at nas in Takeover.

 

[Logic Last]

Imo...

Good timing...

Attack when your opponent is weak and you are strong...

The bigger missteps were the whole song wasn't about Nas and he kicked some facts but it was mostly opinions, probably didn't expect Nas to strike back either...

No, Takeover accomplished it's goal. Nas was dead in a grave until Ether came out. Nas was flatlined. That's why on the Stillmatic intro Nas said "I crawled up outta that grave, cleanin off the dirt, wipin my shirt."

Nas was considerd done before that due to I Am and Nastradamus, Oochie Wally verse etc...

If anything Jay helped him resurrect his career...

Lol @ Jay killed him for 3 months then Nas went on the release 3 critically acclaimed projects in a row and ethered Jay...

Yup Takeover accomplished it's goal...

Foh...

My question is how was Nas done if he was still going platinum and he nastradamus singles was all over the radio?? Nastradamas, Oochie wally, and you owe me had some serious radio play when at that time when I was still living in NY. Another crazy perception that people thought Nas was done because of what Jay-Z said on Takeover.

It's not that Nas was doing so bad, it was just that Jay was doing 50 times better.

 

[Logic Last]

Stillmatic Freestyle came out before The Blueprint version of Takeover.

However, The original version of Takeover was live at Summer Jam. But it was just one verse aimed at Prodigy. Then he said, "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov". But he didn't rap the verse about Nas.

I'm not sure what came out first, the Stillmatic Freestyle or the Summer Jam version of Takeover where he says, "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov".

The Summer jam version came out first and then Nas dropped the Stillmatic freestyle. Had Nas not dropped the stillmatic freestly verse then I don't think Jay would have made a whole verse going at nas in Takeover.

The crazy thing is no one really heard Stillmatic. Radio stations weren't fukkin with it. Shit was fire though. Hit the Freeway, then hit Memphis with money bags, stop in Philly, order chesesteaks and eat beans fast.

The battle should have been over at that point.

 

[Rampage12]

The general consensus before Stillmatic is that Nas was in over his head, blueprint dropped in september and Jay was at an all time high. Roc-A-Fella was unstoppable. After I Am(A good album by the way) and Nastradamus, oh, and don't forget that Braveharts tape, Nas was trending downward. Nobody expected ether and it was a long awaited return to form, and a scathing track accompanied by a classic album that revitalized Nas' career.

If you played chess, it's basically Jay-Z and Nas in the end game and Nas is on the wrong side of things, then pushes two pawns forward because Jay got cocky, gains two queens from a shitty situation and Nas checkmates Jay. It's the type of game that would leave you devastated because you got cocky in the end. This was Jay's undoing, underestimating Nas.

In the grand scheme of things, Jay won, but that battle belongs to Nas without question. We've never seen Jay punched in the mouth, it was the equivalent of leonidis making xerxes bleed before he died, because after that battle Jay got stronger, and Nas didn't go up or down, he kind of went sideways until he took the loss in court with child support. He took his loss then started trending upward just after it.

-Hoodsociated press

The Bravehearts album didn't come out until late 2003, you must be talking about that QB's Finest compilation.

 

[BackInWhite]

The general consensus before Stillmatic is that Nas was in over his head, blueprint dropped in september and Jay was at an all time high. Roc-A-Fella was unstoppable. After I Am(A good album by the way) and Nastradamus, oh, and don't forget that Braveharts tape, Nas was trending downward. Nobody expected ether and it was a long awaited return to form, and a scathing track accompanied by a classic album that revitalized Nas' career.

If you played chess, it's basically Jay-Z and Nas in the end game and Nas is on the wrong side of things, then pushes two pawns forward because Jay got cocky, gains two queens from a shitty situation and Nas checkmates Jay. It's the type of game that would leave you devastated because you got cocky in the end. This was Jay's undoing, underestimating Nas.

In the grand scheme of things, Jay won, but that battle belongs to Nas without question. We've never seen Jay punched in the mouth, it was the equivalent of leonidis making xerxes bleed before he died, because after that battle Jay got stronger, and Nas didn't go up or down, he kind of went sideways until he took the loss in court with child support. He took his loss then started trending upward just after it.

-Hoodsociated press

So jay was voldemort and nas was Harry Potter

 

[jim1000]

Imo...

Good timing...

Attack when your opponent is weak and you are strong...

The bigger missteps were the whole song wasn't about Nas and he kicked some facts but it was mostly opinions, probably didn't expect Nas to strike back either...

No, Takeover accomplished it's goal. Nas was dead in a grave until Ether came out. Nas was flatlined. That's why on the Stillmatic intro Nas said "I crawled up outta that grave, cleanin off the dirt, wipin my shirt."

Nas was considerd done before that due to I Am and Nastradamus, Oochie Wally verse etc...

If anything Jay helped him resurrect his career...

Lol @ Jay killed him for 3 months then Nas went on the release 3 critically acclaimed projects in a row and ethered Jay...

Yup Takeover accomplished it's goal...

Foh...

My question is how was Nas done if he was still going platinum and he nastradamus singles was all over the radio?? Nastradamas, Oochie wally, and you owe me had some serious radio play when at that time when I was still living in NY. Another crazy perception that people thought Nas was done because of what Jay-Z said on Takeover.

It's not that Nas was doing so bad, it was just that Jay was doing 50 times better.

I wouldn't say 50 times better but I get what you're saying. Nas wasn't as POPular when it comes to pop music compared to Jay at that time. Quite frankly Jay was always on the radio and he put out an album every single year.

 

[jim1000]

Stillmatic Freestyle came out before The Blueprint version of Takeover.

However, The original version of Takeover was live at Summer Jam. But it was just one verse aimed at Prodigy. Then he said, "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov". But he didn't rap the verse about Nas.

I'm not sure what came out first, the Stillmatic Freestyle or the Summer Jam version of Takeover where he says, "Ask Nas he don't want it with Hov".

The Summer jam version came out first and then Nas dropped the Stillmatic freestyle. Had Nas not dropped the stillmatic freestly verse then I don't think Jay would have made a whole verse going at nas in Takeover.

The crazy thing is no one really heard Stillmatic. Radio stations weren't fukkin with it. Shit was fire though. Hit the Freeway, then hit Memphis with money bags, stop in Philly, order chesesteaks and eat beans fast.

The battle should have been over at that point.

This is so true. I actually heard it on a DJ mixtape. It might have been DJ clue but I can't remember.

 

[KLICHE]

Jay couldnt take Nasir, when Nas was his strongest. So jay had to project himself in a way that made him look like he was still producing testosterone

 

[dwade206]

There are no rules to this shit. Jay did what he thought he had to do.

The question was this: good strategy or bitch made? If a boxer waits until a formidable opponent has been injured to spring a challenge do you really respect that?

Some champions are accused of this (see Money Mayweather vs an aging Pacquiao)

I give Jay credit for making his move. Big was gone.Tupac was gone. He believed he could take the spotlight for himself by handling Nas.

He should have stopped just shy of takeover.

Law 47: Do Not go Past The Mark You Aimed For, In Victory Learn When To Stop

Yes because we all know Mayweather was a spring chicken when he fought Pacquiao.

 

[qawshun]

Yo it's like ya'll really forgot all the heat Nas was spitting, even if you don't like oochie wally. Nas had crazy verses on that brave heart lp, the stillmatic freestyle on the clue tape. But on the same side like dude said Jay and the roc was on Nas as with the hot 97 freestyles both Jay and sp. Murder marcyville, people talking tho i think that was for mobb the shots on best of both worlds. Nas with the you wanna be me on the 8 mile soundtrack. Them niggas was mad but to say Nas was dead is brain washing by Jay.