“Brace yourself for the main event
Y’all impatiently waiting
It’s like an AIDS test, what’s the results?
Not positive, who’s the best? Pac, Nas and Big
Ain’t no best, East, West, North, South, flossed out, greedy
I embrace y’all with napalm
Blows up, no guts, left chest, face gone
How could Nas be garbage?
Semi-autos at your cartilage
Burner at the side of your dome, come outta my throne”
–Nas, “Ether”, Stillmatic, 2001
With the continuing saga of the contract negations between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao flooding the news feeds of all the major social media sites these last few weeks, both fighters are handling it like the rap scene of the 90’s/2000’s, with kill shot punch lines. It’s reminiscent of the Jay Z and Nas beef, a beef that spawned years, ending ultimately in one of the greatest diss tracks of all time.
Before the most recent media attacks, both May and Manny have taken shots via social media.
In 2001, Jay Z performed “The Takeover” at Hot 97’s Summer Jam concert series. “The Takeover” was a diss track aimed at Nas but it was the line at the end that incited the initial a brewing rivalry, “ask Nas, he don’t want it with Hov. No!” Sounds like Pacquiao recent quote, “I can beat Mayweather easily”. Where as Jay used the hottest concert series in the nation, Pacquiao used the Twitter to lay down the gauntlet.
Nas responded with a brief shot at Jay during a freestyle radio interview, “H to the OMO”, as the same time taking swipes at various R.O.C members. Mayweather has remained the more quieter of the two, reminding Pacquiao that he is not “a boss” and “what contract?” Simple and to the point. Speaking of “the contract”, can we see a picture of it? It’s great that Pacquiao has “agreed” to all the terms so can we see can someone tweet a picture of the contract signed by Manny?
Like I mentioned earlier, Jay Z using Hot 97’s Summer Jam is equivalent to Pacquiao’s media tour attack on Mayweather. From Twitter to Instagram, to the big screen of ESPN, Pacquiao’s “I can’t beat Mayweather easily” line summoned the lyrics from Jay’s The Takeover, “I will end it, all that yappin be finished
You are not deep, you made your bed now sleep, Don’t make me expose to them folks that don’t know you, I know you well, all the stolen jewels, Twinkletoes you breakin my heart? You can’t fuck with me”
Like Nas, Mayweather has sat back, patiently waiting to explode. He even went out of his way to not put blame on Pacquiao. However, he recently released his own media attack, ala, Ether style, “you don’t have anything to do with this, you’re not a boss. On a chess board you’re a pawn”. On Ether, Nas spits, “You a fan, a phony, a fake, a pussy, a Stan
I still whip your ass, you thirty-six in a karate class, You Tae-bo hoe, tryna’ work it out, you tryna’ get brolic? Ask me if I’m tryna’ kick knowledge, Nah, I’m tryna’ kick the shit you need to learn though
That ether, that shit that make your soul burn slow. Is he Dame Diddy, Dame Daddy or Dame Dummy? Oh, I get it, you Biggie and he’s Puffy”.
The lyrical beef was over after Ether just as Pacquiao has remained quiet in recent days. What we need to learn from the Jay and Nas beef is that years later, they united for business sake. Hopefully in the next few weeks, Mayweather and Pacquiao will do the same.
“And Eminem murdered ya on your own shit” — Nas
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