#Socialites, do you agree with Damon Dash? According to the Hip-Hop mogul, his former business partner JAY-Z “took an L” when Nas dropped his “Ether” diss track, causing Hov to fire back with his own diss and then apologize, making Roc-A-Fella “look crazy,” per Dame Dash.
While recently stopping by the ‘That’s F***ed Up Podcast,’ Dame talked about his career in the music industry and fashion industry, with his roles at Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear clothing brand. During the episode, things shifted back and forth between the music and the fashion and Dame’s rocky relationship with JAY-Z.
On the latter subject, Dame eventually was asked about JAY’s famous beef with Nas. Speaking on it, the former Roc-A-Fella Records executive said he believes that when Nas released his 2001 “Ether” diss track, it made Hov and the label look bad.
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As a refresher, in the late ’90s, there were rumors that JAY-Z wanted to claim the throne as King of New York (and Hip-Hop) after the passing of The Notorious B.I.G. According to the late and great rapper Prodigy of Mobb Deep, he wrote in his autobiography that JAY took shots at him and Nas on the songs: “Where I’m From” (1997) and “Money, Cash, Hoes” (1998). Prodigy claimed Hov was upset that Nas refused to be in his “Where I’m From” video, among other reasons. From there, the beef allegedly began to brew, simply due to a mix of personal and business issues.
In 2001, Nas said he felt like JAY was being disrespectful when he compared himself to Biggie, and the beef continued. During JAY’s 2001 Summer Jam performance, he dissed Nas, and Prodigy, with the song “Takeover.” From there, all bets were off and Nas dropped his iconic diss track, “Ether.” Within 24 hours, Hov fired back with his “Super Ugly” freestyle on Hot 97, which included him detailing his entanglement with Nas’ child’s mother, Carmen Bryan.
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The song was so disrespectful, brutal and confrontational, that JAY’s mom, Gloria Carter jumped in to referee and ended up making her son apologize to Nas, and all involved. Hov previously said, “Mom put in a call and said, ‘That went too far.’ So I was like ‘Okay, okay, okay. I’ll go shut it down.” He said he didn’t consider anyone’s feelings, not Nas’ child’s mother, not his own mother, no one.
Fast forward to a few days ago, Dame recalled first hearing the “Ether” diss. He said, “I was in shock, but I was happy. I wasn’t hurt. I’ma tell you right now what happened. I was hyped that he said my name but also I knew what homie was doing and I thought it was a distraction. I’m like, ‘This is bubblegum s**t.'”
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Dame Dash explained that he was on the jet headed somewhere and had the plane rerouted to the studio so he could find out what was going on. He recalled, “I go to do a f**king Rocawear campaign in Arizona, with Freeway I think, he was there. I land and this dumb sh*t [Nas‘ “Ether”] is on the radio, and we took an L because he got in this man’s emotions. [Nas] got at homie. He was the only person I ever seen really rattle JAY-Z like that. I couldn’t even talk to this dude. For three weeks, I didn’t talk to JAY about any of that sh*t.”
After Hov dropped his diss track in response, and then made a public apology amid the beef, Dame said it made the entire label and its associates look weak. He said, “When he apologized and sh*t, I was like, ‘No!’ I was hitting him from the thing like, “Get off the radio. We looking crazy.'”
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