The 2001 beef between Nas and Jay-Z remains one of the most highly publicized Hip Hop confrontations to date. The two have since set aside their differences and have become quite good friends. But the topic of who won the epic battle still serves as a great debate. Rap veteran Large Professor recently recalled the beef and said that the original version of Nas' "Ether" track was never released.
"When Nas was first recording 'Ether' it was over a Swizz Beatz beat, and he was getting at him. That was the original lyrics about, 'It should've been you on the plane crash,' and all of that. I was there and I was kind of hype, but you know I'm like an adrenaline junkie."
In Jay's diss track "Takeover", he mentioned that he showed Nas his first Tec-9 while on tour with Large Professor and he says Jay's lyrics were honest.
"It was just a matter of Jay stating the facts. He was trying to bring a lot of facts to the table, and he was going at Nas. Someway, somehow it as a, 'Yo, you was on tour with Large Professor' type of thing. We was all on tour—on that same level and all of that."
Regardless of the two New York rap juggernauts going at it to that extent, Large Professor says there was no beef while Hov and Nas were on tour. He also states that while he loved the production on "Takeover", he prefers Nas' lyricism on "Ether".
Source: hiphopdx.com
