Hip-Hop Harmony: Jay-Z And Nas Officially Dead Beef
By Seandra Sims and Houston Williams
Date: 10/27/2005 11:11 pm
Jay-Z warned everyone that he was "getting the itch" for a good show in New York, and the rapper came out swinging with the first of a pair of concerts to air his grievances with rival rappers.
At what turned out to be more of a peace fest in the end, perhaps the biggest shock of the night at Jay-Z's "I Declare War" Concert in East Rutherford, NJ was when the megastar announced, "It's bigger than 'I declare war'. Let's go, Esco!"
The stunned crowd of thousands at the Continental Airlines Arena screamed in approval as Jay and his former nemesis Nas appeared onstage together, signifying that two of rap's biggest names had finally deaded their beef.
"A lot of nigg*s is makin' money and still f*ckin' mad at the world!" Nas said. "We savin' the East Coast with ya help."
Nas performed the hook to "Dead Presidents," followed by his own classic, "The World Is Yours." He also rocked his hit songs like "It Ain't Hard to Tell" and "New York State of
Mind."
Jay-Z rejoined Nas onstage and said, "Damn this is some sh*t right here!" Nas spun into "They Shootin'" with Jay-Z and Diddy, who also performed "Hate Me Now" with the Queens superstar.
"We all in this sh*t together," Jay-Z said. "Y'all witnessed history.everybody in this building is a part of history. All that beef sh*t is wack."
The hip-hop icon's concert kicked off with a bang as throngs of eager concertgoers poured into Powerhouse, the annual mega concert by New York's Power 105.1.
At the show's opening, Jay-Z emerged onstage seated in a presidential setting reminiscent of the Oval Office, with a voiceover of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech blaring in the background.
From the very beginning, the crowd threw their Roc signs in the air while chanting "Hova, Hova!," signaling that the rap megastar has lost none of his shine during his semi-hiatus from the mic.
"I don't think y'all muthaf***as ready tonight!" Jay-Z proclaimed above the screams of the crowd, as two staunch security guards manned the rear of his Oval Office. "'This is my house in this muthaf***a...ya don't understand...I own the Nets!"
During the show's other surprises, Freeway burst from backstage to perform his verse from "What We Do." Looking at Freeway, "Jay-Z said, "We missing some sh*t (on this stage) to make this whole thing complete!" A hooded Beanie Sigel came out to perform, throwing up the Roc sign to the crowd's delight. "Roc for life, nigga.you already knew!" Beanie said.
The Lox and Jay-Z's old friend Sauce Money came onstage to perform Jay's classic posse cut, "Reservoir Dogs" to everyone's surprise, as Sauce and Jay had previously had a falling out for unknown reasons.
They were followed by a quick impromptu appearance by P Diddy.
"We also got to pay respect to the pioneers of the game, and that's Jam Master Jay and Run DMC," Jay-Z said as he rolled into a set paying homage to JMJ, Big Pun, Big L, Aaliyah, Biggie, Tupac, and even Rosa Parks.
Shortly after, Kanye West emerged from below the stage floor to perform for "President Hova," and was joined by Houston rapper Paul Wall on the track "Drive Slow."
Early in the show, on "Give It to Me," Jay-Z invited Memphis Bleek to the stage in the role of hype man, signifying the two are still close.
When the "god MC" performed "You Don't Know" the audience held on to his every word. Eventually, Jay plucked a young boy out of the crowd. "Don't stage dive. Don't try to upstage me with none of that cute kid stuff...you like summer?" The rapper then spun into "Dear Summer."
Over the course of the night, he brought out special guests Teiarra Mari, Ne-Yo and Peedi Peedi, along with a four-song set by T.I.
T.I. was joined by Young Jeezy, who was a fan favorite with the hook-heavy songs from his debut album Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101. Jay, with a fresh set of clothing, returned on the tail end of Young Jeezy's set to perform "Go Crazy."
At an earlier appearance at Power 105, the Def Jam president revealed that he would address some of whom he called "hard-headed" critics of his "Carter Administration" during the show, but he didn't reveal to whom he would disrespect.
Industry rumors have circulated that Jay-Z was speaking specifically about 50 Cent and his G-Unit entourage, and that he planned to bring along an arsenal of friends to silence the crew's recent attacks.
However, others have speculated that the beef could be with Camron, Fat Joe, and any number of other rappers.
"I gotta put 'em in the choke hold, the Boston crab," the rapper told Ed Lover. "I gotta smash a couple of people. Everybody better make up and be my friend."
A second show, set for October 28, is slated for Philadelphia's Wachovia Center in conjunction with Power 99, another Clear Channel radio station.
The last time Jay-Z declared war he was embroiled in a long-running feud with Nas and Prodigy of Mobb Deep, unleashing such hits as the mix-tape-gone-mainstream "Takeover."
thats not allhiphop's
