Nas

**Nas** is an American rapper, rooted in East Coast hip hop and regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. He and 2Pac had a feud that began over a misunderstanding, though eventually settled it before 2Pac's death in September 1996. Members of the Outlawz and Suge Knight confirmed their peace. Nas' song "Death Row East" from his 2021 album *King's Disease II* talks about his history with 2Pac.

## Background

2Pac interpreted Nas' July 1996 song "The Message" as a diss towards him with the particular lyrics 'fake thugs, no love, you get the slug.' In retaliation, lyrics from "Against All Odds" accused Nas of copying him: 'This little n\*\*\*a named Nas think he live like me / Talkin' bout he left the hospital, took five like me / You live in fantasies, n–ga, I reject your deposit.' He continues in the third verse, 'Lord, listen to me, God don't like ugly, it was written / Ayo, Nas, your whole damn style is bitten / You heard my melody (This n\*\*\*a sounds like Rakim!) / Read about my life in the papers / All my run-ins with authorities, felonious capers / Now you wanna live my life / So what's a "chazzer," Nas? N\*\*\*as that don't rhyme right / You've seen too many movies / Load 'em up against the wall, close his eyes / Since you lie you die — goodbye!' In July 2020, Nas' unreleased song "Real N–gas" surfaced online, which contained bars insulting 2Pac. Created during the midst of their feud, Nas rapped, 'From tube-socks in Timbs to blue rocks and Benz / Who got the ends, the type of n–ga 2Pac pretends / To all n–gas who shine, guess who got revenge / I won't showboat, my flow choke you.'

Nas clarified that "The Message" was actually directed at The Notorious B.I.G.: "From the first lines all the way to 'One life, one love, there can only be one king,' that was specifically going in that direction. The whole fucking song, really. Tupac was not even on my radar for going at him." The two later met in Central Park before the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards and ended their feud, with 2Pac promising to remove any disses aimed at Nas from the official album release; however, 2Pac was killed before any edits to the album could be made.

In a 2012 interview with Steve Stoute, Nas recalled what 2Pac told him: "'Me and you are never supposed to go at it. It was just that things got misconstrued. Me and you are brothers. Me and you are never supposed to go at it, but I heard you was dissing me on mixtapes.'" He continued, "I'm like, 'I heard you was dissing me on this [upcoming] *Makaveli* album.' We both knew we were supposed to continue that conversation and probably just squash the whole thing. I was scheduled to meet him in Vegas. You [Stoute] and Jimmy Iovine called me at 4AM and told me he might not make it [the shooting]."

While Snoop Dogg recalled a version of the encounter in Angie Martinez's *Untold Stories of Hip Hop*, a few details were wrong. Nas explained to Hot 97's *Ebro in the Morning* in August 2020, "He had said that 'Pac stepped to me. Rest in peace 'Pac. But he was in New York and it was a lot of tension flaring, right? And nobody was really there. I think he had gotten into it with Jungle, my brother, at the award show. I seen him backstage and I'm like, 'Do your thing' and he was like, 'And you do yours.' I was like, see, I know it's some funny... he was about to go present an award, so he couldn't really turn around and get with me and talk to me because he's about to walk on. But I'm walking backstage and I see him and I'm like, 'Yo, alright, do your thing' and he said, 'And you do yours' because he knew where I was coming from wasn't an all love place 'cause there was a rumor of *Makaveli* coming out. So I was really wanting to check the temperature with him but it turned up, my brother and them, they seen 'em and the Outlawz—shout out to the Outlawz—and they had some words or whatever." He continued, "We had a great convo, man. He explained he thought I was dissing him on the song 'The Message.' He thought I was dissing him and I heard he was dissing me at clubs. The last person I was even thinking about when I wrote that record." He added, "He was like, 'Yo Nas, we brothers, man. We not supposed to go through this' and I was like, 'That's what I'm saying.' We had a plan to squash it in Vegas, so I was out there when he was in the hospital and praying for him to come through. Rest in peace to 'Pac."

In 2021, Napoleon of Outlawz recalled at the after-party, where Nas and 2Pac, along with their crews, confronted each other. He narrated, "Nas was there with his homies and they started walking towards Tupac. They was deep. This is this is an incident that should be more highlighted highlighted in the hip-hop world in general. It shows how two individuals diffuse something that could have been bloodshed. It was so loud I don't know what they were saying, it was so loud from the music. We mean mugging they homies they mean mugging us, in the next thing I know we just seen Pac and Nas embrace and hug. They walk their way, we walked our way." In the aftermath, 2Pac had said to his friends, "'I spoke to that dude. I got respect for him. You know, I thought he was dissing me on some songs. He made it clear wasn't dissing me.'" Napoleon added that 2Pac had said, "'When I go back to LA and go into the studio I'm going to remove Nas from every song that I diss him on.' Pac was going to remove every Nas song, but unfortunately Pac died a week later."

## References

1. ↑ "Nas Shares CLASSIC Stories On 2Pac, Foxy Brown, Amy Winehouse + Speaks On New Rappers & Album". *YouTube*. August 20, 2020.
2. ↑ Saint-Vil, Sweenie (August 21, 2020). "Nas recalls confronting Tupac about 'Makaveli' diss: "He thought I was dissing him"". *Revolt*.
3. ↑ Brown, Preezy (July 20, 2021). "Unreleased Nas Song “Real N–gas” Dissing 2Pac Surfaces". *Vibe*.
4. ↑ Eustice, Kyle (August 12, 2021). "Nas Reflects on 2Pac Beef That Led to 'Death Row East'". *HipHopDX*.
5. ↑ "It Would've Been A Bloodbath If 2Pac & Nas Got Into It In New York. Snoop Diss Biggie & Puffy w/ Pac". *YouTube*. July 1, 2021.