Ether (song)

"Ether"
Album track by Nas
From the album Stillmatic
Recorded	2001
Released	2001
Legnth	4:37
Genre	East Coast hip hop
Label	Ill Will/Columbia
Producer	Ron Brownz

"Ether" is a hip hop album track from hip hop artist Nas' 2001 album Stillmatic, and is widely considered by many to be one of the greatest hip hop diss songs in hip hop history.

Song

The "Ether" record, track number two on Stillmatic, is a diss track to fellow hip hop artist Shawn Carter, better known to the public as Jay-Z. Jay-Z and Nas had an ongoing public feud since the 2001 release of Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, which included a track called "Takeover", in which Jay-Z disses Nas as well as Prodigy of Mobb Deep. The record, produced by Ron Browz, starts with a slowed-down sample of the late Tupac Shakur rapping "fuck Jay-Z," which in part referenced the hostility Tupac had towards Jay-Z due to his affiliation with famous Brooklyn rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who was feuding with Tupac at the time prior to his death in 1996. The record insinuates that Jay-Z was a superficial rapper at the time who had "traded his soul for riches" and had brown-nosed Nas and several other rappers for fame early in his career. The record also alleges Jay-Z had borrowed the style and lyrics from him and the late Notorious B.I.G. (who befriended and collaborated with Jay-Z before his death). The record also claims that Jay-Z is "only concerned with dissing women", attributing to him supposedly having low self-esteem as a child. Nas also calls him out on his appearance, his arrogant nature and claims that Jay-Z's tales of criminal life are untrue. Nas also mentions a perception within the hip hop community that Jay-Z was overshadowed by Eminem, who was the only guest appearance on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, on the track "Renegade."

Significance

Ever since its release, Ether has gained an infamous reputation among several Hip-Hop circles, becoming synonymous with ruthlessness. Indeed, it has even gained its own slang usage on numerous online Hip-Hop forums (with the term "“Ethered " becoming widespread )

Jay-Z's response to "Ether" was a freestyle entitled "Supa Ugly". This track marked the "official" end of the battle, although references to the beef can be found on Nas's "Last Real Nigga Alive" from God's Son and "Everybody's Crazy" from The Lost Tapes , and Jay-Z's "Blueprint 2" from The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse album.

The Jay-Z/Nas beef was beneficial to both men's careers. Stillmatic and "Ether" had marked the reemergence of Nas to the hip hop scene three years after having released Nastradamus, considered by many fans and critics to have been the most mediocore album in his discography. Many fans still credit the feud with resurrecting Nas' career, as he has since released several successful and some critically acclaimed albums. The battle also boosted Jay-Z's career, giving him much notoriety for having the bravado to attack a fellow hip-hop legend.

Who won?

Easily one of the best known and most exciting rap feuds in history, the actual "beef" is often overshadowed by the question of "who won?". Many hip hop listeners agreed at the time (and still do) that Nas won the beef. In a Hot 97 radio poll conducted shortly after the release of "Supa Ugly,"(a 2 and a half minute freestyle diss) 58% of voters chose Nas as the winner, while the remaining 42% chose Jay-Z.

See also

Lyrics