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Ether (song)
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Ether (song)
"Ether" is a diss track by American rapper Nas, from his 2001 album Stillmatic. The song was a response to Jay-Z's "Takeover", released earlier that year. "Ether" has been called a "classic" diss track and one of the "wildest" according to Rolling Stone.
Nas has described the song title as a reference to a superstition about ghosts disliking the fumes from ether, explaining that he desired "to affect [Jay-Z] with my weapon and get to his soul" in a similar fashion.[citation needed]
The lyrics of "Ether" primarily insult Jay-Z for a variety of reasons. Throughout the song, Nas questions the veracity of Jay-Z's drug lord persona and argues that he was never involved in crime. Instead, Nas describes Jay-Z as a sycophantic copycat who attempted to latch onto a string of mentors, including Jaz-O, Big Daddy Kane, Irv Gotti, and the Notorious B.I.G. Nas also asserts that Jay-Z is a weaker rapper than his contemporaries, challenging his claims to have surpassed B.I.G. and alleging that Eminem "murdered" Jay-Z on their collaboration "Renegade". The lyrics go on to criticize Jay-Z's appearance, and speculates that his misogynistic lyrics stem from resentment against women who once called him ugly. Jay-Z is also mocked for his appearance in Jaz-O's "Hawaiian Sophie". Elsewhere in the song, Nas questions Jay-Z's originality, accusing him of rehashing B.I.G.'s lyrics and claiming that Jay-Z's album The Blueprint was imitating the title of Boogie Down Productions' 1989 album, Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop. Several lines in the song also feature homophobic insults: Nas refers to Jay-Z as "Gay-Z", and describes him as "a dick-riding faggot" with "dick-sucking lips".
Nas references Jay-Z's lyrics at several points in "Ether". The song's chorus is built around the phrase "I will not lose", an allusion to Jay-Z's song "U Don't Know". Nas also riffs on the chorus of "Takeover", rapping "R-O-C, get gunned up and clapped quick" in the same cadence as the "Takeover" line "R-O-C, we running this rap shit". The introduction to the song features a distorted sample of Tupac Shakur saying "Fuck Jay-Z".
The backing track of "Ether", produced by a then relatively unknown Ron Browz, found its way to Nas after Browz's manager, who worked at the Def Jam Recordings offices, bumped into Nas' travel agent and pleaded with her to give the production to Nas. Browz was unaware of how his production would be used until Nas invited him to the studio to play him the completed song for the first time. Browz had previously offered the production to Kyambo "Hip-Hop" Joshua, Jay-Z's A&R manager at the time, who turned it down.
In a 2012 interview with hip-hop website ThisIs50, fellow rapper Large Professor claimed that an earlier version of "Ether" was produced by Swizz Beatz and featured even more offensive lyrics, including a line where Nas allegedly raps "It should've been you in that plane crash", a reference to the 2001 plane crash that caused the death of American singer Aaliyah, which occurred during the early stages of the Jay-Z–Nas feud. Large Professor expanded on this in a further interview with DJ Vlad in 2019, stating that the full lyric reads "Sorry Aaliyah / I'm sorry it was you in the plane crash / It should've been Jay..."
"Ether" was released in 2001 on December 4, Jay-Z's 32nd birthday. On this day, Jay-Z and Dame Dash visited a New York City club where the DJ started to play the song. Both men told the DJ not to do so, but he refused the request and played it anyway. Fellow rapper Ras Kass, also present in the club that night, cited this – along with the rapturous response of the club attendees once the song was eventually played – as a major turning point in the feud and a sign that Nas would emerge victorious: "...the club was going up, and that's when I knew it was over. The DJ was like, 'Fuck that,' and played that shit. And the club went up. That's when I knew Nas won. The streets had spoken. The DJ played it and Jay was in the building [...] Nas beat Jay."
Jay-Z responded to "Ether" with two tracks; in the first "People Talkin'", he mocks Nas' lyrical ability and height, among other traits. Nas responded by saying, "[Jay-Z] was saying my rhymes like 'judas' and 'your arms too short to box' then he wants to drop [MTV Unplugged] the same day as me". In the second, "Supa Ugly", Jay-Z states that he slept with the mother of Nas' child. After a phone call from his mother, Jay-Z admitted that he went too far with this insult and apologized. "Supa Ugly" marked the "official" end of the battle, although references to the beef can be found on Nas' "Last Real Nigga Alive" from God's Son, "U Wanna Be Me" from 8 Mile 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 last subliminal shots thrown at each other was on the Bravehearts' single "Quick To Back Down" featuring Nas & Lil Jon, in which Nas claims that he's better than Jay-Z. In response to this, Jay-Z released the "Public Service Announcement 2" in which he takes shots at Nas.
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Ether (song)
"Ether" is a diss track by American rapper Nas, from his 2001 album Stillmatic. The song was a response to Jay-Z's "Takeover", released earlier that year. "Ether" has been called a "classic" diss track and one of the "wildest" according to Rolling Stone.
Nas has described the song title as a reference to a superstition about ghosts disliking the fumes from ether, explaining that he desired "to affect [Jay-Z] with my weapon and get to his soul" in a similar fashion.[citation needed]
The lyrics of "Ether" primarily insult Jay-Z for a variety of reasons. Throughout the song, Nas questions the veracity of Jay-Z's drug lord persona and argues that he was never involved in crime. Instead, Nas describes Jay-Z as a sycophantic copycat who attempted to latch onto a string of mentors, including Jaz-O, Big Daddy Kane, Irv Gotti, and the Notorious B.I.G. Nas also asserts that Jay-Z is a weaker rapper than his contemporaries, challenging his claims to have surpassed B.I.G. and alleging that Eminem "murdered" Jay-Z on their collaboration "Renegade". The lyrics go on to criticize Jay-Z's appearance, and speculates that his misogynistic lyrics stem from resentment against women who once called him ugly. Jay-Z is also mocked for his appearance in Jaz-O's "Hawaiian Sophie". Elsewhere in the song, Nas questions Jay-Z's originality, accusing him of rehashing B.I.G.'s lyrics and claiming that Jay-Z's album The Blueprint was imitating the title of Boogie Down Productions' 1989 album, Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop. Several lines in the song also feature homophobic insults: Nas refers to Jay-Z as "Gay-Z", and describes him as "a dick-riding faggot" with "dick-sucking lips".
Nas references Jay-Z's lyrics at several points in "Ether". The song's chorus is built around the phrase "I will not lose", an allusion to Jay-Z's song "U Don't Know". Nas also riffs on the chorus of "Takeover", rapping "R-O-C, get gunned up and clapped quick" in the same cadence as the "Takeover" line "R-O-C, we running this rap shit". The introduction to the song features a distorted sample of Tupac Shakur saying "Fuck Jay-Z".
The backing track of "Ether", produced by a then relatively unknown Ron Browz, found its way to Nas after Browz's manager, who worked at the Def Jam Recordings offices, bumped into Nas' travel agent and pleaded with her to give the production to Nas. Browz was unaware of how his production would be used until Nas invited him to the studio to play him the completed song for the first time. Browz had previously offered the production to Kyambo "Hip-Hop" Joshua, Jay-Z's A&R manager at the time, who turned it down.
In a 2012 interview with hip-hop website ThisIs50, fellow rapper Large Professor claimed that an earlier version of "Ether" was produced by Swizz Beatz and featured even more offensive lyrics, including a line where Nas allegedly raps "It should've been you in that plane crash", a reference to the 2001 plane crash that caused the death of American singer Aaliyah, which occurred during the early stages of the Jay-Z–Nas feud. Large Professor expanded on this in a further interview with DJ Vlad in 2019, stating that the full lyric reads "Sorry Aaliyah / I'm sorry it was you in the plane crash / It should've been Jay..."
"Ether" was released in 2001 on December 4, Jay-Z's 32nd birthday. On this day, Jay-Z and Dame Dash visited a New York City club where the DJ started to play the song. Both men told the DJ not to do so, but he refused the request and played it anyway. Fellow rapper Ras Kass, also present in the club that night, cited this – along with the rapturous response of the club attendees once the song was eventually played – as a major turning point in the feud and a sign that Nas would emerge victorious: "...the club was going up, and that's when I knew it was over. The DJ was like, 'Fuck that,' and played that shit. And the club went up. That's when I knew Nas won. The streets had spoken. The DJ played it and Jay was in the building [...] Nas beat Jay."
Jay-Z responded to "Ether" with two tracks; in the first "People Talkin'", he mocks Nas' lyrical ability and height, among other traits. Nas responded by saying, "[Jay-Z] was saying my rhymes like 'judas' and 'your arms too short to box' then he wants to drop [MTV Unplugged] the same day as me". In the second, "Supa Ugly", Jay-Z states that he slept with the mother of Nas' child. After a phone call from his mother, Jay-Z admitted that he went too far with this insult and apologized. "Supa Ugly" marked the "official" end of the battle, although references to the beef can be found on Nas' "Last Real Nigga Alive" from God's Son, "U Wanna Be Me" from 8 Mile 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 last subliminal shots thrown at each other was on the Bravehearts' single "Quick To Back Down" featuring Nas & Lil Jon, in which Nas claims that he's better than Jay-Z. In response to this, Jay-Z released the "Public Service Announcement 2" in which he takes shots at Nas.