Ed Lover: Nas "Spanked" Jay Z During their Battle When He Dropped 'Ether' (Part 13) 

The fact that the word Ether became a phrase meaning destroy, obliterated, etc show you how powerful that record was and still is. Hip hop will never see that level of competition like that again to many wack rappers who don't take lyrics seriously anymore.

The fact that this is still being discussed about 20 years later is a testament to how big this moment in music history was.

When you completely destroy something in hip hop it's called being "Ethered" that tell you who won what.

Ether still gives me chills til this day. Dope!🔥

Ether gave me the chills when I first heard it. I was super proud of Nas

Finally someone telling the truth, I was outside back then and I’m telling you, you couldn’t find anybody saying Jay-z won. Ether took over rap for that year.

I remember seeing Nas live and when he did Ether the whole crowd went insane everybody lost their voice

Man I'm glad Ed Lover acknowledged this. Everybody in the rap game be scared to say it.

People say you got "Ethered" not "Takeovered" so there is that.

People forget about the Stillmatic freestyle.... "Rip the Freeway, shoot through Memphis with Money Bags Stop in Philly, order cheesesteaks and eat Beans fast And bring it back up top, remove the fake king of New York You show off, I count dough off when you sample my voice I rule you-before, you used to rap like the Fu-Schnickens Nas designed your blueprint, who you kidding?"

ETHER was epic!!! The track itself was epic. The intro with 'Pac saying "fuck Jay Z" was the shot heard around hip-hop.

The fact the dame said that ether cause the whole ROC to start arguing amongst themselves is just proof how it was so impactful

Ether impact was game changing, people doubted Nas & he proved why he is in the same class as Rakim, KRS, Kane, Slick Rick etc remember Nas was the golden child since he came out in 91

Nas clearly won. It was known that Jay was a fan(a stan) of Nas, some even said he was obsessed with Nas. He started a fight with his idol and lost, it makes sense, the student never beats the master.

I remember reading a comment on 'ETHER' where someone said: "THIS IS WHAT BLUE IVY LISTENS TO WHEN JAY PUTS HER ON PUNISHMENT." I was like...Daaaamnnn!!!!!

I was there in real time when Jay came at mobb deep and Nas . The Nas Stillmatic freestyle, Jay dropping THE BLUEPRINT. Nas dropping STILLMATIC. I was there. And the battle was so so so BIG for the hip hop community. ....that any rapper who had some shit in his chest against another rapper, immediately got in the studio and took it out of their chest . Because....the 2 greatest were battling each other. People started getting in panic because they thought the battle was going to end off like Pac and biggie. Killing each other. People enjoyed what was happening but at the same time everyone was like....shit. this is going too far. !!!! Nas won because one simple thing....JAY MISTAKE. by responding to ether with a garbage freestyle " super ugly " it sounded like a desperate man .who didn't know what to do under the pressure ether put him through.. thats when hot 97 said .Jay lost . case closed..

When I first heard Ether I could feel Jay Z's soul being buried. IMO with diss tracks Ether is in my top 5!

Nas won without a doubt. Cars all in NY was playing Ether. I remember there was a vote on hot 97, with Angie Martinez as host and Jay-Z as the guest. She couldn’t even muster the strength to tell Jay he lost the fan vote. Jay also seemed like he wanted to talk about everything but Nas at the time.

Jay-Z went to Angie Martinez's show and sounded like he was crying after hearing Ether. People forget that too. The end of the ROC.

FYI...the "Fuck Jay-Z" intro is actually Tupac saying it. Nas revealed it in an interview. That makes the line soooo much harder!!!

You can play all Jay z songs in that battle, but when you play Ether it just hits different. The dude went and made 2 more songs and cried on the radio to Angie Martinez

My mom always made me get the NAS fade because of how legendary he is and his destruction of Jay in 2001. I’m 24, he’s my favorite rapper now 😂

Ed lover aint with the politics. Nas is the people's CHAMP while Jay is the industry's champ. The people voted Nas aka Maximus.

Ed saying the lyrics like he wanted to say those words to Jay z his self 😂

I REMEMBER HEARING IT THE FIRST TIME IN SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK I SCREAMED AT THAT "eminem murdered you on ur own shit" people were looking at me like i was crazy in the bus 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

"I don't kill soloists, only kill squads" -Nas

If anyone remembers the old BET show "hits from the street" you would remember that hits went through Nas and Jay-Zs hoods to find out what the people thought. Everyone claimed Nas bodied Jay z. Even people from Jay's neighborhood said Nas won.

Bruh I was in a half way house at that time. I was 16 years old being charged as an adult feeling mike my life was over when that Ether shit dropped I forgot about everything for just a little while. I was a Nas fan so that shit just confirmed everything I thought prior. Jay z was dope, but I rocked with Nas and Ether won!

Ether ain’t nothin to play with. Arguably the greatest diss ever. Would love to see a joint album with Jay and Nas for the culture

Facts... Ether was fire 🔥🔥🔥 Nas won that one 100% 👍👍

C'mon....no love for the Stillmatic freestyle? Nas destroyed the whole Rocafella roster with that joint then decapitated Jay with Ether.

I heard this live on the radio as a kid. My mother was like you coming in the store? I was like I can't miss this. Nas totally destroyed Jay. That's why Jay still shade him today dropping on the same day as him multiple times. That's admittance from Jay that he lost that battle. Jay was trying to he cute. Nas went for his head.

"Negro Please".... that was one of the finniest lines ever. haha

The song hit so hard that ETHER became a metaphor down to this day. Remy Ma jacked it (shETHER) to get at Nicki. When someone loses a battle, its said, "you got ETHERED.." Absolutely no one says or references The Take Over, ever..

Ether made people open up the dictionary and changed the landscape for words in the rap game 😂

"Dame got 2 in the calf muscle!" 😂🤣😂🤣

The craziest thing was Takeover dropped September 11.. Nas waited to Dec 4 to drop Ether on Jay-Z birthday.. That was the most petty shit ever 🤣 .. Jay-Z was on Angie Martinez and you can hear the hurt in his voice. Jay-Z stopped fucking with Jaz, got rid of Dame, stopped being a player and got married.. Nas changed that mans life and did Jay-Z a favor in reality because nobody ever told Jay-Z how people really view him.

Ether was the deadliest diss record since Pacs hit em up!! Bodied J quickly lol. There's no coming back lyrically after bars like a Ether track 😂😭😂😭

In BP2 Jay said he “got his mojo back” Nas hurt em deeply

Takeover is a classic record definitely however Ether was like a megaton bomb when it dropped.

I think Ed Lover should be a regular interview. He’s been around since the late 80s, been through every era, keep him on, and he’s always been a real dude.

Nah was Genius to use 2pac for the intro “Fuck JayZ” 😅

That was actually Tupac saying “Fuck Jay-Z” in the intro of Ether. And the reason it took Nas so long to respond was because, he wasn’t going to respond. His brother Jungle pushed him and forced him to respond until Nas finally acquiesced to his encouragement.

It’s facts both disses were great but Nas ether was just too legendary every time I listen to it I feel like a straight savage Nas won no doubt 💯

Great depiction of that era in time and the battle. Ed lover explained exactly why NAS beat Jay. He was saying everything streets were saying about Jay at the time. It's a big reason HOV stepped back for awhile because people were tired of hearing Hov talk money all the time and disrespecting women. Only problem with Ether is that NAS refuses to perform it till this day. Imagine if KRS-ONE never performed the Bridge is over how that would've affected his legacy. With Nas, imagine how much bigger his shows would be if 20k or more screaming fans waiting to hear the gunshots and recite all the lyrics to Ether. Nas wouldn't need to make another record; just perform that record for the next 20 years.

Nas killed Jay z and His crew not even a debate. Nas THE best to ever do it. 🐐

Factss...i still bump ether till this day over and over like its a club hit

Takeover had one verse for nas with all opinions and one fact at the end about his baby moms. Ether was all facts and topped it off with “ you popped shit and apologized nigga , just ask kiss”. Which Jada also confirmed that on drink champs. Killed jay street cred.

The fact that people still debate on who won after Ether dropped is funny to me. Jay-Z even admitted that he lost. End of discussion. I heard Nas asked Rakim for advice on if he was to respond to the Takeover.

the fact that ether is a verb...say no more

But Jay Z survived because like Nas said you my brother but you sold your soul for riches, Jay Z is definitely with that group

The ENTIRE album is classic, Nas won, no questions...

Nas won 20 years ago so why wouldn’t he still have won today, 20 years later?

I remember hearing ether for the first time on a friday night westwood it was a special moment in my teenage years... So nostalgic

Jay stans still punching the air 'til this day! 😂🤣🤦🏿‍♂️

Were you abused as a child? Scared to smile? They called you ugly?

I'm about to listen to Ether again just because.....lol

Nas won clearly.

Nas dropped ether on JAY-Z birthday too 🤣🤣😂😂🤣😆😆😆 We need a Jay-Z nas album together 🔥🔥🔥

The fact that the Fuck Jay-Z sample was Pac made Ether even more legendary

Ed lover is a great talker, one of my favorite on air personality’s.

Ether gives Sean Carter nightmares till this day.

thank you ED...people truly don't remember this moment in time and try to look back at this battle and say Jay won...Nas dismantled jay. I recall people not even understanding what Nas was saying and thinking NAs just talking and years later find out that Jay would diss people and get on the phone and apologize...Jay did get Nas number and called him dozens of times and Nas dismissed him, etc....ether is part of hip hop vocabulary..the takeover was only a moment in time and a brief hour on Hot 97 and that disappeared when ether dropped.....you can still say ether to this day and it is associated with dissing someone and Nas name is attached firmly to that . Yes takeover was hard and most of the tri state thought Nas couldn't recover but when he did no one was in doubt that Nas won...

But Jay did say this nigga ain't never sell aspirin how he Escobar! That was a classic line! Most definitely the most classic, polished hip hop beef lyrically Supreme battle ever.

Glad he mentioned Mobb Deep. I swear it's "hip hop heads" that think all of "Takeover" is about Nas.

I love Ed for this segment. Much respect!!

And it aged like fine wine!!!! Still the greatest diss rap 😂😂😂 So good.

"you 36 in a karate class you taibo ho"😂😂

Jay z is DEFINITELY a game-changing artist, but that "clap back" from Nas with either is something that's VERY hard to come back from against a person like nas!! The takeover WAS nice though, but nas on ETHER just methodically took Jay z apart on that track!!

Instantly listens to Nas Ether 🔥🔥🔥

Ed lover is that dude he always keeps it real always speaking the truth. I remember when I first heard either I was walking home from school. Yo the feeling in air was crazy it was like the city was small and Angie Martinez a huge Jay z fan she was so hurt I remember.

I remember that joint came out. Everything stopped. When takeover came out cats was like “oh, that’s crazy”…but when ether came out we went crazy …that’s all you heard playing everywhere u went

Crazy I was listening to Stillmatic today front to back. Esco was in his zone

I agree! Nasir Jones was the under dog and pulled a David and Goliath.. he humbled, exposed, and upset jay Z all at the same time

Ed is right... I remember cats saying, how the fuck this dude got the Blueprint? KRS was first... Nas just called Jay out on it.

One of the greatest dissed of all time the fact that someone says “dam you got Ethered” once a diss makes hip hop slang it’s a wrap jay z will never have enough money to erase that history

People still til this day who claim to be real hip hopers don’t know that was 2pac saying fuck jay z in the ether intro. Without that intro the track ain’t the same! Proves pac was the 🐐 between that & hit em up! Go watch any ether performance live! Everybody wants nas to play that intro back over & over again! Just to hear pac say fuck jay z!

Although Jay revealed that he smashed Carmen Bryan in Super Ugly, it wasn’t enough in the end. Ether already sealed the deal and Jay ended up apologizing for that shit lmao

Nas ripped jayz apart straight facts

ETHER shutdown the NEW YORK CITY RADIO STATIONS!!!!! When NYC RADIO was relevant.

I live down south and I remember the day ether came out.. I was at work and ether came on…mannn me and my co-worker just looked at each other…😳 back then the Djs didn’t play much Ny rap in the radio.. but ether was something different.. Nas lit Jz ass up on that one.

If not for "No Vaseline," Ether would be the #1 all time hardest diss track ever..

correct : Ether was a nuclear bomb 💣 : game over...

I remember when Ether dropped in NYC. That song had NYC in a headlock.

Ether is one of the best diss track’s ever 🔥

Ether is the hardest diss record Ive ever heard in my 45yrs of life, PERIOD! Btw, Im from the west coast, so No Vaseline was everything before hearing Ether… But then came, “Fuck Jay-Z!” 🤣🤣🤣

💯💯💯💯💯NAS won that shit !!!!

When that beat drops...it makes you wanna sit and pay attention, like a bombshell is about to drop! Gen-Gen

At the time my mind was blown every time someone said they thought Jay-Z won. I know it's all subjective but I just couldn't understand that.

3:25 😂 Nas emptied the magazine on Jay!!

This ain’t even a question

I'm from Marcy but Nas won

Ether is the greatest diss track ever shit was epic

I heard ether when I was locked up everybody was going crazy that whole day

ETHER WAS JUST THAT: ETHER. JAY-Z HIT NAS WITH TAKEOVER IN THE EARLY SUMMER OF 2001. NAS WAITED UNTIL LATE DECEMBER OF 2001 TO RESPOND & IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY HIP HOP FAN EARS WERE GLUED TO HOT 97 IN NYC ON THAT NIGHT & NAS KILLED THE AIRWAVES WITH ETHER. THAT’S ALL EVERYONE COULD TALK ABOUT THE NEXT DAY. I HAD FRIENDS WHO WERE BIG JAY-Z FANS DURING THAT TIME CRUMBLE. HOV WAS ON FIRE FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS. HE WAS ON TOP & 1 SONG FROM NAS MADE THAT SHIT LOOK IRRELEVANT. THEN HE DROPPED STILLMATIC THE FOLLOWING YEAR & THE ALBUM WAS A STRAIGHT SAVAGE CLASSIC THAT BROUGHT NAS CAREER BACK. IT WAS LIKE HE FOUND HIS HIP HOP VOICE AGAIN.

The fact that we made a word from it that means you got destroyed. Man you got ethered. Proves Nas won

Mannnnn! That Ether sent me over the top like got damn Nas take it easy bruh 😱😱😱 nobody want it with Nas if they do I pray for them lol

Once I heard ETHER back in 2001, I knew it was a done deal I laughed my ass off

I remember thinking Nas won also...he won because nobody expected that kind of hard response

After this interview I went to listen to ether like it just came out 2023