Jay-Z and Nas took a lot of heavy shots at each during their famous battle. Their feud caught major mainstream attention, with even a few stars sharing their feelings on the matter. One of those stars was Rosie Perez, who sided with Nas in their rap war.
What Rosie Perez had to say about Jay-Z during his battle with Nas
Jay-Z and Nas’ former rivalry took a turn for the worst as their competition continued. Hip hop fans might remember Jay-Z attacking Nas first on the record “The Takeover,” where he criticized numerous rappers in the industry. Nas would retaliate with “Ether,” which many believed was the better diss record between the two.
But those weren’t the only diss records exchanged by the two veteran emcees. Jay-Z would answer Nas’ “Ether” with the much more personal diss track “Supa Ugly.” On that record, Jay-Z claimed that he had an intimate affair with Nas’ ex-wife Carmen Bryan. With “Supa Ugly,” though, some thought he might’ve gone too far bringing up Nas’ personal life. Including Do the Right Thing star Rosie Perez, who held Nas in high regard.
In an interview on The Jimmy Kimmel Show (via Contact Music), Perez called out Jay-Z and his response.
“He went below the belt by talking about Nas’ ex-wife. I think Jay-Z is better than that. He doesn’t have to resort to dissing another man’s wife… I just thought it was a b**** move,” she said.
Jay-Z would reference Perez on his album Blueprint 2 on a song titled after the album. At that time, there was still some hostility between Nas and Jay-Z, despite the fact it seemed that “Ether” ended their battle.
“I’m sorry Miss Rosie Perez, I call a spade a spade, it just is what it is, but you can’t give cred to anything dude says,” Jay-Z rapped on the song.
However, Perez’s disappointment in Jay-Z didn’t last long, and the two were eventually able to reconcile.
“We hugged,” Perez said.
Even Jay-Z’s mom thought ‘Supa Ugly’ went too far
Jay-Z eventually had to apologize for “Supa Ugly” after a conversation with his mom. He knew it was serious because his mother didn’t really talk to him about his music up until that point.
“Mom put in a call and said, ‘That went too far.’ And she’s never, ever called me about music. So I was like ‘Okay, okay, okay. I’ll go shut it down,’” Jay-Z said according to Hip Hop DX.
In his quest to win the battle with Nas, Jay-Z realized that he’d put many people in the crossfire in doing so. So, Jay-Z didn’t only apologize on behalf of his mother.
“Once again, I apologize,” he said. “I felt like I didn’t think about women’s feelings or [Nas’ former girlfriend’s] feelings, or even my mom. It was really like, ‘Let me meet your level of disrespect with this level of disrespect.’”
Jay-Z also confided that he didn’t expect “Supa Ugly” to have the staying power that it did. He made the record on a whim, so perhaps he put little thought into the potential consequences of his lyrics.
“Freestyles usually go away in two weeks,” he added. “I didn’t know it was gonna be the official battle of the beats, seven-hour marathon. It was an answer to disrespect. I didn’t go in the studio to make a song. I made a two-minute freestyle.”
Jay-Z and Nas now joke to each other about their feud
Jay-Z and Nas have long since resolved their issues. They’ve collaborated together, and at one point Nas was even signed to Jay-Z’s record label. In one of Nas’ most recent albums King’s Disease, the Queens native rapped that he still listens to “Takeover” sometimes. He quipped on the record that his beef with the Grammy winner isn’t over.
