Jay-Z Disses Nas and Brings Out Michael Jackson at 2001 Summer Jam – Today in Hip-Hop
On this day, June 28, in hip-hop history...
2001: Jay-Z ignites a full-blown rap beef with a few Queensbridge legends before bringing out the King of Pop, thus creating a few of the most iconic moments in the storied history of Hot 97's Summer Jam concert series.
Taking the stage at the peak of his powers, Hov debuted a the first two verses of a new song by the name "Takeover," a scathing tune from his then-forthcoming album, The Blueprint. After spitting his first verse of the track, which, on the surface, didn't take aim at any particular person, Hov delivers his second a capella. With Hova's signature conversational delivery and ruthlessly incisive lyrics, Hov's second verse plays out calm and collected argument against Mobb Deep's street credibility. He pays extra attention to Prodigy.
"I don't care if you Mobb Deep, I hold triggers to crews/You little fuck, I got money stacks bigger than you/When I was pushing weight back in '88/You was a ballerina, I got the pictures, I seen ya," Hov spits on the track. It was at that moment that he uploaded a photo of Prodigy wearing a ballerina-esque outfit onto the Summer Jam screen, drawing plenty of loud laughs from the crowd.
At the end of his second verse, Hov calls out Queensbridge's premier neighborhood rap savant. After offering up all of his reasons for what he believed to be the Mobb's comparative inadaquacy, Hov threw out a warning shot at Nas: "Ask Nas—he don't want it with Hov."
The history of Hov's beef with Nas is a lengthy one, but it supposedly goes back to Mr. Nasir Jones' failure to appear at a recording session for Jigga's debut album, Reasonable Doubt. Hov allegedly invited Nas to the session, and after the rapper didn't show up, a sample from the Queens rapper's "World Is Yours" hook was used in the hook for Hova's hit single, "Dead Presidents." The two had exchanged subliminals for years, but now, the beef was fully on. Nas would attempt to clap back at Hov at the 2002 Summer Jam.
As if that weren't enough, Hov also performed his Jackson Five-sampling Blueprint single, "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)." In a moment of singular magnitude, Hov then brought out Michael Jackson in front of the crowd. Like we said, pretty epic stuff, and an amazing moment in the legendary career of Shawn Corey Carter.