Dame Dash has had a lot to say regarding rap battles as of late. The Roc-A-Fella co-founder gave his thoughts on the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar situation, and how it compared to the one he was directly involved in between Jay-Z and Nas. Dash claimed that the the former was actually the best battle he ever saw, and part of the reason why is because of how intense it got. The mogul was surprised by the things Drake and Lamar said to each other. When it came to the Jay vs. Nas situation, however, he was confident as to how it would go from the start.
Dame Dash discussed the Jay and Nas battle during a recent appearance on the Moguls In the Making podcast. He was asked to reflect on the back-and-forth between the iconic rappers, which led the mogul to assert that he never feared for his life. Or Jay-Z's life, for that matter. He was positive that Nas was not going to push things in a violent direction. "There was no fear of us getting hurt when it came to Nas," he told the hosts. "I’m telling you right now, there was no fear of any violence when it came to that. There was no fear when it came to us of any battle that we had when it came to violence. We were never worried about that."
Dame Dash Recalled Having "No Fear" About Bloodshed
When asked to elaborate on the point of violence, Dash compared the battle to the one that predated it by several years: Biggie vs. 2Pac. "Now, ‘Pac and Biggie, n**gas got killed," he asserted. "But n**gas get killed in Hip Hop now. They be battling and then they end up dead. It’s a little more serious now." Dash's comment about Nas not being the type to resort to violence was a compliment, as he knew the rapper to be a stand-up person. If anything, Dame Dash has been more critical of Jay-Z in the years since the beef blew over.
Dash was furious when Jay-Z apologized to Nas following the release of the diss "Super Ugly." He told the hosts of the CEO Show in 2023. "I was hitting him from the thing like, 'Get off the radio! We looking crazy!' And Irv [Gotti] did that sh*t," he recalled. "A Queens n**ga, he gave him — pause — the banana in the tailpipe. That was a Queens thing — he didn’t even see that. Yo Irv, stay out my business." Thankfully, to Dash's point, everybody involved has lived to reflect on the beef.
