Freeway has opened up about what it was that allowed him to diss Nas in the midst of his beef with JAY-Z despite being a longtime fan.
In a new interview with VLAD TV, the State Property MC said that he once drew comparisons to Nas, whose “If I Rule The World” lyrics he even incorporated into some of his early rhymes as an up-and-coming artist. However, at the height of the feud between the two New York titans, crew loyalty superseded his fandom.
“I love Nas, I gotta just let y’all know that,” Freeway said. “That was painful for me. ‘Cause when I was a young boul, they used to call me the Philly Nas. I had this song and I had this hook, ‘They love to hear the story how the thugs live on worry/ Ducking down the car seats, heat is mandatory.’ Like, I LOVE Nas.”
“But like I said, When it come time to ride for the team, I’m riding for the team,” Free added. “At that time, we in the middle of it. And it’s time to show and prove. And I’m letting people know what it is: I’m riding for the team. You got a problem with Big Homie, you got a problem with all of us.”
Once JAY-Z and Nas had patched things up to the point that they were collaborating and supporting each other publicly, Freeway was able to tell Nas how he felt as the two left the video shoot for “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is).” That’s when he found out that the artistic appreciation was mutual.
“When we got outside, I was like ‘Look Nas, I know I dissed you; but I love your shit, I used to listen to your shit as a young boy’,” Freeway recalled. “He was like, ‘Free, I love your shit too, I ain’t even gon’ front, I be listening to you too.’ I was happy we had that moment and I got to tell him how I really felt. That was major for me.”
Years removed from the rivalry, Freeway remains just as big a fan of Nas, sharing that he even interrupted a recent studio session to celebrate the moment the Queens native followed him back on Instagram.
While he’s also come to a point of mutual love and respect for The LOX, Freeway stated that at the height of the groups feud with the State Property camp, there was absolutely no love lost.
As a matter of fact, due to the level of animosity and where he and his Roc-A-Fella brethren were in their lives at the time, things could have easily gone left, he explained.
“We was always prepared for it to escalate,” Free said. “You gotta think: we fresh off the streets, still on the streets. Everything that we said we MEANT, and we was carrying it like that everywhere we meant. [But] by the time we started bumping into each other, things was calmed down.”
He later added: “Kiss, Styles and Sheek, I really look at them like my brothers. I really got genuine love for them, and I feel like it’s vice versa. So I’m glad we didn’t kill each other ’cause at one point it really coulda happened.”
Nas didn’t have a problem with Jay-Z initially. We all know that Jay was the biggest Nas fan out of the whole Roc crew, so when Jay couldn’t take no for an answer for Nas appearing on his first album, he started getting in his feelings. From sampling his voice (which Nas gets royalties for) and fucking Carmen (who Nas was already split from when they hooked up), definitely some fanboy shit.
We forgot you were there
FALSE! Nas was taking shots at Jay-Z in ‘96 on “The Message”. Steve Stoute admitted to that. Also, he took a shot at Jay on “We Will Survive”.: “Peace to your daughter and your newborn son/It used to be fun, makin’ records to see your response/But, now competition is none, now that you’re gone/And these niggas is wrong, using your name in vain/And they claim to be New York’s king?…” That was in response to Jay’s first verse on “The City Is Mine”. Nas had problems with Jay well before ‘01. Why? Don’t know. They were on your tour together with Jaz-O and Main Source around ‘91-92. I’m interested in knowing what occurred between them on that tour.
Nas was taking shots at BIG on “The Message”. Which bars were directed at Jay? And of course slick talking from Jay would provoke a response from Nas.
Don’t have to be there to know the history, my guy.
@Not true either Stoute confirmed on the RapRadar podcast that the following was directed at Jay on the following bars: “Seventeen rocks gleam from one ring / They let me let y’all ni**as know one thing / There’s one life, one love, so there can only be one king / The highlights of livin’, Vegas-style roll dice in linen / Antera spinnin’ on Millenniums / Twenty G bets, I’m winnin’ ’em; threats I’m sendin’ ’em / Lex with TV sets the minimum.” https://ambrosiaforheads com/2017/11/nas-illmatic-to-it-was-written-video/
Steve Sfoute is mixing things up… When Nas dropped that song, Jay Z hadn’t even dropped his first album yet… So could Nas have been going at him.
Stoute knows what he’s talm bout. Jay dropped Reasonable Doubt on June 25, 1996. Nas dropped It Was Written, which features “The Message” on July 2, 1996. However, Jay released “Dead President” single in ‘95 well before the album release. In that song, Jay says “You know this nigga, Jay-Z, Shawn Carter/[Lexus] G.S. the fuck up, dress the fuck up/ Watch me shine like a Breitling, Breguets the fuck up.” Nas took a shot at Jay by minimizing the social value of that car with the bar “Lex with TV sets the minimum” as in the Lexus is the basic or floor level of success.
He told u, Jay wanted to feature Nas in Reasonable Doubt. Nas reportedly missed his studio session or declined the feature but I think it’s the former which is why in Ether he said “y’all niggas deal with emotions like bitches. He felt the way Jay took the matter of him missing studio session for the album feature was way too emotional. So there u have it. Their problem wasn’t 01. It was before “Reasonable Doubt” in 96.
@Esso I don’t dispute Jay being upset about Nas (and AZ) not showing up to do their verses for “Bring It On” (per Akinelye) but what bars between Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint shows his frustration about that situation? Even with Nas doing that and the shot on “The Message”, Jay showed Nas love on In My Lifetime, Volume 1’s “Where I’m From” and “Rap Game/Crack Game” (sampled Nas’ voice again). The first time Jay actually responded to Nas on wax was Memphis Bleek’s “What You Think Of That” in ‘99 in response to Nas’ “We Will Survive”.
@Dwight, so you’re just gonna believe Steve? Lol. He may be throwing Jay’s name in there for publicity, but Nas himself said that those specific bars were aimed at Biggie. Said nothing about Jay. I’ll take the word from the legend that actually wrote the bars himself over Steve’s.
Because nas seen Jay was a fraud! Using biggies name but alllways said he was better! Nas n big we’re genuine friends!
Nas didn’t have a problem with Jay-Z initially. We all know that Jay was the biggest Nas fan out of the whole Roc crew, so when Jay couldn’t take no for an answer for Nas appearing on his first album, he started getting in his feelings. From sampling his voice (which Nas gets royalties for) and fucking Carmen (who Nas was already split from when they hooked up), definitely some fanboy shit.
Fame went to they head, so now it’s “Fuck Nas?”
Yesterday you begged for a deal, today you tough guys
I seen it coming
Soon as I popped my first bottle
I spotted my enemies tryna do what I do
Came in with my style, so I fathered you
I kept changing on the world since “Barbeque”
Now you wanna hang with niggas I hung with
Fuck bitches I hit, it’s funny I once said
This ain’t true. The Nas and hov beef started because bleek started popping shit at Nas and hov stepped in cause bleek couldn’t handle it.
Real talk Jay is envious of nas cuz he gets mor street cred and respect! Nas ain’t a pop rapper….and Jay braggin about fuckin a scorned bm tells you about the dude! That ain’t a great feat! She was a vindictive smut!
How did Free diss Nas? Anybody can post the lyrics or at least tell us the track where he diss dude so we can know what was said.
Mostly freestyles on mixtapes or radio.
Freeway- we move out (Nas diss song)
Thanks imma check it out, thanks for yall replies