Smoke DZA chopped it up with Lil Cease during a recent Instagram Live session where, naturally, the subject of The Notorious B.I.G. came up. At one point, they started talking about JAY-Z and Biggie’s relationship with the billionaire Hip Hop mogul.
Cease, who was a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Biggie’s cousin revealed Biggie always thought Hov was the superior MC.
“Once Big met him at the Palladium, and they bonded on some g-shit ’cause they respected each other as men and they respected each other as artists,” Cease said. “Big wasn’t afraid to tell him … Big thought [JAY-Z] was doper than him. Big used to say, ‘Yo, that nigga nicer than me.’
“These are straight facts. When JAY-Z said that line on ‘Dead Presidents,’ ‘Niggas take a freeze off my kneecap, niggas believe that?’ Big was like, ‘Yo, he got me.'”
Cease thought Biggie was “buggin'” though and explained he found Big’s content more relatable.
“I adapted to Big’s shit because it was more my lane,” he continued. “Jay was digging in the books saying some other shit. I had to go get a dictionary like, ‘The fuck is he talkin’ bout?’ You know what I’m saying? We wasn’t tappin’ into it ’cause we was some young, bad ass kids. But I adapted to Big ’cause I feel like Big was just more direct.”
The Notorious B.I.G. Honored With 2 New Rap Snacks Flavors
The Notorious B.I.G. recorded two classic albums before his 1997 murder, Ready To Die and Life After Death.
Its great to hear of the comraderie between the two legends. I do think though that there was a reason Biggie blew up first and he was crowned king of New York before Jay. I listened to a few of the collaborations over the years and I felt that whilst Jay was nice, Big topped Jay on the majority of the occasions.
I agree with you but I would say that Biggie shined on Brooklyn’s Finest, mainly because of that 2pac line and I would say that Jay shined on I love the dough but in both songs it felt neck in neck like deciding between Jordan and Kobe.
Now can all you broke Nas stans shut the fuck II about King HOV “biting Biggie” when Big himself said that King HOV was nicer than him? I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded the King paying homage in his rhymes. It’s the ROC in here!
Ether that shit that make ya soul burn slow,
Burnt ass nigga still worried about Nas, the beef been squashed and you still can’t stop thinking about the goat MC Nasty Nas.
My bad bruh I woke up and my a-hole was hurting for some reason….Nas is lyrically better. I still think It Was Written is better than anything King HOV has ever released.
It was written…lol??? It’s good to be a lyricist but you need better beats. It was written will make you want to fall asleep. Boring shit. 3 Jay albums better: reasonable doubt, blueprint, black album and American Gangster for a fourth.
How much did Jay pay him to say that ???
You got to be kidding me jay-z is a biter, cam Ron proved it already years ago…(I’m surprised j ain’t go and get a racing team by now smh)
Biggie was better in every way. He definitely had a better flow, better lyrics, was a better storyteller, was more humorous and crafted better albums. I’ve always thought of jay z as an inferior (though still great) biggie.
Jay and B.I.G. don’t have styles similar in any way. Personally, I think people let Ready to Die cloud their judgment because to me that is one of the illest debut albums ever, but there is more of his catalog than that, including the very disappointing double CD Life After Death.
Hahahahahahaha. Biggie started the whole rapping about money and shit..jayz just ran w it after big died.
That’s not a style. That’s subject matter, and if you’re going to say B.I.G. invented spitting about cash, cars, hoes, I don’t know what to say to you. Their styles are inherently different.
Style means your beats, your flow, etc. are similar to someone else. That couldn’t be further from the truth in this case. What B.I.G. did starting with his remixes after Rady to Die was marry West Coast sounding beats to East Coast grimy lyrics. Jay’s first album was jazz influenced with Ski Beats and Clark Kent doing most of the production. Again, where is the similarity?
Haha Cease been finished since BIG passed. Jay made money now suckas think he better than BIG?? Sounds like Cease got Jay’s balls in his mouth looking for a handout smh
KING BI-G FOREVER!
Did you even bother to read the article? Cease said in a conversation with Biggie, that BIGGIE said he thought Jay was nicer on the mic than him. Cease says he thought otherwise retard.
Ya dumb ass didn’t read the article did you and your talking a load of shit Cease said Big thought Jay was nicer than him so proves how clueless you are ?
Most of the time Jay-Z sounds like he was bored of his own lyrics. Biggie always sounded like he was chewing on some fried chicken. Fuck both. Oh yeah, and fuck overrated Nas, too. I don’t say they don’t have a couple of good songs or a couple of good albums, but the real kings come from the underground and not from the radio.
okay I’ll play devils advocate…the only underground rappers who can even be thought of on an elite level is Royce Da 5’9. Phonte is dope but no classic solo album. Ghostface is a favorite of mine but I wouldn’t say he’s underground, even though he’s moreso now. Mind you…I don’t even think Royce or Phone would tell you they are as great as Nas and Jay, based off catalog…but I still think the talent levels are elite. But Hip Hop has more elite talent than Jay and Nas. I thought Jay Elec was up there until he made it known he probably needed JAY Z to help finish a once solo album
Underground is boring to them they already mastered that. Smfh
Your favorite rapper must be RA The Rugged Man…?Prick
Biggie said someone outshined him on a record. he didn’t say jay z was actually better. “ain’t no other kings in this rap thing they siblings, nothing but my children.”
He told Cease several times he nicer than me. Go to sleep.
Where’s the Lie? There is none.
He was just trying to be polite/ humble . No way Biggie is an inferior emcee to Jay-z though. How many of his rhymes came out of Jigga’s fat lips??
The fuck he need to lie to you. And he defensively better than Nas
Jay was the better pure rapper(lyrically)
Biggie flowed better over beats, had a slightly better delivery as well as wordplay.
Two best rappers in my opinion.
(Lyrics,Worldplay,Flow,Catologue,Presence)
Biggie has no catalogue
Hahahahahahahahaha. Big was a true artist, jayz is nothing more than a salesman who copied Biggies style.
Nas the best! Time to be real wit yall. Been tired of living in my moms basement and eating mayonnaise sandwiches. Been propping out King HOV for so long and this mf hasn’t hooked me up. King NASIR ALL DAY
Top 5…no order PAC BiG NAS HOV EM….honorable mention ICE Cube RedMan
You got no KRS. You got no Rakim. You got no Scarface. That’s an incomplete list.
All discussions about who was better are irrelevant and pointless. They both had their own lanes and rode a massively different path to stardom. BIG was that star that shined so bright and then was gone. Everyone remembers those types. Jay is a lyrical mastermind that put out classic album after classic album. Who knows if BIG would still be dropping classics if he was still alive. Who knows if Jay would have gotten to that superstar status if BIG was still alive… maybe Jay would have turned into Big’s AZ. Criteria for best rapper alive: had to change the game and reach massive superstardom across all of America. BIG, Jay, Nas, Pac, Em, Kendrick, etc. all got their case.
Facts
Agreed
BLACK THOUGHT OVER EVERYONE…FUCK THE BULLSHIT!…
Doesn’t matter. Nas was/is tighter than both of them.
Fuck no u tripping he not better than big or hov
You high oe something
I spread peanutbutter between my ass cheeks for a snack available all day long
Addy?
Unpopular opinion: As much as I like the Black Album, I will say it’s kinda weird listening to it now. Because Jay-Z continuously talks about retiring and leaving the rap game throughout the album, only for him to return three years later. Still top 5, but it’s probably #5 at this point (RD, BP, AG and 444 ahead).
What did he mean by freeze off my kneecap?
The whole line is “Peep facts, in the game so deep fiends could catch a freeze off my kneecap, can y’all believe that?” Basically, he’s knee deep in the game. Freeze= high. Basically, he’s so deep in the drug game that fiends can get high off his knees which he’s buried up to by said drug game.
lol that’s not what it means at all
Correction: 1 classic album and one with a mix of great songs and mad filler.
Yep. Life After Death is mediocre as hell. Even Biggie had a sophomore slump.