Awesome / Jay-Z

• As a whole, the feud with Nas, while unpleasant in many ways, made both Jay-Z and Nas bring their A-game to the table, and generated great prestige for both men.
  • The Takeover. Over a classic Kanye West beat, Jay-Z tore Mobb Deep and Nas apart, calling Nas in particular out for his diminishing returns after Illmatic and really lighting a fire under his ass (leading to not just his beef with Jay-Z, but his comeback with Stillmatic). It's widely considered one of the greatest diss songs of all time, if not the best.
  • He disses Nas so rudely on "Supa Ugly" that his mother forces him to announce a public apology.
• The fact that financially, including his musical career and MUCH more, he has amassed over a $600 million net worth. Rags to Riches, indeed.
  • As of 2019, he's officially the first billionaire rapper. You've earned it, Mr. Carter.
• Dropping 4:44 with very little hype or buildup and no lead-up singles, and getting some of the best reviews of his career, especially coming off the somewhat lukewarm reaction to Magna Carta Holy Grail.
• After he was slated to headline the Glastonbury music festival, Oasis' Noel Gallagher complained that "Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music... I'm not having hip hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong." In response, Jay-Z opened his set by walking onstage strumming a guitar and singing a hilariously off-key rendition of "Wonderwall" before launching into "99 Problems". Making this particular Take That especially ironic is the fact that the crowd seized on this as a big sing-along moment, turning a sly, ambiguously hostile retort against Gallagher into a huge crowd-pleasing moment.
• How long did it take him to record The Blueprint? Two weeks. How long did it take him to write all the lyrics? Two days.
• His second verse in Blueprint 2.
• His other Moment of Awesome with Nas was bringing him at the "I Declare War" concert.
• Not only did he fire R. Kelly from the Unfinished Business tour for "lack of professionalism", but he reportedly had him pepper sprayed. Knowing what a scumbag Kelly turned out to be, this adds to Jay-Z's legend.

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