"Ether" is released

Why it matters

The chorus on "Ether" is just the title word, looped and chopped. "Fuck Jay-Z," the chant goes underneath, treated almost like a percussion sample. The structure is intentionally minimal: no melodic hook, no R&B singer, no production flourishes. Ron Browz built the beat in a way that lets the verses do all the work. Nas's writing on the verses is doing several things simultaneously. He flips Jay's argument about Nas having one good album by pointing out that Jay's catalog has more albums but Illmatic is canonically untouchable. He uses specific Brooklyn geography against Jay ("how does it feel to be the fake-Mafia?"). He attacks Jay's appearance, an old-school diss move that most 2001 rappers had moved away from but that lands here partly because it is so old-school. The whole song is a writer in maximum-craft mode dismantling another writer. Jay responded with "Supa Ugly" on Hot 97 a week later (mostly read as a weaker comeback). The Nas vs Jay round formally went to Nas. You can argue the round, but most rooms have settled the call. Nas won "Ether."