Over the last several months, Jay Z has taken the high road with many of his former rap foes. After being embroiled in numerous beefs from the 2000s, from his lengthy feud with Nas to his falling out with former protege Beanie Sigel, Shawn Carter has found ways to put his past issues behind him and forge new working relationships.
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Though the Brooklyn rap mogul still has several issues to iron out with the likes of Drake (See: “Sorry Mrs. Drizzy for the art talk” from 2014’s “We Made It” freestyle) and Mobb Deep, here’s a look at some of the beefs he’s recently squashed
Jim Jones
In Cam’ron’s feud with Jay Z (there was friction between the New York MCs during the Roc-A-Fella era), Jim Jones hopped into their highly-publicized beef in support of his Harlem comrade. Amidst Jay’s 2006 Kingdom Come album, Jones delivered a scathing diss titled “Kingdom Done.” Jay Z responded by jumping on a redo of Jones’ infectious club single “We Fly High.” Titled ‘”Brooklyn High,” Jay Z threw a barrage of shots at Jones. Then, on Wednesday (Feb. 8), Jim Jones inked a management deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation.
“As you get older you realize that most of your peers are either dead or in jail,” Jones said. “The fact that we can move past the BS is a testimony [to] how much we have grown.”
The LOX
Though Jay Z’s involvement in this was more street hype than actual beef, Hov’s protege (and then-Roc-A-Fella Records signee) Beanie Sigel clashed on wax with Jadakiss in 2001. The messy quarrel found Sigel spewing venom towards Kiss and his group, The LOX. “You ’bout to make me really hurt you, Kiss… The reverend gonna have to get a hearse for Kiss,” Beans rapped on a freestyle.
Kiss pounced back on the “F–k Sigel” diss track: “Sigel’s not real to me; therefore he doesn’t exist … So poof, vamoose, son of Kiss.” The two sides buried the hatchet the same year with a phone conversation. “It’s not gonna be no more disrespectful songs made,” Jada told MTV in 2001. “If it is, it’s gonna be handled differently than making a song about it. [Making dis records] can be good and bad; they help it if you need the hype. I need it, then I don’t need it because I’m doing good anyway. I’m about to cash in real big this year and I ain’t about to let nobody or nothing stop that.”
That year, Jada also addressed rumors that he was beefing with Jay Z. “He just called me yesterday,” Kiss told HipHopDX. “He wants to sit down before it gets out of control. Let bygones be bygones. It ain’t even let bygones be bygones, because it was never anything. We always f–ked with him’ so it was always love. The streets just blew it out of proportion.”
The LOX announced their management deal with Roc Nation last December. In addition to their signing, the group released their first album in 16 years with Filthy America…It’s Beautiful under D-Block Records and Roc Nation.
For years, rumors of trouble between Joe and Jay Z pervaded the blogs. In 2004, Joe and Jay Z looked to settle the score in their championship game for New York City’s Entertainment Basketball Classic. A bevy of star players, including LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford, were all slated to play. Unfortunately, Jay Z’s S.Carter team forfeited because of scheduling issues, allowing Joe’s Terror Squad club to walk away with the championship.
Joe gloated about his team’s victory on his 2004 smash “Lean Back”: “Kay keep tellin’ me to speak about the Rucker/ Matter of fact, I don’t wanna speak about the Rucker/ Not even Pee Wee Kirkland could imagine this/ My n—–s didn’t have to play to win the championship,” Joe rapped. Jay responded back on his 2004 track “The Game is Mine.” “No regrets, don’t even talk about no Ruckers, motherf–kers/ I am set like a tennis match/ See where your interest at/ Y’all don’t get the big picture yet,” spit Jay.
In May 2016, the two ended their beef after posing for a picture together at Beyonce’s Formation tour, before Hov lent his bars to the remix of Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s summer smash “All the Way Up”. Like others on this list, Fat Joe also signed with Roc Nation for management last month.
Kanye West
This may have been a one-sided feud to begin with, but in October 2016, Kanye West apparently had a bone to pick with his old friends Jay Z and Beyonce according to a rant during his Life of Pablo Tour. Angered by Jay’s alleged lack of support after the Paris robbery involving his wife, Kim Kardashian, West aired out his big brother in a lengthy diatribe. “Don’t call me, after the robbery, and say, ‘How you feelin’?’” he yelled out. “You wanna know how I’m feelin’? Come by the house.”
A month later, West kept the Carters on his lips at his Sacramento show. “Beyoncé, I was hurt because I heard that you said you wouldn’t perform unless you won Video of the Year over me and over ‘Hotline Bling,'” West said. “Now don’t go dissing Beyoncé, she’s great. Taylor Swift is great. We are all great people. We are all equal. But sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forget who we are, just to win. F–k winning, f–k looking cool. F–k looking cool. F–k being cool. F–k all that, bruh.”
West then shifted his attention over to Jay Z, “I’ve been sent here to give y’all my truth even at the risk of my own life, my own success, my own career. Jay Z — call me, bruh. You still ain’t called me. Jay Z, I know you got killers. Please don’t send them at my head. Please call me. Talk to me like a man.”
In January, photos and a video clip surfaced of the Wests reportedly leaving Blue Ivy’s fifth birthday party in Los Angeles.
Lil Wayne & Company
In 2009, Birdman criticized Jay Z in an interview with Tropical TV, where he called him out after he was named the Hottest MC in the Game by MTV. “I don’t think [Jay Z] is the number one emcee in no kind of way. Wayne’s the best. He do the most and he make the most money. I don’t think no n—a in the business make more money than us. How can you be the best if you don’t make the most money? And you don’t do the most? Lyrically, come on man, be for real, can’t nobody f–k with Wayne… If you number one and you ain’t getting no money it don’t mean nothing.”
Hov then lashed back on his 2011 Watch the Throne track “H.A.M.” “I’m like ‘really’? Half-a-billy n—a? Really? You got Baby money; Keep it real with n—as, n—as ain’t got my lady money,” rapped Jay.
In defense of Birdman, Wayne fired back on his Tha Carter IV track “It’s Good.” “Talkin’ ’bout Baby money? I got your baby money; Kidnap your b—h, get that ‘how much you love your lady’ money.” In 2013, Jay issued one more diss towards Wayne on Magna Carta Holy Grail‘s “La Familla.” “N—a wanna kidnap wifey, good luck with that bruh/You must gonna hide your whole family, what you think we wearing black for?”
Since then, Wayne has kept silent on the Hov front, perhaps due to his ongoing label dispute with Birdman over the delayed release of his long-awaited Tha Carter V album. (Birdman recently told Travis Scott on his Beats 1 radio show that the project is “definitely coming out.”)
In 2015, Wayne also partnered up with Jay Z’s streaming service Tidal to release his Free Weezy Album. The next year, he mocked Birdman during his performance at Camp Flog Gnaw. While performing “I’m Me,” Wayne replaced the Cash Money call out in his lyrics to “I’m a motherf–king Roc-A-Fella millionaire.”
Gucci Mane
In 2006, Gucci Mane and Jeezy were going back and forth with diss records. In the midst of their lyrical battle, Gucci sent some jabs towards Jay’s way on his track “745,” spitting, “Beyonce, oh that’s your fiancé/ Jeezy is the appetizer you’ll be the entrée.” Jay never entertained Gucci’s lyrics nor commented on the matter.
After serving time in prison, Gucci Mane returned drama-free in 2016. No longer interested in beef, he and Jay posed for a picture on Instagram during Beyonce’s Formation tour.
Robert De Niro
While not a full-fledged beef, Jay Z hilariously managed to make headlines for allegedly making big-screen veteran Robert De Niro feel a way. While celebrating Leonardo DiCaprio’s birthday in 2012, Robert De Niro allegedly checked his ex-neighbor in Tribeca, Jay Z, for not returning his phone calls. Jay reportedly joked to De Niro saying that he’s terrible at using the phone. Four years later, the two were able to smile for photos and share a table at the amfAR Gala.