RAP BEEF TIMELINE · 1999–2014
Nas vs. Memphis Bleek
The Roc-A-Fella proxy shots that helped light Jay-Z–Nas
A Bleek line about balling until he falls draws Nas’s Nastradamus reply; a reported misunderstanding then sends Bleek to “My Mind Right.” Nas names Bleek on the Stillmatic-era records, and the 2005 Jay-Z–Nas peace removes the conflict’s purpose. In 2014, Bleek says he started it after being misinformed.
THE RECORD
The moments
Diss track · disputed account
“Ball ’Til You Fall” prompts Nas’s first subliminal
On Memphis Bleek’s “What You Think of That,” he raps about balling until he falls. Nas answers on “Nastradamus” with a threatening inversion of that phrase, beginning the proxy tension.
“Ball 'til you fall, I can help you with that / Let a slug melt through your hat.”Nas, “Nastradamus”
▶ Listen to “Nastradamus”Diss track · disputed account
A reported misunderstanding sends Bleek to “My Mind Right”
Bleek later says someone incorrectly told him Nas had dissed him on a DJ Clue mixtape. Acting on that account, he records “My Mind Right,” directly responding to Nas and pulling himself into the wider Roc-A-Fella conflict.
“I ain't trying to bite your style, I got my own.”Memphis Bleek, “My Mind Right”
▶ Listen to “My Mind Right”Read the receipt ↗Diss track · disputed account
The Stillmatic Freestyle makes Bleek an explicit target
After JAY-Z’s Summer Jam “Takeover” preview, Nas releases his Stillmatic Freestyle on the mixtape circuit and names Bleek alongside other Roc-A-Fella figures. The exchange is no longer merely subliminal.
▶ Watch the Stillmatic Freestyle clipDiss track · disputed account
“Ether” and “Destroy & Rebuild” double the pressure
On Stillmatic, Nas targets Bleek on “Ether” and then questions his name and standing on “Destroy & Rebuild.” Both attacks make Bleek’s role in the Roc-A-Fella front explicit.
“Memphis Bleek always sell a couple hundred thousand.”Nas, “Ether”
▶ Listen to “Destroy & Rebuild”Reconciliation
The I Declare War peace closes the proxy conflict
When Jay-Z brings Nas out at the I Declare War concert, the parent Jay-Z–Nas feud ends in public. That reconciliation removes the energy behind the Roc-A-Fella versus Queensbridge side conflict.
▶ Watch Bleek recall the Jay-Z–Nas reconciliationInterview · disputed account
Bleek says: “I started the beef”
In a VladTV interview, Bleek says somebody gassed him up with bad information, he recorded “My Mind Right,” and the exchange grew into the historic Jay-Z–Nas war. It is his own retrospective framing of the origin.
“I was the one that started it ... somebody gassed me up.”Memphis Bleek, VladTV, 2014
▶ Watch Bleek’s VladTV reflection
THE RECEIPTS
Sources and listening
Nas — “Nastradamus” ↗Memphis Bleek — “My Mind Right” ↗XXL — Memphis Bleek on starting the Jay-Z/Nas beef ↗Nas — “Stillmatic Freestyle” ↗Nas — “Destroy & Rebuild” ↗Memphis Bleek recalls Jay-Z and Nas squashing the beef ↗Memphis Bleek — “I Started Nas/Jay-Z Beef” ↗ARTIST LENSES