2008 Woodie Awards
Rap Sees an Outbreak of Peace
Rebecca Louie / New York Daily News (KRT)
Issue date: 2/6/06 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
Hip-hop stars are losing their taste for beef, instead cooking up split-peace soup.
In October, longtime rivals Jay-Z and Nas quashed their quarrels and stunned fans with a live duet - and even a hug.
Now, sources say a new deal finds Nas signed to Jay-Z's Def Jam label for more than $10 million (early reports incorrectly estimated it was $3 million), a sum that covers an advance and production costs.
The unexpected union - this is, after all, the same Nas who had once planned to hang Jay-Z in effigy onstage - will make Nas CEO of his own Def Jam sub-label, More Peace, on which he will also record. Sony, Nas' former label, will share any profits or losses on his next two records.
It also makes any future collaborations between the two a coveted commodity.
"Everybody wants to see what they do," says radio personality Minya Oh, a.k.a. Miss Info on New York radio station Hot-97. "It's like having two heavyweight champions battling each other over and over and then working together, as if (Muhammad) Ali and (Joe) Frazier were collaborating on the same cookout grill for QVC."
Jay-Z and Nas are not the only feuding duo to light the peace pipe.
Less than two weeks ago, Eminem remarried Kim Mathers, his longtime love, the mother of their daughter, Hailie, and the muse for many of his violent, lyrical rants that often end with her gruesome demise.
Perhaps the rapper has had a change of heart, as evidenced by the rhymes on his most recent album. On the track "Like Toy Soldiers," for instance, he laments feuds that escalate into violence.
But not every rapper wants to give peace a chance. 50 Cent continues to build bridges to success by burning them with foes.
And underground darling Cam'ron - who has an album, movie and mix tape to hawk - was to hold a press conference Wednesday to expound on his hatred of Jay-Z, which he details on the single "You Gotta Love It (Dissin' Jay-Z)."
In October, longtime rivals Jay-Z and Nas quashed their quarrels and stunned fans with a live duet - and even a hug.
Now, sources say a new deal finds Nas signed to Jay-Z's Def Jam label for more than $10 million (early reports incorrectly estimated it was $3 million), a sum that covers an advance and production costs.
The unexpected union - this is, after all, the same Nas who had once planned to hang Jay-Z in effigy onstage - will make Nas CEO of his own Def Jam sub-label, More Peace, on which he will also record. Sony, Nas' former label, will share any profits or losses on his next two records.
It also makes any future collaborations between the two a coveted commodity.
"Everybody wants to see what they do," says radio personality Minya Oh, a.k.a. Miss Info on New York radio station Hot-97. "It's like having two heavyweight champions battling each other over and over and then working together, as if (Muhammad) Ali and (Joe) Frazier were collaborating on the same cookout grill for QVC."
Jay-Z and Nas are not the only feuding duo to light the peace pipe.
Less than two weeks ago, Eminem remarried Kim Mathers, his longtime love, the mother of their daughter, Hailie, and the muse for many of his violent, lyrical rants that often end with her gruesome demise.
Perhaps the rapper has had a change of heart, as evidenced by the rhymes on his most recent album. On the track "Like Toy Soldiers," for instance, he laments feuds that escalate into violence.
But not every rapper wants to give peace a chance. 50 Cent continues to build bridges to success by burning them with foes.
And underground darling Cam'ron - who has an album, movie and mix tape to hawk - was to hold a press conference Wednesday to expound on his hatred of Jay-Z, which he details on the single "You Gotta Love It (Dissin' Jay-Z)."