Rap's fighting words: rival stars Jay-Z and Nas revive the art of the hip-hop dis in an old-school feud that just may be about fun and profit.

• Author: Century, Douglas
• Position: Arts

"We're gonna keep it in the truest essence of hip-hop: the battle," said Jay-Z, the lanky rapper, during a recent MTV Unplugged concert. Then he launched into "Takeover," his scathing lyrical assault on fellow rapper Nas.

"That's why your l-a-a-a-m-e!--career's come to a end/There's only so long fake thugs can pretend," Jay-Z rapped, as the audience laughed and sang along.

In a time when real-life war in Afghanistan has made much of the violence in the entertainment industry seem like quaint posturing, hip-hop--a musical genre struggling to remain relevant--has returned to its roots with an old-fashioned, insult-laden feud. Some skeptics say the war between Jay-Z and Nas is just an attempt by both artists to put money into each other's pockets by selling more CDs.

Their battle comes as hip-hop CD sales are being overshadowed by rock acts like Staind and Linkin Park (see "Tuning Out?" page 7). Hip-hop's teen audience seems finally to be tiring of the sameness of "bling-bling" songs and videos--hedonistic displays of diamond jewelry, chrome-rimmed cars, and shimmying girls in bikinis.

Jay-Z and Nas are mixing it up, literally. These two up-from-the-projects multimillionaires, once fast friends, now appear to be bitter rivals. Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, has reigned as the dominant figure in hip-hop for years; four of his six albums have had their debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. He doubted that anyone would have the courage to come back at him. "Ask Nas, he don't want it with [me]!" shouts Jay-Z on "Takeover," released in September.

But Nas did indeed "want it." The highly respected rapper, born Nasir Jones, came back with a one-two combination: first, a parody recording of Jay-Z's hit "Izzo," and then a harsh rebuttal called "Ether," on his album, Stillmatic, which hit stores in December.

In "Ether," Nas accuses Jay-Z of plagiarizing Notorious B.I.G., the dead rap star who was also known as Biggie Smalls: "How much of Biggie's rhymes is gonna come out your fat lips?"

Nas even engages in some armchair psychoanalysis: "You seem to be only concerned with dissin' women/Were you abused as a child, scared to smile, they called you ugly?"

Talking about "Ether" and targeting Jay-Z, Nas says, "I just wanted to affect him with my weapon and get to his soul."

Almost overnight, the hip-hop world has become transfixed by the battle. Nas's Stillmatic debuted at No. 8 on the Soundscan sales...