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Just Rankin’ Sh!t
Every Jay-Z and Nas Collaboration, Ranked
One of hip-hop’s greatest rivalries has yielded some yearned-for duets — most recently on DJ Khaled’s latest album. How do they all stack up?
6. “I Do It for Hip-Hop,” Ludacris Featuring Jay-Z and Nas
Despite solid, straightforward verses, this solemn Theater of the Mind deep cut is a bit ham-fisted — like pandering too hard to the kind of dudes who refused to acknowledge Soulja Boy as #realhiphop. Loosen up a little, fellas. Sheesh.
5. “Black Republicans,” Nas Featuring Jay-Z
Years of anticipation and royal horns ripped straight from The Godfather: Part II made the perfect setup for this much-anticipated linkup between two former foes. But the hype of this 2006 Hip Hop Is Dead cut was impossible to meet — and the end result felt especially anticlimactic. (Plus, Juelz Santana and Mixtape Weezy did it better.)
4. “BBC,” Jay-Z Featuring Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Nas, and Swizz Beatz
Due to their formerly rocky history (and the sonic aesthetics they select), Hov and Esco’s duets tend to have a high-stakes feel; they’re weighty. This superfriends cut, however, is simply a fun dedication — not to the U.K. broadcast network, nor Pharrell and Nigo’s streetwear brand, but to 1980s NYC hustler swag. Grab your rope chains and Bally sneakers and hit a b-boy stance.
3. “Analyze This,” Nas Featuring Jay-Z and Lord Tariq
This Frankensteined collab gets an asterisk. Peep the history lesson: Before he was a tone-deaf sports analyst, Shaquille O’Neal was a rising NBA superstar who traded bars with some of the best 1990s rappers to ever grace the mic. One such occasion was his Lord Tariq and Jay-Z collab, “No Love Lost,” a track from Shaq’s third LP that became a treasured gem on mixtapes (and later, file-sharing programs like Napster) when it reemerged doctored-up with a new title, a vintage Nas rhyme tacked on, and Shaq Diesel’s part gone — poof — like Kazaam. The remaining three verses are all…
