Hit 'Em Up Vs. Ether

I was taking a walk yesterday, and passed by this music store that was blasting Hit Em Up, and it sounded so fresh. It sounded like it was a new jam that had just dropped. In case you don't know, Hit Em Up is a diss track Tupac recorded for Biggie back in 1996. It was the benchmark for all diss records until Nas dropped Ether in 2001.


Now, there has been a lot of debate on which is  a better diss track. I have written this article with the intent of letting my opinion on the matter be heard. With Hit 'Em Up, Tupac put a lot of energy into the track. It was angry "Tupac" venting at an old friend who he felt had betrayed him. I think this is what made ths song really distinct. The beat is up-tempo, and Tupac's words are clear, and carry "shock value". With lines like- "You claim to be a player, but i fucked your wife,", he is bound to get your attention. In fact, the first thing he said before he started rapping was- "I ain't got no motherfucking friends, that's why i fucked your wife, you fat motherfucker". Those words are enough to disarm any enemy.  But we are still yet to clarify if those lines hasve some truth to them.


Ether on the other hand, was confident Nas, going at an enemy when everything seem to be against him. At the point he released the track, which was a reply to Jay-Z's Take Over, he was at the lowest point of his career. He hadn't released an album in 2 years. And his last, Nastradamus, was bashed by critiques. His mom had been diagnosed with Cancer, and was dying in the hospital (She latter died some months after the track was released). Jay-Z was at the top of his game. No one would have felt that Nas would defeat him in the battle. Jay's last three albums- Hard Knock Life, Life and Times of S. Carter, and Dynasty were all successful albums; and Blueprint had just dropped, and was doing huge numbers. He had the full backing of New York radio station, Hot 97, who were biased towards Nas at the time. But Ether dropped, and everything changed.


Now, i want to go in and dissect these two songs. I think Hit Em Up reached a more wider audience than Ether because it had an up-tempo beat, Tupac was in his prime, and he was a more popular rapper than Nas. While only real Hip Hop listeners could feel the brilliance of Ether, everybody that claims to be a hip hop listener, or just a music lover generally would feel Hit 'Em Up. Tupac came with hard hitting rhymes, switching up his flow every now and then, introducing his other rap crew members (The Outlawz), and even going ahead to speak for about 2 minutes at the end, explaing why he did the track, and what was on his mind. He didn't go subliminal, he put names out there. He put his emotions out there...he put his anger out on that record. And people related to it more like they would relate to Al Pacino at the end of the Scarface movie when he was defending himself against the assasines that came to kill him in his home.


With Ether, Nas used a mellow but knocking beat. He didn't siwtch up his flow...he used one pattern through out, but it was the line after line after line of disses that made the song great.  Ironically, the track started off with a sample of Tupac's voice yelling- "fuck jay-z". Then he said "Ay yo, I know you aint talking 'bout me dog. You, what?...you been on my dick, you love my style." Refering to all the times Jay-Z sampled his voice, and wanting him on guest features on his tracks from back in the day. Then he ran through two quick verses. And made the listeners feel- okay, this is cool, but not hard hitting enough. I guess this is the brilliance of this track...he saved the best for last. Then he came with the thrid verse, that lasted over a minute and 30 seconds. And went on line after line, bashing jay. A lot of people have said some of the lines can be debated for authenticity, but  what i always wonder is if most of the lines were fabricated as Jay claims, why did he want to cry on air when Angie Martinez asked him about the track back in 2001. And why did Nas win (52 to 48) in a call-in vote on Hot 97 radio station about which track was hotter?


To end this i would say, the two tracks are great. I personally like how Tupac sequenced Hit 'Em Up- he came in with his verse, then stoped and said- "I don't know why I'm on this track, you guys don't know my level, i'm gonna to let my little homies ride on you..." Then he went on and allowed the Outlawz do there thing. Then he came back again at the end. And the way he spoke with all the vengeance in his voice, is enough to scare a whole squad. It's enough to make the squad think- "this dude is a mad man for real". With Ether on the other hand, the way Nas came with confidence, after everything looking like it was not going to go his way. Jay had the DJ's, the hip hop listening ear...he had "Izzo" playing on radio every hour, but Nas dropped a bomb; It exploded, and it tore the hip hop audience to two- the Nas fans and the Jay-Z fans. 11 years down the line, and people are still having the debate on who won the battle. But the realistic people know Nas won, that's why now when someone destroys another on a track, they say- "so and so got ethered.


I think, i might have put Hit Em Up over Ether if Biggie had replied to it, and they had gone back and forth, but there was really no battle; Pac just dropped the bomb, and that was it. But with Ether, Nas was replying to Jay-Z's Take Over, and even after Ether dropped, Jay dropped Super Ugly, and i think that had some harsh lines towards Nas, but the fact that very few people remember it just makes me think Ether was so much of a bomb, that everything after that couldn't top it.