in the whole song and the fake thug he mentioned in the song was just any typical thug in general who would get no love in the streets and receive a bullet for their troubles. The truth is Nas was actually taking shots at The Notorious B.I.G.
Many hardcore hip hop fans criticized It Was Written and I Am, as well as Nas's other projects such as The Firm for leaning in a more mainstream direction, with more polished production, gangsta lyrics, greater emphasis on high-profile features and R&B hooks.note This possibly created an Orphaned Reference in the song - allegedly this line would have rhymed with "Dame Dash" and thus might have segued into the "Dame Diddy, Dame Daddy, or Dame Dummy" insult. Most notably, "It should have been you in the plane crash", mainly referencing Aaliyah's death, but also hitting a little too close to home in the aftermath of 9/11.
The track also had to have some lines removed. While Nas doesn't regret "Ether", he doesn't perform it live anymore for obvious reasons."Queensbridge Politics" on The Lost Tapes 2 was a reflection about this. Nas felt this way about "Destroy and Rebuild", as he regretted not fully getting to make amends with Prodigy before he succumbed to his sickle cell disease in 2017.Harsher in Hindsight: ''Hip Hop Is Dead''.AZ's opening verse on "Life's a Bitch" was his first recorded rap verse, and widely considered one of the best of all time, arguably even better than Nas's own on the same song.In a rare double-example of this trope, Nas's first on-record appearance, on the Main Source's " Live at the Barbeque ", is considered by some to be one of his best verses.He's clarified that although he believes in a higher power of some sort, he doesn't personally belong to any particular religion. Nas loves referencing religious imagery and scripture, especially Christian and Islamic, because he read a lot of religious literature when he was younger.Some of the music video for "Hate Me Now" is kinda reminiscent of some Passion Play.He ran a victory lap with King's Disease II, which has become even more acclaimed thanks to its deepened production, lyrics and album cuts, and some dream features from EPMD, Eminem, and Lauryn Hill. King's Disease was Nas's first album to win a Grammy.