Cuthbert

What like? 1 hot album every 10 years?

It doesn't matter if it was childish or not. Jay-Z's dub smacked of arrogance and wasn't as brutal, and considering how arrogant he came across, that it was him who ended up on radio like that is funny as ****. And it was him who actually started the beef, which makes it funnier. He came out of it looking like a total cock.

That is funny as ^

Jay-Z was upset.

SGR

Nah, like

"Nigga; you ain't live it you witnessed it from your folks pad
You scribbled in your notepad and created your life
I showed you your first tec on tour with Large Professor"

It's well known Nas wasn't a gangbanger and Jay ACTUALLY did show Nas a tec 9 while on tour with LP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHOtnUW3QUI

Or this:

"So yeah I sampled your voice, you was usin it wrong
You made it a hot line, I made it a hot song"

"Dead Presidents" was actually more successful as a single than "The World Is Yours".

and the best part of either diss song imo

"Because you know who (who) did you know what (what)
with you know who (yeah) but just keep that between me and you for now"

Jay got it on with Nas's baby momma and decided to include it on the song to really bring the diss to a personal level for Nas. And let's be honest, the whole "dividing" thing he did was cool as hell, he echoed the the majority's sentiments about his albums (at the time) and basically called Nas a one hit wonder. The reason I say "at the time" is because It Was Written has substantially gained favor over the years.

Anyway, the beat on Takeover is also much better. You got an angry Jim Morrison sampled (from "Five to One") and you also got a relatively new producer (Kanye) bringing the heat.

When you say that Jay sounded arrogant and that Takeover wasn't as "brutal", that's exactly what Jay was shooting for. At the time Jay was at the peak of his popularity and had nothing to prove. As a result, "Takeover" comes out sounding cool and collected from an MC that has no fear. I remember someone picturing it as "Jay sitting on a leather chair smoking a blunt while he calmly laid out why Nas had fallen off".

Also, Nas's claims about Jay (being misogynistic) are a bit hypocritical since he made a whole hit song ("You Owe Me") about getting a blowjob for letting a chick hold his jewelry. Anyway, those are just my thoughts.