Hegemonic Masculinity In The Jay-Z / Nas Beef

Hegemonic Masculinity in the Jay-Z/Nas Beef

A conversation between two men often seems shallow and unimportant. However, male conversation can actually provide good insight as to what men feel is masculine. As Jennifer Coates explains in her book Men Talk: Stories in the Making of Masculinity, one can determine what masculine behavior is by observing dialogue between males. She points out, “in friendly talk men position themselves in relation to hegemonic masculinity” (41). This also holds true in unfriendly conversation, which is a more frequent occurrence in the rap world. Rap songs that serve to “diss” other artists often expose the actions of their targets as being the opposite of masculine behavior, and in turn they disclose what the artist feels is masculine. Jay-Z and Nas do just this in a series of songs that have become known as one of the most famous rap beefs of our time. Jay-Z’s song “Takeover” lashes out at rappers Nas and Prodigy (members of Mobb Deep). In response, Nas recorded “Ether”, and Jay-Z then countered with “Super Ugly”. Throughout each of these songs, Jay-Z and Nas both compliment themselves and insult each other. The lyrics of their songs show that physique, achievement, competition, authenticity, and heterosexuality are all masculine characteristics.

Physical size and strength has always been a way of determining masculinity. Jay-Z plays on this concept several times in “Takeover” by saying that he and his label Roc-A-Fella Records (R.O.C.) are big and strong. He raps, “R.O.C. too strong for y’all…/ Roc-A-Fella is the army, better yet the navy”. Jay-Z continues to call Nas and Prodigy small and weak with the lines, “Your peeps ain’t strong enough, fucka…/ we kill you motherfuckin ants with a sledgehammer,” and “You little FUCK, I’ve got money stacks bigger than you.” By saying that he (Jay-Z) is bigger and stronger, he tries to physically intimidate his targets. In nature, the larger, stronger males are more dominant, and so Jay-Z is trying to emphasize his physical dominance over Nas and Prodigy. The last line of the example has a dual-purpose, as it also contributes to one of the main masculine-building characteristics of rap: the emphasis on achievement.

Achievement is one thing that both Jay-Z and Nas use effectively to establish their masculinity. Their achievement comes in the forms of success, money, and women. In “Takeover” and “Ether” both artists claim to be the best.