Two New York hip-hop legends are going at each other again. Recently, Pete Rock took to Twitter to say he would be deleting the platform after Nas dissed him. On his newest collaboration with producer Hit-Boy. King's Disease III, Nas threw shots at Pete Rock for suing him over Illmatic royalties.
"i will be deactivating my twitter sooner than soon," the Bronx native tweeted, "so whatever im trending about I DO NOT CARE... yall have a good evening to all my real fans that genuinely love ya boy get ready for a barrage of the dopest music your gonna hear in hip hop. Peace!! Strong Producer"
Moreover, Nas had mentioned Rock on the track "30," where he also teased a DJ Premier collab. "Superhero material, rap star status / Premier album still might happen / I wonder why Pete Rock would act like that / That type of behavior makes me give rap right back," the Queens MC rapped.
Interestingly, this is not the only standout mention or headline moment on KDIII. Typically, Nas doesn't have verses that warrant Twitter threads, but rather deep thought. In classic Nas fashion, he does both on KDIII. He throws a friendly jab at Jay-Z on the track "Thun" and recalls hearing Kendrick Lamar for the first time on... well, "First Time."
However, this specific call-out of Pete Rock has brought more attention to a lesser-known Nas feud. Rock announced plans to sue Nas for unpaid royalties for his production on the track "The World is Yours" off Illmatic. Afterwards, they filed suit in January. Rock and his attorneys claim that Nas contractually gave the producer a share of the proceeds from "The World Is Yours." Surprisingly, that is Illmatic's only gold-certified song. Furthermore, that track is now worth millions and Rock is suing for unpaid royalties for both writing and performance credits.
Also, Rock told AllHipHop that the lawsuit is ongoing and that he won't comment further on it until it's settled. It might not be the most scathing or ugly of beefs, but their legendary careers make it incredibly fascinating to discuss. Stay tuned to HotNewHipHop for the latest on Nas, Pete Rock, and more pioneers still impacting rap today.
