A behind-the-scenes video discloses the stage prop the Queens MC attempted to use during his controversial Summer Jam performance.
Nas vs. Jay-Z remains one of the most infamous rap feuds in hip hop history. But with both rappers having long since reconciled and entered into more peaceful phases of their respective careers, it can be easy to forget just how heated things became between them in the summers of 2001 and 2002. In a shocking video from the time that was recently leaked online, Nas' former hatred of Jay is crystallized once more, as robotics experts can be seen working on an animatronic effigy of the Roc-A-Fella founder that was scheduled to be hanged on stage during Nas's canceled set at Summer Jam.
Nas was to headline the annual festival put on by New York radio station Hot 97 in 2002, but after the station learned of his plans to hang an animatronic model of Jay from life-sized gallows, they put the kibosh on the idea. Nas pulled out of the performance in protest, later venting his frustrations at both Jay-Z and Hot 97 in a rant on competing station Power 105.1.
In the leaked video, special effects workers apply skin and make up to an eerie-looking Jay-Z look-a-like. The robot is tied up and made to squirm as if it's attempting to break free, then it's dropped through a trap door on an elevated platform and hung by the neck.
It's easy to see why anyone would object to such violent imagery, but what might have happened if Hot 97 hadn't objected, or if Nas had kept his plans a secret? Would hip hop history have played out differently? What do you think?
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