What is a ‘Jayter’, you ask? It’s someone of some importance who for some reason or another can not fathom the thought of Jay-Z succeeding without acknowledging them.
You don’t make it to the top of the rap mountain and not expect an avalanche of naysayers to scream and yell for your demise on the top. But the common bond with most of the Jayters on this list is that they not only had some sort of relationship with Jay at one point or another, but all impatiently await for some sort of full blown reaction from the abnormally calm Jay, which doesn’t seem to happen too often…or does it? Here now are the top Jayters along with Jigga Man’s reaction (or non reaction) on wax.
10. That dude that rolled with Jay is his early days.
We don’t remember his name either, but we do recall him being the one challenger allegedly had dirt on Jay from his early days as a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and and threatened to expose him. What he didn’t have was merit to his claim that…uh…well…we don’t know exactly what he was complaining about, but it may have something to do with Jay not giving him a bit of chee$e to go with his wine.
Reaction: “No Hook” off American Gangster
9. Fat Joe
While it was never “officially” taken to wax, it was no secret that these two kings of their respective boroughs with drug dealer pasts never really liked one other. Since Jay’s ascension to the top in the late 90’s, Joe has thrown many a shot, most notable on “King Of NY” off the J.O.S.E album. The early tension came to a head in 1999 when both Roc-A-Fella and Terror Squad crews clashed at New York City’s Club Exit over what witnesses say was the last hot wing on the plate. The incident left one rapper with a bottle over his head, another one with a career in life-support and a tip-less waiter.
Reaction: “He Asked For It” (Unreleased)
8. 50 Cent:
Who doesn’t 50 (conveniently) throw shots at? Yet, this one seems to border on genuine resentment between two multi-millionaire MC’s from New York and 50 just being bored and up for a new challenge. What started off as one line on the classic “How to Rob,” has accumulated to 10 years of passive aggressive tension that in 2009 finds 50 playing Don King to Beanie Segal’s Mike Tyson in hopes of getting Jay to, for once, react.
Reaction: “It’s Hot”
7. Dame Dash
Everyone knows this one. All Jay wanted was the masters to his first born, Reasonable Doubt. Dame says no. Jay takes a corporate raid-type ownership of Roc-A-Fella and Dame again says no, but in a villain-falling-down-a-bottom-less-pit sort of way. What was looked at by many as a shrewd business move was seen by Dame and his loyalists as sneaky move by Jay to separate himself from the guys who helped him build the Roc. The end result: One of the best executives of his generation is left without a purpose and the other went on to marry Beyonce…and become close friends with the President of the United States…and part owner a of major basketball franchise…and a clothing brand that rakes in millions of dollars a year…and successful sports bar franchise in 3 major cities…and…you get it, right?
Reaction: “Lost One” off Kingdom Come
6. Cam’Ron/Dip Set
When Dame brought Cam on board the Roc-A-Fella ship in 2001 , the house that Jay and Dame built was sailing to dominance as the premier label in rap. When Dame made Cam’ co-captain many on the ship, including Jay, felt a bit sea sick and that’s when shit went over board. Since the break-up of Dame and Jay, the Dip Set cronies have been the vocal pieces for Dames frustration as Cam, Jim and a somewhat reluctant Juelz play hot potato with jabs at Jay.
Reaction: “Dig a Hole” off Kingdom Come
5. Tupac Shakur
It seemed that by 1996, a relatively unknown Jay-Z was the heir apparent the late Notorious B.I.G’s throne. With Mr. Wallace being Tupac’s nemesis this prompted Shakur to act on the age old principal: “oh, you with him? Fuck you too!” The alpha and omega of Pac’s tirade was heard on the Machiavelli album and would be used 10 years later as an intro for Nas’ “Ether.” Fortunately for Jay, Pac would succumb to gunshot wounds before Jay had a chance to run retaliate.
Reaction: “’03 Bonnie & Clyde”
4.Prodigy
Seems Prodigy was growing a little tired of Jay’s rise to the top as New York’s numero uno ambassador, so he began pelting the throne with various freestyles and unreleased ditties from the Mobb’s vast catalogue of aggressive tunes.
Reaction: “The Take Over” off The Blueprint
3.Jaz -O
Something happened between student and mentor that still goes unexplained till this day. What we do know is that Jaz revisits his saltiness at least once a year via interviews on the internet; turning his opinions on Jay into a viral pity party that has yet to benefit Jaz-O’s plight as a producer, rapper or relevant hip-hop figure in 2010.
Reaction: “Do It for Hip Hop” off Ludacris’ Theatre of the Mind and “What We Talkin’ Bout” off BluePrint 3
2.The Game
“Single white female” is the way Jay has described The Game’s sycophantic approach to attacking him. The Game seemed to admire Jay so much that he began to kind of hate him. This emotional imbalance then lead to Game’s not-so-subliminal shots spanning from first album to “My Bitch”, an unreleased gem left on the Doctor’s Advocate cutting room floor. The most recent reach for attention being the less-than-stellar-waste-of-time, “I’m So Wavy” .
Reaction: Hot 97 “Can I Live ” Freestyle (2007)
1.Beanie Segal
How did Jay’s right hand capo, destroyer of Hova haters and one of the most feared MC’s on the planet become the numero uno Jayter? A mixture of business and cough syrup. It seems the NyQuil, along with Beans tendency to shoot it out with other human beings at any given moment, made him a liability to the business minded Hov, who at one point had the chance to let Beans be someone’s else’s case, but who’s ego could not allow 50 Cent to be that someone. Unlike previous Jayters, the Beanie debacle possess somewhat of challenge for Mr. Carter. Beans will not stop until Jay-Z responds and Jay’s lack of response is kind of making Beans upset, which then spawns more Beans attacks at an alarming rate.
Reaction: While Jay has yet to respond, we think the songs like “Thank You” and “Already Home” may have struck a nerve on Beans and led to his campaign.
Note: Nas does not make this list because the resentment was mutual on both ends and was handled appropriately. Boo-yow!
Double Note: Sauce Money, despite being left behind early, never managed to get tangled up in Roc fuckery. Kudos!
