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Since "Stillmatic" and "Hip Hop Is Dead" are celebrating 5 and 10-year anniversaries next week, XXL spoke to Nas on the impact of "Ether." Read what he said on it below.
XXL: How do you feel about the word "Ether"transitioning from being your song title to becoming slang?
That's what hip-hop has always been. We have our own. It’s a culture thing. It’s a community thing, but it’s also a young people thing, and it’s also, it’s just the way. It’s the way things are. That’s how it's always been in hip-hop.
XXL: Even though Eminem came out with the song “Stan” first, after you called Jay-Z a stan on “Ether,” people started using it in that context.
I never even thought of that. Wow! Yea, man. I don't even take credit for it. That’s hip-hop. That's what hip-hop does.
XXL:You and Jay are friends now. Do you ever talk about "Ether?" Like, "Oh, you got me with that line."
Not really. I mean, I think right now anybody who’s made it from the ’80s era, the ’90s, got into hip-hop and still stickin’ around and still here, still feelin' great about life… I think that’s enough. I think anybody today, any peer of mine is just appreciative of the life that we’ve made for ourselves. We didn’t know anything. We didn’t know that this was gonna be the outcome, that we’d be around at this time doing what we're doin'. I think everybody's just on that page.
XXL: How do you feel about the word "Ether"transitioning from being your song title to becoming slang?
That's what hip-hop has always been. We have our own. It’s a culture thing. It’s a community thing, but it’s also a young people thing, and it’s also, it’s just the way. It’s the way things are. That’s how it's always been in hip-hop.
XXL: Even though Eminem came out with the song “Stan” first, after you called Jay-Z a stan on “Ether,” people started using it in that context.
I never even thought of that. Wow! Yea, man. I don't even take credit for it. That’s hip-hop. That's what hip-hop does.
XXL:You and Jay are friends now. Do you ever talk about "Ether?" Like, "Oh, you got me with that line."
Not really. I mean, I think right now anybody who’s made it from the ’80s era, the ’90s, got into hip-hop and still stickin’ around and still here, still feelin' great about life… I think that’s enough. I think anybody today, any peer of mine is just appreciative of the life that we’ve made for ourselves. We didn’t know anything. We didn’t know that this was gonna be the outcome, that we’d be around at this time doing what we're doin'. I think everybody's just on that page.