In 2001, Jay-Z and Nas engaged in one of the all-time great heavyweight rap feuds. That was a truly exciting event -- the back-and-forth haymaker blows of "Takeover" and "Ether" coming out a few months apart. General consensus has Nas as the winner there, though it's still open for debate. A few years after that battle, the two rap titans made up with each other, and they collaborated a handful of times and shared a few stages over the years. Now, Jay-Z and Nas are once again in competition with one another, though this new version is a whole lot less exciting. These days, they both represent different investor groups who are attempting to open a new casino in New York City. Once again, it looks like Nas is winning.
According to the New York Post, Nas is a partner in Genting Resorts World, a company that's trying to build a casino at in Nas' home borough of Queens, near the Aqueduct Racetrack. The proposed complex will cost about $5 billion, and it'll include a concert venue and Kenny "The Jet" Smith's sports academy. Nas has been pushing the proposal since last year, when he made a lobbying trip to Albany. They're trying to get one of up to three gaming licenses that's been made available in the state of New York, and they just won a preliminary approval from a state sitting board. There are lots of steps left before that casino can become a reality, and it's not like Nas is running the whole thing, but it's still a notable victory.
Jay-Z's company Roc Nation, meanwhile, was a partner with Caesars and Sl Green Realty in a bid to open up a Times Square casino. Last week, as the Post reported, six-member state community advisory committee shot down that proposal, which was opposed by Broadway theater owners but backed by figures like Fat Joe and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Representatives for governor Kathy Hochul and mayor Eric Adams approved the plan, but the other four members all voted no.
It's not like Nas and Jay-Z are directly going at each other in this casino-builder battle, but Queens borough president Donovan Richards, one of six members of the board who voted unanimously to approve the Aqueduct casino, said, "There’s a theme in Queens, and I know Nas is a part of it: Queens gets the money!... Sorry, Jay-Z. We win again. I just had to rub it in."
