Swizz Beatz and Just Blaze beat battle

     

A Swizz Beatz and Just Blaze beat battle on Friday (Feb. 24) turned into the world premiere of a previously-unreleased Jay Z, Nas, Jadakiss, and DMX banger. It was Swizzy who pulled out the vaulted heater as a secret weapon during the face-off, which aired on Instagram Live.

Esco kicked off the track, rhyming about bath salts and zombies, before Jigga added some next level boasts. “Jumping off boats, hopping off another cliff,” raps Hov. “Every six months, I think I need a new bucket list.”

With Nasty Nas bragging about Escobar Season’s return, Jadakiss carried the baton. “Life’s a bitch, but you can’t snuff her,” he raps. “Loyalty is something that you can’t get enough of.” Then, Jada’s former Ruff Ryders partner DMX brings it home: “I’m taking half, it’s just that simple,” he raps. “Or I can start poppin’ ni**as like pimples.”

For now, it’s unclear whether the song will have an official release.

Earlier in the week, Swizz announced that the battle would take place. “[Blaze] wanna battle me on Friday,” said the producer. “But we gotta know, what’s the rules? This is Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz. The last battle was with ‘Ye. I was on N.O.R.E. and I was like, ‘I reached out to Just Blaze.’ He popped up at my studio like, ‘I’m here right now. What we doing?’ I gotta respect that so we here.”

On Friday, before the show started, Swizz explained the event to fans. “We just doing it for the culture,” he said. “We’re just vibing. We’re just going. This is something that hip-hop needs. I don’t got no pre-made beats. Everything I’m doing is right off the cuff. We’re going to go back and forth with our hits. We’re going to just have fun and let the people have fun.”

There’s more in store. “I think just about every producer ever is in this group chat someone started on iMessage,” he added. “We might be on to something.”