JAY-Z recorded a response track to Kendrick Lamar‘s “Control” verse, according to Troy Ave.
The Brooklyn rapper made the claim during an appearance on The Facto Show, where he was discussing Uncle Murda’s recent diss against him on “Rap Up 2023.”
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Troy explained his decision to not respond to Murda on wax by pointing to Hov, who he claimed made a song going back at Kendrick’s 2013 verse but decided against releasing it.
“Now, here’s another thing, a little fact that everybody might not know. This is a fact, though,” he said. “JAY-Z went in there with [Young] Guru and he recorded a response. But guess what JAY-Z did? He never released it. He don’t have to. Sometimes n-ggas say, ‘What would Hov do?'”
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Troy also claimed that his own response to “Control,” which saw him call Kendrick a “weirdo rapper” on a song with Raekwon, N.O.R.E. and Prodigy, “hit harder” than those from other rappers.
“My reply, everybody went crazy over,” he said. “Everybody else said slick lines — Fab[olous], Joell Ortiz and these rappin’ ass n-ggas. But my two bars went crazy. Snoop Dogg is reposting this shit.
“Everyday they asking Kendrick in interviews about, ‘What you think about Troy Ave?’ Not, ‘What do you think about the other n-ggas?’ I’m independent, little old me! ‘Cause I hit harder, my shit different.”
Kendrick Lamar, who hails from Compton, famously crowned himself “the King of New York” on “Control.”
Despite the uproar over the line, many — including TDE president Terrence “Punch” Henderson — pointed out that it was actually a nod to Kurupt, who previously said the rhyme in 2010.
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K. Dot also declared himself one of the “best MCs” alongside the likes of JAY-Z, Nas and Eminem while calling out peers such as Drake, J. Cole and Big Sean, whose song it was.
“I’m usually homeboys with the same n-ggas I’m rhymin’ with/ But this is Hip Hop, and the n-ggas should know what time it is/ And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake/ Big Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller,” he rapped.
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“I got love for you all, but I’m tryna murder you n-ggas/ Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n-ggas/ They don’t wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n-ggas.”
Kendrick Lamar previously revealed he had a conversation with JAY-Z about his “Control” verse.
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“That’s classified between me and him. But it was all love, all respect,” he said on Hot 97 following the song’s release. “Same way with Diddy and the same with a few of the other cats.
“I feel like the end of the day I feel as though you have certain cats that really take it to the next level and make it a rivalry thing and try to bring back that old thing. That’s old school, homie. Remind you that we’re black men out here tryna uplift the culture.”
He added: “My first sold out show was in New York, so I always looked at that place as a place that respected me and my lyrics. And we respected the culture and the birthplace of it.”
In addition to shelving his own response track, JAY-Z apparently even tried to convince Fabolous not to respond to Kendrick’s fiery verse.
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“We’ve heard a lot of these stories from artists about Hov saying you should change a line,” Joe Budden said on Everyday Struggle in 2017. “What’s most memorable is Fab going to record his response to Kendrick’s, that whole shit. And then he said Hov — oh shit, did he say that?
“Anyway, forget about that. But we’ve heard these stories for quite some time about Hov just guiding people and directing people. He’s done it with me, he’s done it before. So him directing a Roc Nation artist, that’s not surprising.”
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Fab ended up responding on “The Get Back,” rapping: “Whenever you ven aqui to that mighty NYC/ We gon’ check that name you claim, bring your ‘Yawk!’ and I.D./ We take it the wrong way, all gold everything/ One gold watch, two gold chains, give me all those, everything.”
