Jay-Z's Reaction To "ETHER" Will Surprise You - Ras Kass Was There

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:03]Okay, speaking of East Coast, you lived with Jay-Z for a few months anyways. Was that like before Beyoncé?

[00:00:11]Cuz you know, I want to know.

[00:00:13]UM >> [laughter] >> I I This is before Reasonable Doubt came out cuz I was working on it. That's why I had the Jaz-O song "H 2 O Proof".

[00:00:26]>> [clears throat] >> Um I don't think he was dating her back then cuz actually [clears throat] I would have gone on after that album came out and you know, cuz Destiny's Child was just now really coming out.

[00:00:39]That's We're talking about like '90 '98, '98? '97, '98.

[00:00:45]Yeah. So, no, I I don't know if he knew her or not, but I think he I don't think he was dating her. And and it was just for a summer, like the summer that summer.

[00:00:54]Um I went and uh it was a incredible adventure. It's funny cuz uh Bleek keeps telling this Memphis Bleek keeps telling this story about these Japanese girls and a bunch of cats that the girls' apartment was full of cats and >> [laughter] >> it was like some damn dirty Jamaican or something.

[00:01:17]Yeah, I met [laughter] them. I met them that summer. Uh It was hilarious and I had a blast, but I don't think he No, I don't think he was because Destiny's Child um >> [clears throat] >> was still a group. Mhm. Yeah.

[00:01:31]Yeah, they were then. Yeah. Uh they were the original members at that point and cuz I ended up doing a short tour.

[00:01:38]Me, Destiny's Child, somebody else, and DMX.

[00:01:46][clears throat] >> Okay. And DMX was the headliner. It wasn't Destiny's Child.

[00:01:50]>> Right. They were still like just coming out. They might have had that first video where the beat switched to the one um >> [snorts] >> uh from Fugees. Uh what's his name? Uh Is that the producer.

[00:02:05]>> [clears throat] >> Uh Um Forte?

[00:02:07]John Forte, you know?

[00:02:08]>> Not Forte. No, no, the the main the producer uh man Wyclef.

[00:02:14]>> Wyclef, Wyclef. Wyclef.

[00:02:16]Wyclef, yeah. That's Wyclef. Yeah, Wyclef. I think that first single he produced and I feel like maybe they had that album out and that was kind of >> [clears throat] >> them first really getting out there. So, I don't think I don't I don't think that he is.

[00:02:30]Starting dating her yet. Okay. So, wait a minute. How was DMX's energy when he's performing because Oh my god. X is a monster. Right.

[00:02:39]>> [laughter] >> Incredible. He's uh rest in peace. He uh It was interesting, man. Like I remember, you know, I would end up meeting him a few times before he before the first album dropped and then obviously he dropped like two albums real fast, man. And then [clears throat] I think I was on the road with him at that point. Uh but his shows were always crazy. Like he just had a crazy energy. Like it was Yeah. He he would [clears throat] uh And I think he must have felt it, man.

[00:03:11]Like he would uh verses and like I don't you know, I I feel like it was genuine, but like sometimes he'd tear up, he'd be crying and saying this stuff and the crowd would go crazy. It was like epic, like >> Yeah. He could have been like a a pastor or something. Yeah, it was it was different. Yeah. Yeah, DMX is one of my favorites. I mean, he just yeah, like >> [laughter] >> Every time I go in for an interview for a job, I listen to DMX before I go >> [laughter] >> Oh yeah, yeah. Right, right, right.

[00:03:47]That's Yeah, he's he's awesome about that. So.

[00:03:50]So, did Jay did Jay-Z ever ask you or talk to you about joining Roc-A-Fella Records at all?

[00:03:57]Well, they had a Well, initially at the day of uh uh Between Friends was like the management.

[00:04:06]Mhm. And then there was a a Roc-A-Fella West that they were thinking about [clears throat] building and and uh it would be I was kind of instrumental in in in bringing me out with Jay and them to possibly become like the first artist there.

[00:04:22]>> Okay.

[00:04:23]>> [laughter] >> And that that was basically what the goal was. What the plan was to assimilate me and make me the West Coast artist.

[00:04:31]>> Okay. I don't know if I would have done that. Yeah. Okay. [laughter] Mhm.

[00:04:35]So, there's a story about you and Jay-Z at the club when the DJ was playing Ether for the first time he heard it.

[00:04:43]Was that a true thing?

[00:04:45]Yeah. [clears throat] Wow. Yeah.

[00:04:47]Yeah.

[00:04:48]Uh yeah, it was definitely a true story.

[00:04:51]Uh yeah.

[00:04:52]Um I feel like I met a girl. The girl was dancing.

[00:04:56]Um I that's that's why I really always remember it.

[00:05:00]I I forgot her name, too. Me and Wise um me and like the girl the Dame Dash was sitting next to us. The girl he was with a couple girls, but like you know, just not like touching or nothing. It's like he knew them. They grew up together or something, but it was very beautiful girls dancing on the table. I ended up dating that girl. So, that's why I got to remember it. But yeah, and then I was sitting here and you know, Dame and Jay sitting here. There might have been Todd. There might have been more of us, but >> [snorts] >> Yeah.

[00:05:30]Uh it was the same day Ether came out.

[00:05:32]So, I I actually was in the studio the same day that Nas dropped Ether and I saw Nas at D&D when I was doing "Golden Child" with DJ Premier and then I went up that night to the club and it was like the popping club and then went in with Jay-Z and them and then the DJ played Ether.

[00:05:53]They weren't happy about it. No. I mean [clears throat] I wouldn't be happy either, but I I would come on. Turn off the song, boy.

[00:06:00][laughter] Turn it off.

[00:06:02]Turn it off. Yeah, yeah.

[00:06:04]What they they wouldn't They weren't happy about it and and the crowd was rocking. Okay. And that was kind of crazy to me because I hadn't >> [clears throat] >> uh you know, Jay had the city. He had, you know, the like the momentum was in his favor and then Ether dropped and I remember being in New York and I'm just like during the day it's like the momentum shifted during the day. You know I remember being at the barber shop, then I had the studio, then I went to the club and by the next day at the club I think Jay might have won. I mean, I'm sorry, Nas might have won. It's like everybody's uh Cuz the DJ, you know, nine times out of 10 DJs nine times out of 10, you know, the main The main?

[00:06:48]>> [snorts] >> Yeah, and he if I recall correctly, he played it twice. Wow. What's like that?

[00:06:54]Listen. And the crowd was lit.

[00:06:56]No, Jay is dope. I I would give him that, but that battle he lost. Yeah. He lost that battle because even to this day people will say "I Ether you." You know what I mean? Like they Yeah, they they use that.

[00:07:09]>> Yeah, yeah. They say my attitude Exactly. It is right. Yeah, that's true.

[00:07:14]Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:16]So, Because >> [laughter] >> It was a I asked everybody from State Property affiliated, when you first heard Ether, where was you? At the club. It was ugly cuz >> [laughter] >> It was ugly. We was in like Cheetahs somewhere. Oh, you was in the city, yo.

[00:07:31]You was in the city. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:07:32]We was in New York, man. It was prime time. No lie, doggy diamond. It was prime time. They burned it. So, we looking we looking at her. We like, "Damn."

[00:07:39]>> Oh, you was actually with Jay-Z?

[00:07:41]>> Yeah, we was at the club chilling.

[00:07:43]>> And they played it in the club while he was there?

[00:07:44]>> And they played it.

[00:07:45]>> Who was the DJ there? He ain't get his ass whooped? I I don't know either. I think soon we walked in that was the whole purpose of the DJ playing it.

[00:07:52]>> Cuz the [ __ ] starts CUZ THE [ __ ] STARTS [ __ ] JAY-Z. NO, it did.

[00:07:57]>> [laughter] >> So, we in there like it threw us up, but that's WHY WE WAS THAT'S WHY WE WAS LIKE PIT BULLS. He's like, "Hold up. Get to the studio. This can't happen like this.

[00:08:05]It can't happen like this." I asked