Freeway, the State Property MC, recently opened up about how he was able to diss Nas during his beef with JAY-Z, despite being a longtime fan of the Queensbridge rapper. In a recent interview with VLAD TV, Freeway revealed that he was often compared to Nas, with some even calling him the “Philly Nas” when he was an up-and-coming artist. He even incorporated Nas’ lyrics into some of his early rhymes.
However, when it came to the feud between JAY-Z and Nas, crew loyalty superseded his fandom. “When it come time to ride for the team, I’m riding for the team,” Freeway said. “You got a problem with Big Homie, you got a problem with all of us.”
Despite dissing Nas during the beef, Freeway later had the opportunity to tell Nas how much he admired him as an artist when they ran into each other on the set of “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is).” To Freeway’s surprise, Nas shared the same admiration for him.
Years later, Freeway remains a huge fan of Nas and even celebrated the moment Nas followed him back on Instagram during a recent studio session. He also expressed his love and respect for The LOX, but explained that at the height of the groups’ feud with State Property, there was no love lost.
Freeway admitted that things could have easily escalated, as he and his Roc-A-Fella brethren were fresh off the streets and still on the streets. “Everything that we said we meant, and we were carrying it like that everywhere we went,” he said. “By the time we started bumping into each other, things were calmed down.”
Ultimately, Freeway is grateful that the beef did not escalate to violence, as he now considers members of The LOX to be like his brothers. “I’m glad we didn’t kill each other ’cause at one point it really coulda happened,” he said.
