Shots At The Check Writer: When Rappers Bump Heads With L.A. Reid

Last week, Nas sent a letter to Def Jam titled "PUT MY SHIT OUT," in which the legendary rapper complained and explained why Def Jam was not releasing the long-awaited The Lost Tapes 2. Although the letter was addressed to a number of Def Jam executives, we'd bet a pretty penny that it was actually intended for none other than LA Reid. How do we know? Well, while we're pretty well-versed in decoding Nas' subliminal shots, lines like "Executives think they are the stars...you wish you were, but it didn

What happened?: In 2001, L.A. Reid signed Tip to Arista Records. Shortly afterward, T.I. released his debut album, I'm Serious. And although he was calling himself "The King of The South" way back then, he sure wasn't the King of Billboard: His album peaked at #98 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. This prompted a sit-down between Reid and Tip where he demanded two million dollars for his next album. Reid refused and Tip was subsequently dropped from the label.

Complex says: Success is the best revenge. If Reid had kept T.I. around and helped develop his talent, he could have taken credit for his success later on. Maybe then he wouldn't have gotten fired from Arista in 2004.

What happened?: Everyone knows that in the late

What happened?: In our August/September 2007 issue, we featured a profile on the Neptunes-affiliated rapper, Fam-Lay, in which the Virgina native spoke on his 2002 Def Jam deal by saying, "L.A Reid was just coming to Def Jam and wasn

What happened?: In 2007, after Noreaga left Def Jam, he spoke to XXL about what had gone down. Although he compared his relationship with Def Jam to an abusive relationship with a woman, Nore was much more diplomatic about the whole thing than we expected. He said, "There will not be a Nore-dis-L.A. Reid song. [When] I leave a label, I shit on

What happened?: Maybe before Nas hit the "send" button on his now-infamous email he took inspiration from Playaz Circle's "Dear Mr. L.A. Reid," a song from their 2007 debut album, Supply & Demand. Although the song doesn't dis L.A. Reid per se, it does touch on how no one believed in them until "Duffle Bag Boy" became a smash, which sounds like Def Jam to us.

Complex says: We're not mad at L.A. Reid for not believing in Playaz Circle. After all, they ultimately became one-hit wonders anyway.

What happened?: In late 2007, Nas announced that his ninth studio album would be titled Nigger. Many speculated Def Jam wouldn't release an album with such an explosive title. When asked about it, L.A. Reid told MTV News, "Anything Nas wants to do, I completely stand beside him."—but when pressure grew, Reid went against Nas and forced him to change the title to Untitled. On, "Hero" Nas commented on the title change by spitting, "I'm hog-tied, the corporate side/Blocking y'all from going to stores and buying it/First L.A. and Doug Morris was riding wit it/But Newsweek article startled big wigs/They said, Nas, why is he trying it?" On the album version of the song "L.A." and "Doug Morris" are edited out, of course.

Complex says: However, if you're fortunate enough to have the excellent The Nigger Mixtape, you can hear a version of "Hero" where Morris and Reid's names aren't edited out.

What happened?: LL Cool J has always been one of Def Jam's signature artists. So it only made sense he would feel slighted in 2008 when Def Jam stopped paying attention to him despite the fact that he helped build the label. He let off some stream on the 50 Cent-assisted "Queens" where he spit, "I don't rig Soundscans/I wish Rick 'n' Russell was back/I miss the old Def Jam/'Cause them new monkeys act like they don't know who I am!/The promotion and marketing wasn't worth a damn."

Complex says: We'd like to feel bad for LL, but we really don't see why he's so upset. Because the facts are: One, He's a legend no matter what. Two, he doesn't sell records like he used to. And three, he's getting that NCIS money anyhow.

What happened?: Last year, Jermaine Dupri either resigned or got fired from his position as the President of Island Def Jam. Although he didn't want to elaborate on the situation, he did speak on his relationship with his former mentor L.A. Reid with Essence after his Def Jam tenure was over. He claimed he hadn't spoken to L.A. in three months and said, "I saw a side of [L.A.] that I had never seen before and that to me was a jealous side."

Complex says: In the same interview, Dupri also compares himself to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and blames Reid for making him that way. Let's just say that their relationship is kinda complicated.