The infamous 90s battle that had Jay-Z and DMX up against each other has never really been documented. HipHopDX caught up with Ski Beatz, Waah Dean and Sauce Money, whom all three were in attendance to witness the historic battle. They point out some of the details remain cloudy, but 20 years later, they recall that night in the Bronx.
Sauce Money:
It was more about what style of fighter you liked, was what would [decide] the outcome. We were kind of in X’s backyard. They said it was a tie, but that was bullshit. Jay ate that nigga. You can tell when somebody won a battle, when you’re in somebody’s backyard, and they’re calling it a draw. When you’re in somebody’s backyard, even when that person lose, they’re saying he won. Jay got so busy on that shit, they tried to say it was a draw. But it wasn’t no fuckin’ draw.
Ski Beatz:
It was both of their styles at their purest forms. DMX was definitely on that barking, that whole thing. That was his whole persona. His voice was just raw. Jay was the big willie, hustler poster child king. Everything he was saying was just vivid, street shit that was incredibly well thought out and well put together. You know how Jay-Z is with his word choices. You know he’s street, but at the same time you could feel that he’s super intelligent, which just made it crazy. Both their styles was just coming crazy in that battle.
Waah Dean:
The best battle in the world took place between X and Jay-Z in the birthplace of Hip Hop, the Bronx. Cats that came from two different boroughs, came to the Motherland, and did their thing. You know?
