The legendary feud between Jay-Z and Nas broke out in the early days of file sharing, and there was an MP3 that was being passed around a lot at the time: a collaboration between Jay and Nas that was supposedly called “Analyze This.” Back then, you couldn’t trust any of these dream collaborations, as they were usually the work of internet DJs mixing tracks together. As it turns out, “Analyze This” was a real song, although it had a different title. The song was actually called “No Love Lost” and was supposed to be on a Shaquille O’Neal record. It’s finally officially out.
Shaq released his debut album in 1993, right after his Rookie of the Year season. People made a lot of jokes about Shaq’s rap career, but he was a capable mic presence at his worst. He also had good taste. Over the years, Shaq made records with rappers such as Dr. Dre, Method Man, Black Thought, Common, RZA, Snoop Dogg, Twista, Phife Dawg, Redman, Erick Sermon, and Keith Murray. In 1996, Shaq released his third album You can’t stop the ruleand there were performances by Biggie Smalls, Mobb Deep, Bobby Brown, Lord Tariq, Peter Gunz and Jay-Z.
“No Love Lost”, the Trackmasters-produced Lord Tariq/Jay-Z collaboration from You can’t stop the rulewas originally supposed to include Nas, who recorded a verse, but then apparently did not release it. The song was released without the Nas verse, but You can’t stop the rule has just hit streaming services, with that Nas verse intact. (My buddy Andrew Barber broke the news of the impending release earlier this year.) The song features vintage performances by Reasonable doubt-era Jay and It was written-era Nas, and Shaq also talks about standing on his ass like Monica Seles and having more flair than a Mystic. Versions of the track have been floating around the internet for decades, but you can hear the real version below.
In the meantime, here is the complete You can’t stop the rule Album; perhaps it will be subjected to critical re-evaluation.
You can’t stop the rule is now available from Jersey Legends Productions.
