I disagree, Jay was cocky and arrogant as fukk thinking he could kill shot both Nas AND Mobb Deep within the same song just because he was so confident Nas was going to fold on the Carmen shyt. Its extremely obvious that Jay had zero contingency plan, which is why he was sputtering and stuttering live on the radio after Ether napalmed not only him, but his whole crew (as confirmed by Dame Dash, Beanie Sigel, and Memphis Bleek). Jay-Z completely underestimated one of the greatest MC’s of all time. Like seriously Jay was such a fan of Illmatic and Nas in general but he couldn’t foresee that the man who wrote that album at the age of SEVENTEEN would have something for him? The only thing Jay did “right” was setting the beef off at Summerjam and having the pictures of Prodigy as a kid in the Michael Jackson “ballerina” suit.
After that he should have had a plan for a full on, no-holds barred war with Nas and Nas only, ESPECIALLY after the Stillmatic Freestyle (which he tried to have pulled from Hot 97) proved that Nas still had more than enough in the lyrical tank to take him on.
Jay handled that entire battle poorly and Nas exposed him.
The same will NOT happen to Cole I guarantee it. Cole isn’t trying to be Jay in this situation even if he used some of the Taleover bars. There’s a reason he dropped an entire project and not just a diss. There’s a reason he threw some real shots, enough to engage but not emptying the clip, because he’s baiting Kendrick himself and sending a warning that he’s ready to back up his number 1 claims not just with a diss, but also great music as well. Who else did just that? NAS with Stillmatic. Ether wouldn’t have been as potent or long lasting if the album it was attached to wasn’t a classic. If Kendrick goes all in on Cole after 7 Minute Drill then Cole’s response will be included on The Fall Off, and THAT response will be his “Ether” equivalent