Background
Nas's debut album, Illmatic (1994), received much acclaim, but his next few releases were considered to have a more commercial feel, which received criticism. Fellow New York rapper Jay-Z dissed Nas on "Takeover" from his 2001 album, The Blueprint. Nas responded with "Ether," a response to Jay-Z's "Takeover," elevating a heated feud (see Nas vs. Jay-Z). "Ether" was released on 2001's Stillmatic, an acclaimed album that signaled Nas' return to "hip hop prominence." Jay-Z later challenged Nas to a pay-per-view rap battle, but Nas rejected, and said: "Pay-per-view is for wrestlers and boxers. I make records. If Jay-Z wants to battle, he should drop his album the same day I do and let the people decide" referring to God's Son and Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2 release.
After the release of Stillmatic, Nas spent time tending to his ill mother, Ann Jones, until she died of breast cancer in April 2002. Nas has described Jay-Z's disses during this time period as "sneak attack" because Nas did not want to record music while his mother was sick. Nas' mother died in his arms, and later served as inspiration for various songs on God's Son. At the time, Nas was nearing the end of his feud with Jay-Z, which also inspired the album's emotional and personal material. During 2002, fans and critics speculated that Nas was still willing to make commercial music as he started associating himself with artists from Murder Inc., a label distributing mainstream hip-hop. Irv Gotti, the head of Murder Inc. claimed that Nas might sign with him, and he said: "I will definitely be affiliated and I'll definitely be a part of, me and my brother Ja Rule." Nas soon appeared on "The Pledge (Remix)," a song by Ja Rule in which Nas hints at signing with the pop rap label.
By October, God's Son was expected to be released on December 17, with production from Salaam Remi, Large Professor and The Alchemist, as well as songs recorded with Ja Rule in Miami. Around the same time, a music video for the single "Made You Look" was being shot. In December, Nas appeared in the video for a 2Pac single, "Thugz Mansion (N.Y.)," a song of which an alternative version was later released on God's Son, featuring two verses from Nas and only one from 2Pac. On December 4, Nas decided to push up the release date for God's Son by a few days in order to prevent bootlegging. Commenting on this, he said, "God's Son is my most personal album and I poured my heart and spirit into it It's important to me that the fans hear my album the way I intended. When you buy a bootleg or pirate a download off the Net, you don't get the real thing. The sound sucks, the sequencing is wrong, you're probably missing some tracks, and you don't even get the artwork and CD bonuses."
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