Hip Hop

(2)Deep: Fugees vs. Jeru the Damaja [1996]

blame it on JES7 September 29, 2010

Let’s switch gears (sort of) here from the norm and focus on on-wax beef from the mid 90s; specifically between the Fugees and Jeru. Well, let’s be honest here for a second: it’s a little more like Pras vs Jeru, but a nice battle nonetheless. What sparked the verbal dispute, I have no clue and allegedly neither does Jeru, but on the Fugees’ seminal sophomore album The Score, Pras took a quick jab at the Dirty Rotten Scoundrel, spitting:

And for you bitin’ Zealots
Your rap styles are relics
No matter who you damage
You’re still a false prophet

Jeru retaliated on Wrath of the Math with a quick uppercut, responding with this opening line on Black Cowboys:

I heard some MC’s wanna bring it
But a female is one of their strongest men
When I step to you, don’t seek refuge
Make it happen fuck the rappin’

Later that same year and shortly after The Score was liberated to the masses, the Fugees released their Bootleg Versions EP which featured a cut titled Don’t Cry Dry Your Eyes where Pras ends the song with:

Niggas jealous ’cause the truth I said in Zealots
Well let me tell it, without Premier you couldn’t sell it!

So the question: who came out victorious?

DOWNLOAD: Fugees – Zealots | Mediafire

DOWNLOAD: Jeru the Damaja – Black Cowboys | Mediafire

DOWNLOAD: Fugees – Don’t Cry, Dry Your Eyes | Mediafire

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