Squash That...

The biggest example of reciprocity I can think of in Hip-Hop has to be when Nas and Jay-Z squashed their beef. One of Hip-Hop's biggest rivalries to date, it officially began in 2001 after some prior shaky business deals fell through between Nas and Jay. Nas felt he wasn't justly compensated after producer Ski sampled his voice on Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents" hook, which you can listen to below.




After a slew of shots at live shows and the involvement of Mobb Deep's Prodigy, the feud became real in 2001 at Hot 97's Summer Jam when Jay-Z's opening verse in "Takeover" took direct shots at Nas and Prodigy.





Nas then went on to respond to Hov with the infamous "Ether", which is largely regarded as one of the best if not the best diss track in Hip-Hop history. Warning, this is pretty explicit.




The feud lasted about 4 years with each taking shots at the other but never leading to a physical altercation. The feud formally ended 2006 after Nas signed onto Dej Jam Records, of which Jay-Z was the president of. The two publicly squashed the beef live on stage after Jay-Z brought Nas out and the two continued to tour and perform together. That classic image in Hip-Hop history can be seen below...

The two went on to have a prosperous relationship as both friends and artist, boosting sales and only increasing the rate at which their shows sold out. They went on to feature on multiple tracks together and derive success from each other, reciprocity at its finest for the well being of Hip-Hop.