Lil Cease Says Biggie Thought JAY-Z Was a Better Rapper Than He Was

JAY-Z and The Notorious B.I.G. are two faces that are etched into hip-hop’s Mount Rushmore. But who was the better emcee? During a recent Instagram Live session with Smoke DZA, Junior Mafia member and Biggie’s close friend, Lil Cease, said that Biggie was convinced that it was JAY-Z.

“They bonded just on some G shit cause they respected each other as men and they respected each other as artists,” Cease said. “Big wasn’t afraid to tell that—Big thought he was doper than him. Big used to say, ‘Yo, that nigga nicer than me.'”

Cease made sure to let the people know that he wasn’t talking out of school. 

“I swear to God on everything I love. Any nigga can vouch for it. I’m not lying. These are straight facts,” he continued. “When JAY-Z said that line on ‘Dead Presidents,’ ‘Nigga take a freeze off my kneecap/Nigga believe that,’ Big was like ‘Yo, he got me.'”

Despite their rivalry, the two Brooklyn MCs developed a close friendship prior to Biggie’s death. They shared the stage on tracks like Reasonable Doubt‘s “Brooklyn’s Finest” and Life After Death‘s “I Love The Dough.” Following Big’s untimely demise, Hov helped keep the rapper’s memory alive by working some of Biggie’s notable one-liners into his own verses.