Jay-Z speaks on The Notorious B.I.G.‘s death during a new verse on Pusha T’s single, “Neck & Wrist.” Hov responds to haters’ claims that he wouldn’t have reached the monumental level of success he maintains now if Biggie were still alive.

“They like, ‘If BIG was alive, Hov wouldn’t be in his position,’” JAY-Z raps on the track. “If BIG had survived, y’all would have got The Commission/Hov was gon’ always be Hov/It ’twas the universe will ’cause Allah said so, and now I’m here.”

Jay-Z, Pusha T
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The Commission was a rap supergroup that never came to fruition in the late ’90s. The collective would’ve featured Biggie, Jay-Z, Puffy, Lance “Un” Rivera, Lil’ Cease, and Charlie Baltimore. Biggie references the group on his 1997 song, “What’s Beef,” off of Life After Death.

The group is also referenced on Diddy‘s track “Victory,” featuring Busta Rhymes & The Notorious B.I.G.

“In the commission, you ask for permission to hit ’em/He don’t like me, hit him while wifey was with him/You heard of us, the murderous, most shady,” Biggie rapped.

In 2017, Dame Dash revealed Biggie’s plan for The Commission and that he intended to sign with Roc-A-Fella Records.

“Biggie’s plan was to give Puff and them like three more albums because that’s what his deal is, then come sign with us, and we was gon’ do The Commission,” he told Hip Hop Motivation at the time. “We were looking for like a Charli Baltimore, it ended up being her, that wasn’t our choice that was his. But, you know, that was what was gonna happen, or at least that’s what was talked about very seriously.”

He continued: “I think that’s why he did a double album. Then he was gonna do a triple album, and he was gonna be out his contract, and then he was gonna come fuck with us. I tried to sign The Firm but then Steve Stoute snaked us for that.”

[Via]