Irv Gotti Confirms Jay-Z & DMX Beef, "They Didn't Like Each Other At All"

Former Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti has confirmed past speculation suggesting Jay-Z and DMX have always had underlying tensions between one another.

According to Gotti, their issues stemmed from a mid-1990's freestyle battle.

"Jay and X did not like each other at all. And it was always competitive," Irv revealed. It all stemmed from an early battle, circa 1994, between Hov and the Dog, years before any one of them broke through. Though DMX was used to winning most of his battles decisively, nearly every account of the showdown revealed that it ended in a tie. "X hated Jay because it was the one battle that he said it wasn't absolutely sure in everyone's mind that he won," Irv said. (RapFix)

In July, incarcerated rapper Ja Rule spoke on Jay and X's internal problems.

"That would have been a great project," Ja said referring to a supergroup release from him, Jay and X. "I think we was all bringing something different to the table, and we could have given hip-hop something special. When you try to put something like that together, you're dealing with egos and a lot of outsiders putting the bug in people's ear... That's what got the best of the situation, a lot of egos. Not me per se, because I was kinda new and just coming up. But X and Jay, they had exploded on the scene by that time, and it was a lot of egos in the way...Really, to tell you the truth, I'm putting it in a nice way, but they didn't f*ck with each other at all. X and Jay didn't f*ck with each other at all. It was hard getting them in a room together." (XXL Mag)

In May, Rule said their competitive nature between one another kept a supergroup from happening.

"We tried to put [the Murder Inc. group] together, but it didn't pan out," Rule said. "I think egos got in the way of that whole situation. But you've got to understand that that's hip-hoip, too. N*ggas are competitive. I think [DMX] and Jay[-Z] were so competitive [that]...real talk, we couldn't even get [them] in the same room because of their competitive natures and what they had been through before that [with] -- the legendary battle that they had on the pool tables up in Uptown with the guns out." (The LIFE Files)

Prior to Ja's remarks, X discussed calling out Jay during a concert last year.

"I've not talked to him yet, since. But I had a show November 18th, before I got locked up--No November 12th I had the show. And somebody in the crowd was like 'What's up with Jay-Z' and I was like 'F*ck Jay-Z'. And it ended up all over the place. So he called Swizz [Beatz], Swizz called me, and he tells Swizz 'Yoo, why your man dissin me? I was gonna do a song with him'--Coulda, woulda, shoulda. F*cking bullsh*t. I don't wanna hear that sh*t. And like 'Yo, can you just get him to say he ain't mean it'--NO! I'm not saying that. What I did say is if he wanna talk to me, I'm man enough to let him know why it's 'F*ck You', but it's still 'F*ck You'! That's what it is. I'll let you know why, I can do that. It ain't like you gotta worry about me running up on you shooting you. It ain't that serious. You don't owe me nothing. But if you want an explanation as to why it's 'F*ck You', I'll be more than happy to tell you why." (VIBE)