Growing up in the Smack DVD era, my favorite battle of all time was Jae Millz vs. Murda Mook on 125th St. in Harlem. Since then, Mook has remained a fixture on the battle scene (though becoming much more exclusive with his battles), while Millz opted for the mainstream, and went on to leave battling for a record deal with Lil Wayne‘s Young Money imprint.
In recent years, battle rap has become much more popular on a mainstream level, and it’s birthed stars like Hollow Da Don, Tsu Surf, Arsonal and more, but longtime fans are still itching to see Millz get back in the ring – especially with Mook, as it’s long been a debate on the winner.
Over the summer, Millz responded to the chatter, and took to Instagram proclaiming he wouldn’t bring his jersey out of retirement for any less than $100k. A small exchange with Smack White himself ensued, but not much came out of it. When I caught up with Smack a while later, I had to get his take on it! Check out what he had to say below.
LIT: I saw you and Jae Millz go back and forth on Instagram about a month ago, and he wanted what – $100,000 to get back in the ring right?
Smack White: Yeah.
Do you really think that in this climate in the battle scene, that he’s really worth the money that he’s asking for?
I mean, if we could make it make sense, you know what I’m saying? I never want to put a cap on anybody. I think sky’s the limit when it comes to whatever we love to do in this world, and it just got to make sense economically and business-wise. It gotta make sense.
What factors do you think would need to be in place to have it make sense?
A big check, sponsors and everybody gotta get a ROI. If ain’t no return on investment, ain’t nothing going down.
If it all worked out, who would you want to see him go up against?
I would love to see him go up with any of the new talent, just to see if he still got it! Anybody! I feel like the newer generation has been more active than some of the older cats, so anybody that he feels that he wants to go at, I want to see what he got to see if he still have it.
Do you think him and Murda Mook would still be something worth watching?
I mean, a rematch would definitely be dope, but I wouldn’t want to see that at first. I want to see him come back and battle somebody first, and then we could explore that option if it makes sense after that performance.
