The feud between Nas and Jay-Z is long over, culminating in collaborations like Hip Hop Is Dead's "Black Republican" and American Gangster's "Success". It should still be a treat to hear the two together on a track, particularly alongside Ludacris, who never quite managed to gain the status that a traditionally classic album bestows despite being absolutely dominant during a period that included first album Back for the First Time. "I Do It for Hip-Hop" is an above-average track about how all three rappers are in it for the music, "not the cars and the fancy drops", but it's hardly the mindblowing event record it might've been had it come out eight years ago.Ludacris clamors for a "promotion", but in a year dominated by Lil Wayne and T.I., his claims to being "still King of the South" aren't very convincing. Nas, too, uses the track to declare his the-bestness, in a fine verse highlighted by a clever extended metaphor about bees. Only Jay-Z really finds a way to transcend the track's basic conceit: With a comparatively relaxed cadence and shout-outs to hip-hop's pioneers, he makes an appealingly honest-sounding series of acknowledgements that, you know what, hip-hop has done for him, too. Crowd noises and frantic scribbling punctuate a midtempo groove based around keyboards, drum machines, and bass. A version full of advertising tags has been floating around since Friday; this has no tags, but it's the clean version. Hmm, what rhymes with "socks"? (xia Xclusives Zone)MP3:> Ludacris [ft. Nas and Jay-Z]: "I Do It for Hip-Hop (Clean)" (Sharebee link)[from Theater of the Mind; due 11/24/08 on Def Jam]