Jay-Z has shared a candid interview on Tidal’s Rap Radar podcast that covers his taut relationship with Kanye West, the infamous Solange elevator incident and many more subjects.
Hosted by veteran journalists Elliott Wilson and Brian “B.Dot” Miller, the hour-long interview, Jay - Z address speculation that he was taking aim at Kanye West on the opening track of his recent 4:44 album, ‘Kill Jay-Z’.
During the interview, Jay-Z opened up about his rumored feud with Kanye West, which was detailed in the lyrics of 4:44's "Kill Jay Z": "You walkin' around like you invincible / You dropped outta school, you lost your principles / I know people backstab you, I feel bad, too / But this 'fuck everybody' attitude ain't natural / But you ain't the same, this ain't KumbaYe / But you got hurt because you did cool by 'Ye."
The lyrics came after a falling out between the two rappers, a fissure in their relationship that was first exposed during one of West's 2016 onstage rants. West is also rumored to have left Tidal's stable of artists since the rift.
"It's not even about Kanye, it really isn't," Jay Z said of the track. "His name is there, just because it's just the truth of what happened. But the whole point is 'You got hurt because this person was talking about you on a stage.' But what really hurt me was, you can't bring my kids and my wife into it. Kanye's my little brother. He's talked about me 100 times. He made a song called 'Big Brother.' We've gotten past bigger issues. But you brought my family into it, now it's a problem with me. That's a real, real problem. And he knows it's a problem.
Jay-Z added, "He knows that he crossed the line. I know him. He knows. I know he knows, because we've never let this much space go between one of our disagreements, and we've had many, because that's who we are. That's what I like about him. He's an honest person, he's open and he'll say things and he's wrong a lot of times and he'll confront it."
Jay-Z also discussed the infamous 2014 elevator incident with Solange. “We’ve always had a great relationship… We’ve had one disagreement. Before and after, we’ve been cool,” he said. “That’s my sister. Not my sister-in-law, no, my sister. Period.”
When asked for his thoughts on the assertion that “three great albums came out of this situation,” the 4:44 artist replied: “I think we went into that elevator great artists. That doesn’t surprise me.”
