Just days after Jay-Z released his first album in four years, TMZ reports that Kanye West is splitting with Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal, saying he is owed $3 million.
The rappers’ tumultuous relationship has been well documented. In November, while on stage in California, Kanye called out Jay-Z, saying, “Jay-Z — call me, bruh. You still ain’t called me. Jay-Z, call me, Jay-Z — I know you got killers. Please don’t send them at my head. Just call me. Talk to me like a man.”
Jay-Z responded in “4:44,” his first studio album in four years, on a track appropriately titled “Kill Jay Z,” in which he refers to himself in the second person:
But you ain’t a Saint, this ain’t KumbaYe / But you got hurt because you did cool by ‘Ye / You gave him 20 million without blinkin’ / He gave you 20 minutes on stage, fuck was he thinkin’? / “Fuck wrong with everybody?” is what you sayin’ / But if everybody’s crazy, you’re the one that’s insane.
It’s unclear if the ”$20 million” he says he gave Kanye is part of the dispute.
Jay-Z, meanwhile, says his lyrics shouldn’t be taken literally.
“It’s about killing off the ego, so we can have this conversation in a place of vulnerability and honesty.”
Someone should tell Kanye.