Jay Z made headlines today when the world found out that he appears on Meek Mill’s new album, Champions. Jay has a verse on a song called “What’s Free” in which he directly references Kanye West and his previous support for the MAGA movement.
“No red hat, don’t Michael and Prince me and Ye / They separate you when you got Michael and Prince’s DNA,” he raps.
In the immediate aftermath of the album release, many assumed that Jay was “dissing” Kanye. But in his first tweet in more than a year, the music and business mogul clarified that the line is not an insult.
“The line clearly meant don’t pit me against my brothers no matter what our differences are (red hat) now go pick up Meek album,” he wrote. “Drake and Meek on there together.”
There has long been speculation that Jay Z and Kanye West are not as friendly as they once were.
During an interview with Rap Radar podcast host Elliot Wilson last year, Jay Z referenced comments that West made about him and his wife Beyonce at one of his concerts. It’s something that he also talked about on the song “Kill Jay Z” on his last album, 4:44 .
“His name is there, just because it’s just the truth of what happened…But what really hurt me was, you can’t bring my kids and my wife into it,” Jay said, as reported by Billboard. “Kanye’s my little brother. He’s talked about me 100 times. He made a song called ‘Big Brother.”‘
He also added that their friendship has withstood greater tests but that this one was significant because Kanye spoke about Beyonce as well.
“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,” he said.
But with his tweet today, Jay Z has indicated that their rift may not be as deep as some people think it is. He still calls Kanye his brother which is a positive sign.
Furthermore, Kanye tweeted a response to Jay which hinted that there may even be a follow up to their first collaborative album, Watch The Throne .
“Throne 2,” West wrote in response.
As Complex notes, this isn’t the first time that West has teased that there might be a new Watch The Throne album.
In September, he said the project was coming soon but he did not elaborate on it any further.
Jay Z addressed Kanye West, and Kanye’s previous Donald Trump affiliation, on Meek Mill’s new record “What’s Free.” ? pic.twitter.com/G3HYzmixrL
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) November 30, 2018
