Kanye West vs Jay Z feud explained – when were they friends and have they made up?
KANYE West and Jay Z have been the closest of friends in hip-hop, collaborating for many years on several tracks until their friendship turned sour. But as Ye’s track list for his tenth album Donda revealed, the two rappers have rekindled their bond.
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How did Jay Z and Kanye West find fame?
Jay Z
Jay Z – real name in Shawn Corey Carter – grew up in Brooklyn, New York, alongside rappers The Notorious B.I.G and Busta Rhymes. While he had been known as “Jazzy” around the neighbourhood, he chose to take on the stage name Jay Z in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. After starting up his independent label, Roc-A-Fella Roecords with Damon Dash and Kareem Biggs in 1995, he burst onto the scene with his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996. Some of his most successful tracks over the years include 99 Problems, Empire State Of Mind, Hard Knock Life, Run This Town and Holy Grail. As well as his successful rap career, the musician makes millions thanks to his Roc Nation entertainment company, clothing line Rocawear and Armand de Brignac champagne.
Kanye West
Kanye became involved in the hip hop scene from a young age and he started making music when he was 13. He received a scholarship to Chicago’s American Academy of Art but dropped out when he was 20 to pursue his music career. Kanye started out in the music industry as a producer and but always aspired to be a rapper. After a near fatal crash in 2002 which left him with a shattered jaw, he wrote his iconic track Through The Wire which would become his debut single and laid the foundations for his debut album The College Dropout.
How did Kanye West and Jay Z become friends?
After having his talent discovered by Jay Z, Kanye was mentored by the rapper for several years and also helped to revitalise Jay’s career, in the 1990’s. Kanye worked as a producer for Jay’s Roc-A-Fella Records before being signed as a rapper to the same label and making a name for himself as an artist. Jay and Kanye recorded numerous tracks together including Monster and Run This Town, but they sent fans into meltdown with their joint album, Watch The Throne in 2011. They dominated radio play with tracks like N***** In Paris, Otis, Made In America and No Church In The Wild.
Why did Jay Z and Kanye West fall out?
Tensions between the rappers began to rise after Kanye’s infamous 2009 VMAs stage invasion which upstaged both Taylor Swift and Jay’s wife Beyoncé. The public first began to question if there was trouble between the two when Jay and Beyoncé failed to attend Kanye and Kim Kardashian’s wedding. When Kim was robbed in Paris, Jay failed to offer Kanye support in his “hour of need”. Then in November 2016, he launched into a 17 minute speech at the Saint Pablo Tour concert in Sacramento, California that went from praising Donald Trump to asking Jay Z not to have him assassinated. While Jay Z’s 2017 album release 4:44 laid down several glaring disses to Kanye.
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Soon after, Kanye hit back by taking all his music off Jay Z’s streaming platform Tidal, announcing that he’s “done with streaming”. In July 2017 Jay Z admitted they have a “brotherly rivalry”. That same month, a documentary titled Public Enemies: Jay-Z vs Kanye aired on Channel 4, following the “meteoric rise and colossal falling out of two of the world’s most iconic popstars. But in May 2018, during a long interview with Charlamagne tha God, Kanye confirmed to iHeartRadio that he felt “hurt” by Jay Z and wife Beyoncé didn’t attend his wedding to Kim. In September that same year, Kanye referred to the Carters as family, while Beyoncé was seen wearing YEEZY mules in an Instagram post. It wasn’t until December, 2019, that both Kanye and Jay Z reunited when they were seen greeting each other and taking pictures together at P Diddy’s 50th birthday. Their quarrel now seems to be a part of the past. This Friday, July 23, 2021, Kanye’s highly-anticipated tenth album Donda is set for release, after a long delay. A tribute to his late mother, who died in 2007 at the age of 58, Kanye has asked Jay-Z to share a track with him on the album. A single simply titled Donda, which features at the end of the album. The surprise collaboration has sent fans into a frenzy as it occur a decade after their last ever song together, No Church In The Wild, from their first collaborative album, Watch the Throne (2011).