JAY-Zhas addressedKanye West‘svocal support of President Donald Trumpon a newMeek Milltrack, and fans are wondering if the “4:44” rapper has reignited the feud with his longtime friend.
“No red hat, don’t Michael and Prince me and Ye / They separate you when you got Michael and Prince’s DNA,” Jay raps on the track “What’s Free,” off of Mills’ latest albumChampionships. The line seems to address West’swell-publicized love for #MAGA hats— a favored accessory for Trump’s base — and the famous rivalry betweenMichael JacksonandPrince, who challenged each other for R&B supremacy throughout the ’80s.
The lyric appears to urge fans not to pit the former collaborators against one another, but the next line seems to hint at competition.
“I ain’t one of these house n—s you bought,” JAY-Z continues. “My house like a resort, my house bigger than yours, My spou ― c’mon, man ― my route better of course…”
Stephen Lovekin/Getty; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty
Later on in the song, the 48-year-old rapper appears to reference Trump yet again with a dig at his distinctive hair. “My hair free, carefree, n—s ain’t near free / Enjoy your chains, what’s your employer name? With the hairpiece?”
RELATED VIDEO:Kanye WestMeets with President Trump in the Oval Office
JAY-Z’s multi-layered lyrics have left many listeners confused about the true intention of his words.
Some believe that it’s an all-out musical assault on West, 41.
Whereas others have taken a more nuanced approach.
Amidst all of the head scratching, JAY-Z tweeted for the first time in over a year in an effort to clarify his intentions. “The line clearly meant don’t pit me against my brothers no matter what our differences are (red hat),” he wrote. “Now go pick up Meek album. Drake and Meek on there together.”
West offered a playful response to Jay’s tweet, commenting “Throne 2” with a shrugging emoji — seemingly suggesting a new collaboration.
Financial squabbles, many related to Jay’s streaming service, TIDAL, contributed to the tension, but Jay insisted that the single was not meant as an attack. “It’s not even about a Kanye diss. It’s not a diss, I’m talking to myself the whole time,” the rapper told Rap Radar hosts Elliott Wilson and Brian “B.Dot” Miller in August 2017.
In a November 2017 interview with Dean Baquet forT,The New York TimesStyle Magazine, Jay revealed that he’s back on speaking terms with Kanye. “[I talked to] Kanye the other day, just to tell him, like, he’s my brother,” he told the magazine before adding: “I love Kanye. I do. It’s a complicated relationship with us…. ‘Cause, you know — Kanye came into this business on my label. So I’ve always been like his big brother. And we’re both entertainers. It’s always been like a little underlying competition with your big brother … So it’s like, we both — everyone wants to be the greatest in the world. You know what I’m saying? And then there’s like a lot of other factors that play in it. But it’s gonna, we gonna always be good.”
Kanye West/Instagram
In September, West posted a photo of Jay and wifeBeyoncécoupled up in a car. He captioned the photo simply: “famleeeeee.”
Though his bond with Jay has apparently been repaired, West recently said that he is “distancing” himself from politics. In a tweet posted Oct. 30 — just 19 days aftermeeting with Trump in the Oval Office— he wrote, “My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative.”
In a follow-up tweet, West added: “I would like to thank my family, loved ones, and community for supporting my ACTUAL beliefs and my vision for a better world.”
source: people.com
