Following his opinion editorial on the unjust sentence of Meek Mill and the prison system, Jay-Z returns with an exclusive interview with the New York newspaper where he sat down with executive editor Dean Baquet for a detailed 35-minute conversation.
Throughout the sit down, Jay-Z talks about his 4:44-LP cut, “The Story of OJ,” teaching his children compassion, being a black man in Trump’s America, Beyonce loving 4:44, signing Colin Kaepernick if he were an NFL team owner, and much more.
Read an excerpt from an interview below where he talks about his relationship with Kanye West.
BAQUET: So now I gotta ask my one gossipy question. Talk about Kanye West and your relationship with him, which you alluded to a little bit in the album. When’s the last time you talked to him?
JAY-Z: I [talked to] Kanye the other day, just to tell him, like, he’s my brother. I love Kanye. I do. It’s a complicated relationship with us.
BAQUET: Why is it complicated?
JAY-Z: ‘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. And we both love and respect each other’s art, too. 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.
BAQUET: But there’s tension now, right?
JAY-Z: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that happens. In the long relationship, you know, hopefully when we’re 89 we look at this six months or whatever time and we laugh at that. You know what I’m saying? There’s gonna be complications in the relationship that we have to get through. And the only way to get through that is we sit down and have a dialogue and say, “These are the things that I’m uncomfortable with. These are the things that are unacceptable to me. This is what I feel.” I’m sure he feels that I’ve done things to him as well. You know what I’m saying? These are — I’m not a perfect human being by no stretch. You know.
BAQUET: Is he as evolved as you?
JAY-Z: He’s highly evolved. No, he’s … I think he started out in a more compassionate position than me. You know what I’m saying. I don’t know if he’s had the level of — I mean, I had to survive by my instincts. I’m here because I grew up a different way. And I got out of that.
You know, my first album came out when I was 26. So I was already a different artist. You know, a lot of people’s album come out they’re 17, 18. So their subject matter is that of a 17- or 18-year-old. Unless you’re Nas, and you like, well-read14… — like, he was way more advanced with the album that he wrote. So I just grew up a different way. But [West is] a very compassionate person. And a lot of times he get in trouble trying to help others. So I can identify with it. It’s just that there’s certain things that happened that’s not really acceptable to me.
BAQUET: Right.
JAY-Z: And we just need to speak about it. But there’s genuine love there.
Denise Truscello/WireImage for Jet Nightclub/Getty
On Friday, May 17, CNN obtained footage showing Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs physically assaulting his former girlfriend and Bad Boy artist, Cassie, at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles.
The surveillance footage, dating back to 2016, shows Diddy chasing Ventura, who was seen standing at a set of elevators, and proceed to grab and shove her to the ground. He then kicks her, and takes what appears to be her purse and suitcase from the floor. Diddy then drags her by her sweater towards a room. Ventura is later seen slowly getting up and collecting items from the floor.
Diddy returns moments later, sits on a chair, grabs an object off a table, and throws it at Ventura. He is then seen walking away, but turns back toward Ventura when an elevator door opens and someone exits.
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, told CNN: “The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
In November, Cassie, born Cassandra Ventura, initiated legal proceedings against Diddy, born Sean Combs, alleging years of control, rape, and prolonged physical abuse spanning over a decade. The two parties reached a settlement 24 hours later.
It’s been an entertaining two weeks as Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been sparring in a lyrical battle.
Since Kendrick’s diss towards Drake on Metro Boominand Future‘s We Don’t Trust You track, “Like That,” Drake returned fire with two diss tracks titled, “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle,” Kendrick Lamar then returned with two tracks towards Drake titled, “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA.”
The two rappers aren’t done yet, as Drake has just released his response to Kendrick titled “Family Matters.” On the diss track, things get personal as Drake brings up Kendrick’s wife, Whitney Alford.
“Say you hate the girls I fuck but what you really mean / I been with Black and white and everything in between / You the Black messiah wifing up a mixed queen / And hit vanilla cream to help out with your self-esteem.”
Drake also implies that Kendrick’s kids aren’t his, but are actually Dave Free’s, Kendrick Lamar’s longtime creative partner.
“Why you never hold your son and tell him say cheese / We could have left the kids out of this don’t blame me,” he raps.
“Our sons should go play at the park / Two light-skinned kids, that shit would be cute / Unless you don’t want to be seen with anyone that’s Blacker than you”
Megan Thee Stallion‘s lawyer, Alex Spiro, addressed the lawsuit filed by Megan Thee Stallion’s former cameraman Emilio Garcia, alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. Spiro, in a statement to Page Six on Tuesday (April 23), dismissed the lawsuit as an opportunistic money grab and characterized it as an attempt to tarnish his client’s reputation.
“This is an employment claim for money — with no sexual harassment claim filed and with salacious accusations to attempt to embarrass her,” he said. “We will deal with this in court.”
The suit details an incident where Garcia allegedly found himself trapped in a moving SUV with Megan whileshe engaged in sexual activity with another woman during their time in Ibiza, Spain.
According to court documents, “The following day, STALLION inquired whether PLAINTIFF was in the SUV the previous night. PLAINTIFF confirmed that he was in the SUV. Subsequently, STALLION instructed, ‘Don’t ever discuss what you saw.’ STALLION berated and directed her fat-shaming comments towards PLAINTIFF such as ‘Fat Bitch,’ ‘Spit your food out,’ and that ‘You don’t need to be eating.’”
Garcia is seeking compensation of over six figures, Garcia’s lawsuit requests unpaid wages, overtime pay, and other benefits as per California labor laws, along with statutory penalties and punitive damages.
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