Jay-Z and Kanye West. Photo courtesy of Vibe.
Summary: Kanye West and Jay-Z may be heading for a tense legal battle.
Kanye West and Jay-Z’s bromance may finally be over. West has left Jay-Z’s music streaming company, Tidal, and sources told TMZ that a legal battle could be on the horizon.
About one month ago, West’s lawyers sent Jay-Z a letter stating that Tidal owed the rapper $3 million and was in breach of contract. Since then, lawyers for both sides have tried to work out a deal, but so far, nothing has been agreed upon.
West said that his album Life of Pablo resulted in Tidal earning 1.5 million new subscribers, and West said he was supposed to have received a bonus for this. West also said that he was owed money for exclusive music videos, but Tidal countered that West had never delivered them.
West said that he’d deliver the videos once he gets his bonus money.
TMZ reported that this dispute has less to do about business but more about bruised egos. Last year, West shocked his fans by incoherently ranting about Jay-Z at one of his concerts in Sacramento, California.
“I’ve been sitting here to give ya’ll my truth even at the risk of my own life,” West said. “Even at the risk of my own success, my own career. I’ve been sitting here to give ya’ll the truth! Jay Z, call me , bro! You still ain’t calling 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!”
The rant can be seen below:
In response, Jay-Z wrote a verse about West on his new album 4:44, which was released June 3oth.
“But this ‘f–k everybody’ attitude ain’t natural / 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, f–k was he thinkin’?” Jay-Z said.
A source told TMZ that West had made the rant days before he was admitted into rehab, and that Jay-Z should’ve cut West some slack.
“Kanye was days away from going to a psych ward with some really serious mental issues. We get why he [Jay] was upset, but give Kanye a break,” the source said.
West, the husband of reality star Kim Kardashian, checked into UCLA last December for undisclosed reasons, and in March of 2017, Gossip Cop said that he was treated at a mental health facility. A source told TMZ that Jay-Z did not view West’s mental break as an excuse for the public diss, which included jabs at Jay-Z’s wife Beyonce.
Tidal told West that he cannot go to another streaming service, and if he does, the company will pursue legal action.
Although West has not yet directly commented on his fight with Jay-Z, he subtweeted this month about ridding himself of toxic relationships.
“If I ever cut you off…understand & respect that you were toxic to me & you no longer served a purpose in my life…I get tired of bs,” Kanye West said on July 1.