Jay-Z has revisited a long-running disagreement with Kanye West over their respective collaborations with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
Speaking during the seventh episode of his documentary series JAŸ-Z in 8, the 56-year-old rapper rejected West’s suggestion that working with the same artist amounted to a betrayal.
Jay-Z said Martin was his friend and argued that musicians cannot claim exclusive ownership over their collaborators.
“Part of it is entitlement,” he said. “We don’t own people. You could do 1,000 songs with 1,000 artists. Whether you did the song first or not, who cares?”
Kanye addressed dispute in ‘Big Brother’
West publicly discussed his frustration on “Big Brother,” a song from his 2007 album Graduation.
On the track, West rapped that he had told Jay-Z about working with Coldplay, only to discover that his mentor had also recorded with the British band.
West admitted in the song that he complained to music executive Jay Brown instead of approaching Jay-Z directly, acknowledging that this made the disagreement worse.
Chris Martin appeared on West’s “Homecoming,” which was released in 2007. Jay-Z worked with Martin on “Beach Chair,” released in 2006, and later featured on Coldplay’s “Lost+” in 2008.
Jay-Z denies betraying Kanye
Reflecting on West’s lyrics, Jay-Z said they created the impression that he had taken something away from his former collaborator.
“It’s almost as if I betrayed him by having a song,” Jay-Z said. “Chris is my friend. I introduced them. But that’s how he says it.”
He argued that West’s collaboration with Martin did not remove Martin from consideration for other artists.
“It’s not off the table that I’m doing a song with my friend because you did a song,” he added.
Jay-Z said he could understand why West felt slighted, but insisted that understanding his perspective did not make it reasonable.
“I can,” he said when discussing whether he could see the dispute from West’s viewpoint. “Doesn’t make it right.”
Latest revelation about strained friendship
The Coldplay disagreement is one of several tensions between Jay-Z and West explored in JAŸ-Z in 8.
In an earlier episode, Jay-Z discussed their argument over his verse on West’s 2021 song “Jail.”
West was reportedly uncomfortable with Jay-Z’s lyric telling him to stop wearing the red cap associated with Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. Jay-Z refused to change the line but told West he could remove the entire verse if he felt strongly about it.
The verse remained on the final version of the song.
Jay-Z and West have collaborated extensively throughout their careers, most notably on their 2011 joint album Watch the Throne. Their personal and professional relationship has nevertheless experienced several public disagreements.
Final episodes now available
JAŸ-Z in 8 features Jay-Z in conversation with producer Rick Rubin about his music, lyrics, career and personal experiences.
The eight-part documentary series marked Jay-Z’s 30 years in music and premiered on HBO in the United States. The final two episodes were released on 9 October.
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