Apparently, even music legends can get caught up in a case of “you worked with him first.”
Jay-Z has opened up about Kanye West’s frustration over his collaboration with Coldplay, revisiting the tension during episode seven of JAŸ-Z in 8.
The issue goes back to West’s 2007 track Big Brother, where he rapped about Jay-Z recording with the British band after West had already worked with frontman Chris Martin on “Homecoming.”
“I told Jay I did a song with Coldplay / Next thing I know he got a song with Coldplay / Back in my mind, I’m like, “Damn, no way.’ ”
West also admitted in the song that he took his complaint to Jay Brown, then an A&R executive at Roc-A-Fella and later a Roc Nation co-founder, rather than addressing Jay-Z directly.
Read More: Jay-Z reveals lyric that caused tension with Kanye West
“Then I went and told Jay Brown / Shoulda known that was gon’ come back around / Shoulda talked to you like a man, shoulda told you first / But I told somebody else and that’s what made s— worse,” West raps.
Jay-Z, 56, explained that his friendship with Martin was the reason behind their musical connection. He had featured the Coldplay singer on his 2006 track Beach Chair and reunited with him for Lost+in 2008.
“It’s almost as if I betrayed him by having a song [with him],” Jay-Z said. “Chris [Martin] is my friend. I introduced them. But that’s how he says it.”
He added: “The world hears that and you think, ‘Jay foul, he tried to…’ It’s not off the table that I’m doing a song with my friend because you did a song. But that’s the sort of thinking.”
Still, Jay-Z acknowledged he could understand West’s perspective.
“I can, doesn’t make it right. Part of it is entitlement. 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?” said Jay-Z.
The final two episodes of JAŸ-Zin 8, featuring longtime friend and producer Rick Rubin, are now available.
2026-10-10 11:57:00
