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Kanye omits Jay Z's name from lyrics, prompting rumours of rappers' spat | Kanye omits Jay Z's name from lyrics, prompting rumours of rappers' spat |
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Kanye West appears to have started omitting Jay Z's name from the lyrics to his songs. As noted by one of the rapper's hyper-observant fans, West repeatedly skipped Jay's name during his recent performance at Austin's X Music festival. | Kanye West appears to have started omitting Jay Z's name from the lyrics to his songs. As noted by one of the rapper's hyper-observant fans, West repeatedly skipped Jay's name during his recent performance at Austin's X Music festival. |
Have Jay and Kanye fallen out? Less than a month after Jigga and Beyoncé did not attend West's wedding to Kim Kardashian, rap fans have put forward a theory that West is expressing his indignation by censoring Jay Z's name. Suspicions were first raised by a user called okstatetw on the online forum Kanye to the (via Consequence of Sound), who noticed something peculiar about West's X Music gig. "First time he [skipped Jay Z's name], I [thought], 'Ehh that's odd, maybe he's just letting the crowd finish it whatever,'" okstatetw wrote. "Then [Kanye] skipped his name again ... Definitely obvious and intentional." | |
Okstatetw found fan videos of two different songs where West had left out Jay Z's name. The lyrics to Cold normally go, "Lucky I ain't had Jay drop him from the team"; on Saturday, West instead rapped: "Lucky I ain't had … drop him from the team." | |
In the song Blood on the Leaves, the recorded version includes the lyrics: "I don't give a damn if you used to talk to Jay Z / He ain’t with you, he with Beyoncé, you need to stop actin’ lazy". Performing the song in Austin, West again left out Jay's name, and shouted the second line with a slightly revised lyric: "You need to stop actin' crazy!" | |
Our own sleuthing has uncovered a third Jay Z snub: in West's song Touch the Sky, the first verse usually ends by quoting "Jay's favourite line". Again, West omitted the shout-out to his Watch the Throne partner. | |
The easiest explanation for West's behaviour could be that he's angry at Jay Z for weekending in the Hamptons while West and Kardashian were getting hitched in Italy. The two rappers are long-time friends and frequent collaborators, and Jay Z was a mentor to West when his career was just starting. It was on Jay Z's The Blueprint that West had his first breakthrough, producing four songs. | |
Jay Z and Beyoncé have yet to explain why they missed West's wedding. They were allegedly invited, and in the months leading up to the event, tabloids reported that Jay Z had even been offered the role of best man. "[I] just assumed [Jay and Beyoncé] were working," Kardashian's mother, Kris Jenner, told E Online this week. "There was so much commotion and excitement, I never really gave [them] a second thought." | |
Whether or not West is actually angry at Jay Z, this bizarre self-censorship is definitely a new development. Jay's name was present and accounted for during West's concert sets last year. | Whether or not West is actually angry at Jay Z, this bizarre self-censorship is definitely a new development. Jay's name was present and accounted for during West's concert sets last year. |
At the very least, Beyoncé's reps still seem friendly toward West: following an Instagram message with congratulations on the rapper's marriage, the singer's official website repeatedly wished him a happy birthday. West turned 37 on 8 June. | At the very least, Beyoncé's reps still seem friendly toward West: following an Instagram message with congratulations on the rapper's marriage, the singer's official website repeatedly wished him a happy birthday. West turned 37 on 8 June. |