Jay-Z Calls Kanye’s Coldplay ‘Betrayal’ Complaint ‘Entitlement’: ‘We Don’t Own People’
Both Jay-Z and Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, have collaborated with Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Ye rapped about Jay-Z and Martin’s collaboration on his song “Big Brother.” Jay-Z recently reflected on this disagreement. He said that while he can understand Ye’s frustration, he doesn’t think he had the right to feel that way.
Jay-Z didn’t think Kanye West should have had a problem with his Coldplay collaboration
In 2007, Ye released the song “Big Brother.” In it, he referenced Jay-Z’s collaboration with Chris Martin on the song “Beach Chair.” Ye worked with him on the song “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.’”
He then raps that he spoke to Jay Brown, who co-founded Roc Nation, about his issues with the collaboration.
“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.”
In his recent docuseries, JAŸ-Z in 8, the artist spoke about the way Ye responded to the Martin collaboration.
“It’s almost as if I betrayed him by having a song [with him],” he said. “Chris [Martin] is my friend. I introduced them. But that’s how he says it.”
He said that he can understand why Ye felt this way. Still, he doesn’t think he had any right to truly be upset about it.
“I can, doesn’t make it right,” he said. “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?”
The ‘99 Problems’ artist has spoken highly about Martin
Martin and Jay-Z have been friends since 2004. He said they got along almost immediately.
“We met at a Robin Hood Foundation dinner three years ago,” he told Rolling Stone in 2007. “We hit it off right away. The guy’s humble, and he has a lovely family. It’s rare to meet such a genuinely good person.”
Jay-Z admitted that he didn’t get close to many people. Despite this, he liked spending time with Martin.
“I’m drawn to his energy,” he said. “I don’t go to people’s houses and hang out, but I go to his house and hang out.”
He also has a great deal of admiration for Martin’s music.
“We are good friends — but what I got to say has nothing to do with our friendship,” he said, per Billboard. “I have been in the industry long enough to know when I’m in the presence of a genius… and Chris Martin is just that. In years to come, Britain will look back at him as a modern day Shakespeare… He is an incredible recording artist, an incredible songwriter, but where he really comes alive is performing live. If you get the chance to see Coldplay live, do it — you ain’t gonna regret it.”
Jay-Z and Kanye West are no longer on good terms
Jay-Z was an early supporter of Ye’s career. As the years passed, though, their relationship grew strained. In 2016, Ye criticized Beyoncé. He said she tried to secure a VMA over himself and Drake.
“Beyoncé, I was hurt because I wanted to present a video called ‘Fade’ and I don’t expect MTV to help me. Mr. West, I don’t respect you,” he said onstage. “I will let you know that Beyoncé is winning the video tonight for ‘Formation’ over ‘Hotline Bling’ and ‘Famous’ … Beyoncé, I was hurt because I heard that you said you wouldn’t perform unless you won Video of the Year over me and over ‘Hotline Bling.’”
Jay-Z said he had a huge problem with Ye speaking about his wife this way.
“[T]he whole point is, ‘You got hurt because this person was talking about you on a stage.’ But what really hurt me was, you can’t bring my kids and my wife into it,” he said, per Fader. “Kanye’s my little brother. He’s talked about me 100 times. He made a song called ‘Big Brother.’ We’ve gotten past bigger issues.”
He said this was hard for him to move past, though.
“But you brought my family into it,” he said. “Now it’s a problem with me. That’s a real, real problem. And he knows it’s a problem.”
Recently, Jay-Z and Ye have disagreed over politics.
