When that Samsung-promoted commercial spot for Jay-Z‘s new Magna Carta Holy Grail album appeared during this year’s NBA Finals, many fans were giddy over the sight of Jay in the studio collaborating with some of hip-hop’s most famed producers. While the clip with Timbaland, Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams and Swizz Beatz was undeniably very cool, it was noted by some that Jay had worked with all of these hitmakers before. Noticeably absent from the proceedings was another rapper/producer who has been aligned with Jay for the better part of a decade.
Where the hell was Kanye West?
Kanye has had a busy year–onstage rants, recording and releasing his own project Yeezus, and of course, becoming a father for the first time. When Magna Carta Holy Grail was finally released this week, it seemed to shock some fans that Kanye, again, was nowhere on the project. That itself isn’t new: Kanye had little-to-no involvement in Jay’s 2007 album American Gangster, either.
But as a relationship that began as a business partnership, evolved to a creative collaboration and eventually became a close friendship, it’s been interesting to watch how the two have grown together–and grown apart.
Jay-Z and Kanye West’s partnership seemed to peak with 2011’s Watch the Throne album and subsequent tour. On that album, the two traded bars about being rich and famous and the pitfalls and perks of living an A-list rapper’s lifestyle. Kanye’s perspective on fame is often tortured and conflicted, Jay’s is usually confident and cool. Kanye rants while Jay remains seemingly unflappable.
That difference was evident as far back as their 2005 hit “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.” On the track, Kanye raps about his inner conflict regarding his love for flashy jewelry that he knows is the product of bloodshed in Africa. Jay’s verse? It’s about how he refuses to let his Roc label fall in the face of haters (The Roc’s symbol is a diamond-shaped hand sign.)
Now, it seems as though their musical differences are even more explicit. On Yeezus (and virtually every thing he’s done since 2008s 808s & Heartbreak) Kanye wallows in narcissism and rages against everyone who has slighted him. West has always gotten off on underdog-ism, whether real or imagined. On MCHG, Jay fancies himself a winner–and looking at his career, it’s not hard to see why.
On one new track, in particular, it seems like Jay acknowledges the silliness in whining about how “hard” the life of a hip-hop superstar can be.
On “Holy Grail,” Jay raps:
“Get the hell up off of your high horse/
You got the s–t that n—as die for/
Dry yours/
Why you mad?
Take the good with the bad/
Don’t throw that baby out with the bath water/
You’re still alive/
Still that n—a/
N—as you survived”
Jay-Z is likely talking about himself in that verse. But he could just as easily be referring to Kanye.
