Ye has put any bad blood between himself, Drake and Jay-Z to the side to give the two rappers he once collaborated with their rightful praise when it comes to their standing in hip-hop.
Ye Praises Drake and Jay-Z for Their Place in Hip-Hop
Most rap fans are aware that Ye isn’t on the best of terms with both Drake and Jay-Z these days. So to hear him give compliments to both rap stars comes as a bit of a surprise. On Wednesday (Aug. 7), political commentator Candace Owens released an interview with Ye that she conducted in 2022. While much has changed in the two years since this chat happened, Ye’s respect for both Drake and Jay as rappers seems timeless despite their personal issues.
During the hour-long interview, which can be seen below, Candace told Ye that prior to their sit-down, she was listening to Jay-Z’s 2003 song “Moment of Clarity,” on which Hov raps, “I dumb down for my audience to double my dollars/They criticize me for it, yet they all yell, ‘Holla.'” She compared the Brooklyn rapper’s admission that he had to choose between dumbing down his words or providing information in a more Common-style of delivery to Ye’s past comments during his 2022 Drink Champs interview in which Ye said, “Information is the most important resource to our species above water.”
The topic made Ye say that their conversation, which turned into a further discussion about Ye claiming French people don’t control Black voices like Jewish media does, made him think about both Drake and Jay, who has been Ye’s longtime mentor and friend.
“Drake is the best rapper ever by the numbers,” Ye admitted at the 34:43-mark below. “Jay-Z is the greatest rapper ever by the inspiration.”
Ye went on to make a shocking statement that Beyoncé should allow Hov to sleep with other women. “I just think Yoncé need to let him go get some p**sy, seriously,” Ye insisted. “Go to the DR [Dominican Republic] or something, like, you know what I mean?”
Candace then asked, “What’s that about? Are you good friends with him still?”
In typical Ye fashion, he used an analogy to make his point in vivid detail by comparing Jay-Z to being at the top and Ye as a firefighter fighting under the fire Hov is on top of. He never answered Candace’s question about where Ye and Jay-Z stand as friends.
“I just think like, man, it’s like Jay-Z is like the head, head, head, you know, we’re under the fire and we’re the firefighters, but in order to be a good firefighter, you got to be willing to run into that fire and that’s what makes me the number one firefighter,” Ye described. “That’s what makes me Michael because I’ll run into that fire. Everyone knows that I’ll run into that fire for the people in the burning building.”
He continued by using Drake as a metaphor to showcase his popularity. “Who’s the people in the burning building?” Ye said. “All of society, because Blacks and rappers are the thought leaders. We like, everyone, people, you know, if you go to a college, people have different majors, but everyone majors in Drake at the college. It’s very few people, even if they don’t particularly seek to listen to ’em, everyone in the college knows the song. So, that becomes then the information part of people’s curriculum and DNA of the way we think.”
Read More: Ye Compares Himself and Ty Dolla Sign to Drake and 21 Savage
Ye’s Complicated Relationship With Drake and Jay-Z
On either side, Ye has had beef with Drake and Hov over the years. Drake thought Ye told Pusha T that he had a secret son, Adonis, in 2018, which led to the “Story of Adidon” diss, and further fueled Push and Drizzy’s own beef. Ye denied it and Push actually said it was Drake’s producer 40 who spilled the tea. There’s more to their problems, like Ye dissing Drake on the “Like That” remix this year, but the falling out over who revealed Drizzy had a son remains one of their biggest issues.
Also in 2018, Ye admitted he felt hurt that Jay-Z never came to his wedding when Ye married Kim Kardashian in 2014. The two since united at Diddy’s 50th birthday in 2019. However, Ye called out Jay’s name during a tirade caught on video this year when he was working on the Vultures 1 joint album with Ty Dolla $ign. Although Ye referred to Hov as the “greatest rapper” in the Candace Owens interview, the G.O.O.D. Music leader’s other remarks that Beyoncé should allow Jay to sleep around could lead to a rift between them all once more.
Read More: Kanye West Mentions Jay-Z and Drake During Heated Rant at Vultures Album Event in Las Vegas
See Ye give props to Drake and Jay-Z below.