Jay-Z, Elliott Wilson & B. Dot. Image credit: TIDAL

Shoutout to former RESPECT. Editor-In-Chief Elliott Wilson: the Hip-Hop media legend continues to push the culture forward via his Rap Radar brand, and — most recently — his position at TIDAL. His latest move sees the two entities coming together: for his latest Rap Radar podcast (since moved to the streaming platform), he and long-time cohort Brian “B. Dot” Miller sat down with Jay-Z for an eye-opening interview. The two parts are now available for streaming (below), but here’s the six most notable points we took from the momentous occasion:

He’s Pretty Pissed With Kanye West (But They’re Still Brothers)

Those that actually listened to Jay-Z’s new classic 4:44 definitely caught the line about Kanye West, which saw him speaking on their rift and (putting ‘Ye’s line-crossing rant aside) his role in that conflict. During the podcast, Jay revealed that him and ‘Ye will definitely need to have a sit-down in order for their relationship to mend:

…What really hurt me was, you can’t bring my kids and my wife into it. 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. But you brought my family into it, now it’s a problem with me. That’s a real, real problem. And he knows it’s a problem. He knows that he crossed the line. I know him. He knows. I know he knows, because we’ve never let this much space go between one of our disagreements, and we’ve had many, because that’s who we are. That’s what I like about him. He’s an honest person, he’s open and he’ll say things and he’s wrong a lot of times and he’ll confront it.

Jay-Z Considers 6 Of His Albums Certified Classics

Image credit: LIFE+TIMES

During the sit-down, Hov, Elliott and B. Dot had the obligatory discussion regarding Hov’s massic music catalog (including collaborative pieces with R. Kelly and Kanye); out of that, we learned that six of those albums are considered absolute classics by the veteran emcee: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, The Blueprint, Reasonable Doubt, The Black Album, American Gangster and 4:44. Agreed.

That Elevator Incident Is The Only Time Him And Solange Have Ever Beefed

Don’t act like you don’t recall: the infamous 2014 fight between Jay-Z and Solange Knowles after that year’s Met Gala will go down in history for a variety of reasons. Truth is, nothing about that is abnormal from any other relationship, and Jay made that clear, including the fact that that was the only time issues between him and his sister boiled over:

We had one disagreement ever… Before and after, we’ve been cool. [Solange is] like my sister. I will protect her. That’s my sister, not my sister-in-law. My sister. Period.

His Daughter Has Bars

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As we all heard on the 4:44 track “Blue’s Freestyle/We Family,” Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter could very well follow in her father’s footsteps. During the sit-down, Jay explained how that moment came about:

I had just finished “Family Feud” and I really liked the beat for “We Family.” I was like, ‘I think I can take that song up a notch.’ So, I started playing the beat and I was playing it for so long that I started doing something… [Blue Ivy] went and she got the headphones and she climbed on a little stool and then she just started rapping. Well, she started doing that and the pockets she was catching, I was like, ‘Oh s***.’ I couldn’t believe that. I have it on my phone. Five minutes. That was all I put on there but five minutes of her doing that. Amazing pockets. But kept bringing back ‘Boom-shaka-laka.’ I was like, ‘Oh, she understands the concept of a hook!’ She’s five. She understands the concept of a hook…And then she caught that, ‘Never seen a ceiling in my whole life.’ I was like, ‘What the f*** is going on in here?’ One of the great memories.

Jay-Z Has Mad Respect For Former Foe Prodigy

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Obviously, one of Jay-Z’s biggest moments came with that SummerJam screen (and “Takeover”), which brought his beef with Mobb Deep (especially Mobb Deep member Prodigy) to a boiling point. Since then, it’s been revealed by both parties that there weren’t any more issues…this was all made more important due to Prodigy’s unfortunate passing this year. Jay-Z spoke on this, giving his side of the reconciliation that went down some years ago:

Prodigy, there was obviously no control over what happened to him, but we gotta take care of ourselves. I had super respect for Prodigy. In order for me to really spar with you, I gotta respect you. I sampled him for my first album, so you know I was aware of him and had respect for him. He and I spoke before he passed; I saw him in the club maybe five years ago. He just came over and we kicked it. It wasn’t about nothing. Just sad, you know? Blessings to his family. Young, young man…

His Mother Initially Objected To “Smile,” Which Revealed That She Was A Lesbian

If you remember the 4:44 track “Smile” (of course you do), then you remember one of the bigger moments within Hov’s bars:

Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian
Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian
Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate
Society shame and the pain was too much to take
Cried tears of joy when you fell in love
Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her
I just wanna see you smile through all the hate
Marie Antoinette, baby, let ’em eat cake

Apparently, Jay’s mother — Gloria Carter — wasn’t too open to the public revelation; thankfully, things worked out:

I’ve always looked up to her. Man, she’s so fucking dope. My mom has been dope her whole life… She sounds like Maya Angelou… her pacing, her voice, it’s just so regal. She’s a speaker…Our relationship developed to another level as I start getting into myself and just wanting to know everything… We had a beautiful conversation and it just lead to me making that song. I didn’t even have permission to make that song. When she first heard the song she was like, ‘Absolutely not’ and I was like ‘Man, this is so important’… I was just so happy with the person that she’s become, just live your life and be who you are.

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Posted By

Jon Powell

Currently working as Senior Editor of RESPECT. Magazine, I (Jon Powell) have 10 years experience in digital and print media -- this includes writing, photography and video editing production. I have worked extensively in Washington, D.C. and London, England and specialise in urban music and culture.