On Friday (Nov. 5) JAY-Z found himself in a Twitter space in promotion of Netflix’s new western-themed movie “The Harder They Fall,” which he co-produced. During his rare appearance on the social app the 51-year old rap mogul took some time out to answer some questions unrelated to the film.
At one point Fakeshoredrive’s Kazeem Famuyide asked him what he thought about Kanye West’s much talked about Drink Champs episode. Hov said the show’s co-host, N.O.R.E. had sent him a few clips before choosing to touch on Ye’s ‘Copycat’ comments about Just Blaze’s production on “The Blueprint.“
Ye accused Just Blaze of getting all the credit for JAY-Z’s 2001 album The Blueprint despite copying his entire production.
“Just Blaze is a copycat. He gets credit for The Blueprint and I did the first half of The Blueprint and he just copied my half. Look where I’m at today, look where he at today,” West said in response to N.O.R.E. after he was asked to choose between Swizz Beatz and Just Blaze.
However, Jay-Z said the producers who were involved with The Blueprint were collectively assigned to create an album centered around soul; and because cohesion was among the main priorities, it was inevitable that the contributions would be similar.
“If you’re making an album, if you’re creating an album and the assignment is soul samples, everyone’s coming with soul,” he said. “It’s not you trying to make a cohesive piece of music. I don’t think anyone was copying off anyone. You know Bink! has this problem and you know I think everyone created for the project.”
JAY-Z added, “Everyone had a contribution I would say, and I don’t think anyone was copying off anyone. I think Bink! did what he did when he brought it to the table and you know, we all had the assignment and created this one body of work … Again, this is everyone’s opinion of what they believe is, you know, their truth. Everyone going to have a different truth.”
Just Blaze also responded to Kanye’s allegations in a statement posted on his Instagram page.
“None of what was said tonight regarding me fits with any of our history or our previous interactions – particularly in light of very recent attempts to work together again. Through recent years he has reached out to collaborate on various projects, including a much rumored collaborative project that he was looking for me to handle a good amount of. It unfortunately never saw the light of day due to reasons unrelated to me. Most recently, a couple of months back I woke up to a literal red alert from his people that he was looking for me for his last album in the 11th hour. We tried to pull something off but it was way too last minute.”
“Respectfully, I’m happy for him and the fact that he has succeeded in the ways he wanted to, but not everyone wants to be where he is,” he added. “Everyone’s definition of personal success is a bit different. I’m quite happy where I am creatively, with my family, and my life in general. We were a part of history together and I wish him well and continued success.”
