Kanye West had clearly grown tired of beefing with Taylor Swift in October 2016 when he lashed out at his former BFF, JAY-Z, during a concert. He criticized JAY for not visiting him and wife Kim Kardashian after her Paris robbery and then got angry because their "kids have never even played together." JAY smartly didn't respond to Kanye's digs until June 2017, when he put all his feelings about the issue in song on his album 4:44. In addition to dropping some major revelations about everyone from Becky to Beyoncé, JAY clapped back at Kanye in not one but three tracks.
On the album's first song, "Kill Jay Z," JAY calls Kanye "insane," saying, "I know people backstab you, I feel bad too / But this 'f*ck everybody' attitude ain't natural / But you ain't the same, this ain't KumbaYe / But you got hurt because you did cool by 'Ye / You gave him 20 million without blinkin' / He gave you 20 minutes on stage, f*ck was he thinkin'? / 'F*ck wrong with everybody?' is what you sayin' / But if everybody's crazy, you're the one that's insane." He also referenced Kanye in "Caught Their Eyes" and "Bam."
By July, Kanye had exited JAY's music streaming company, Tidal, threatening to sue because it allegedly owes him "more than $3 million" in fees. A month later, JAY gave a rare interview to hip-hop journalist Elliott Wilson, where the rapper revealed the reason for his feud with Kanye had to do with the fact he called out JAY's wife and children. As far as we know, the two still aren't on speaking terms, but TMZ reported in September that Kanye has reached out to make amends.
