RAP BEEF TIMELINE · 2014–2021
Jay-Z vs. Kanye West
Family grievances, “Kill Jay Z,” and “Jail”
A long mentor-and-collaborator bond fractures around missed family moments, business friction, and Kanye West’s 2016 Sacramento stage rant. Jay-Z addresses the rupture on “Kill Jay Z,” later calls Kanye a brother, and joins him on “Jail,” closing the active chapter.
THE RECORD
The moments
Personal relationship · disputed account
Jay-Z and Beyoncé skip the Florence wedding
Their absence from Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s wedding becomes an early, public sign of strain in a long friendship.
Read the receipt ↗Performance · disputed account
Kanye turns a Sacramento set into a Jay-Z plea
Kanye’s Saint Pablo Tour rant criticizes Jay-Z’s silence after Kim Kardashian’s Paris robbery and makes the private tension unavoidably public.
▶ Find the 2016 Sacramento rantRead the receipt ↗Diss track
“Kill Jay Z” answers on record
Jay-Z addresses Kanye’s stage behavior and their business tension on 4:44, framing the disagreement as a painful breach between brothers.
▶ Listen to “Kill Jay Z”Read the receipt ↗Reconciliation
“Jail” restores the public collaboration
Jay-Z appears on Donda’s “Jail,” the clearest public signal that the active feud has been set aside.
Read the receipt ↗
THE RECEIPTS
Sources and listening
JAY-Z, Dipset, and Cash Money — released music and public interviews ↗ARTIST LENSES