Elliott Wilson has revealed how he helped JAY-Z and Drake mend fences following their rift within the mid 2010s.
Throughout the newest episode of HipHopDX‘s The Greater Image, the veteran Hip Hop journalist stated he inspired the 2 rappers to reopen their line of communication and hash issues out after their relationship had soured.
“I obtained them again collectively, I obtained them to speak,” Wilson stated. “Across the time when Drake was doing the tour with Lil Wayne they usually had a present in Queens, Drake got here backstage and hugged me and was like, ‘I spoke to Hov. We’re figuring it out.’ He was excited that they’d lastly talked.”
When requested how he helped dealer a truce between Drizzy and Jigga, with co-host Jeremy Hecht jokingly asking if he put them in a textual content thread collectively, Wilson replied: “No, simply encouraging them to speak to one another, that’s all. I’m not Farrakhan. I didn’t put the play collectively [laughs].”
Watch the section on the 29:50 mark beneath.
Regardless of forming an early collaborative relationship on “Off That” and “Gentle Up,” a pleasant competitors between the 2 rap titans quickly emerged when Drake put JAY-Z, in addition to his Watch the Throne collaborator Kanye West, on discover.
“I’m simply feeling just like the throne is for the taking / Watch me take it,” he rapped on DJ Khaled‘s 2011 hit “I’m On One.”
Drake rapidly denied that the lyrics have been something greater than a light-weight jab, although, tweeting: “Hov diss? Hov of all individuals has not misplaced it…that’s god physique move.”
The pair linked up once more on “Pound Cake” in 2013, however the love was short-lived as Drizzy slighted Hov in an interview with Rolling Stone the next 12 months.
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“It’s like Hov can’t drop bars lately with out no less than 4 artwork references!” he advised the publication. “I might love to gather in some unspecified time in the future, however I believe the entire rap/artwork world factor is getting form of corny.” (As Elliott Wilson defined within the above episode, Drake thought he was talking off the file when making these feedback.)
This sparked a extra direct back-and-forth between the OVO and Roc Nation bosses, with Jay rapidly firing again on Jay Electronica‘s “We Made It (Remix)”: “Sorry, Mrs. Drizzy, for a lot artwork speak / Foolish me rappin’ ‘bout shit that I actually purchased / Whereas these rappers rap about weapons they ain’t shot / And a bunch of different foolish shit that they ain’t obtained.”
In response, Drake took goal at Jigga’s elder statesman standing on “Draft Day” (“I’m centered on making information and gettin’ greater/ Simply hits, no misses, that’s for the married folks”) whereas additionally taunting the previous Brooklyn Nets proprietor when the workforce confronted his hometown Toronto Raptors within the NBA playoffs.
“That is the individuals’s workforce out right here tonight, what I imply? Toronto Raptors. JAY-Z’s someplace consuming a fondue plate,” he stated throughout an on-court interview.
Hov didn’t take the pictures mendacity down as he returned fireplace on DJ Khaled’s aptly-titled “They Don’t Love You No Extra”: “N-ggas speaking down on the crown / Watch them n-ggas you ‘spherical obtained you wound / Haters wanna ball, let me tighten up my drawstring / Incorrect sport, boy, you’re as tender as a lacrosse workforce.”
After patching issues up, JAY-Z and Drake finally reunited on 2018’s “Discuss Up” and have seemingly remained on good phrases since.
[Ed. note: Elliott Wilson is the Editorial Director of Hip Hop Journalism at DX’s parent company, UPROXX Studios.]
