Jay-Z Admits He Was Working on A Joint Album with Beyonce

Jay-Z did not do too much press around his latest album 4:44, apart from the Rap Rap interview for his home company TIDAL. In the interview, he had touched upon various topics around the album, subject matter of certain songs, his troubled relationship with Kanye West and much more.

Fresh off playing two back to back nights at the Barclays Center for his 4:44 tour, Hov sat down with New York Times’ T Magazine for an exclusive interview about his latest CD, the inspiration behind ‘The Story of O.J.’, racism in America, Donald Trump as President, relationship with his mother and much more.

The interview took place about nine days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. During the chat with Dean Baquet, Hov also touched upon making an album containing confessional songs, just like his wife Beyonce did last year with Lemonade. For perhaps the first time, the rapper admits that the two were indeed working on a joint album. The rumor about a joint album was running heavy on the internet in 2015-2016. “We were using our art almost like a therapy session. And we started making music together,” Jay says. “And then the music she was making at that time was further along. So her album came out as opposed to the joint album that we were working on. Um, we still have a lot of that music. And this is what it became. There was never a point where it was like, “I’m making this album.” I was right there the entire time.”

Jay-Z also revealed that him and Kanye recently had a conversation but looks like the issues between them will still take time to fully resolve. “I [talked to] Kanye the other day, just to tell him, like, he’s my brother. I love Kanye. I do. It’s a complicated relationship with us,” Hov lets the world know. “Kanye came into this business on my label. So I’ve always been like his big brother. And we’re both entertainers. It’s always been like a little underlying competition with your big brother. And we both love and respect each other’s art, too. So it’s like, we both — everyone wants to be the greatest in the world. You know what I’m saying? And then there’s like a lot of other factors that play in it. But it’s gonna, we gonna always be good.”

Read the full interview here.