This morning, yet another issue has come up with Jay-Z’s paid streaming service, Tidal. The service was released in 2015 to mixed feedback (remember #TIDALforAll?). The platform’s prices were high in an effort to “bring value back to music”, but many feared that inaccessibility would just drive more to piracy. Despite concerns, the platform managed to prosper due to exclusive releases from incredibly popular artists. Well, one of the most popular artists, Kanye West, has recently left the platform due to monetary disputes.
West pulled out due to claims of unpaid royalties and bonuses. This includes 3 million dollars for a video production, and a bonus for bringing 1.5 million users to Tidal just through his latest album, which was exclusive to Tidal at time of release. Jay-Z and Tidal have not publicly commented, but there have reports of lawsuit if West releases an album on a different platform than Tidal. As can be expected, Kayne’s legal team is also busy trying to get back what they believe is owed.
It’s worth noting that this is nowhere near the first news of legal problems surrounding Tidal, or even problem between Jay-Z and Kanye West. In fact, this news comes just days after Jay-Z dropped a diss at Kanye on the first track of his new Tidal exclusive album, 4:44.
“You walkin’ around like you invincible
You dropped outta school, you lost your principles
I know people backstab you, I felt bad too
But this ‘fuck everybody’ attitude ain’t natural
But you ain’t a saint, this ain’t kumbaYE”
No matter who comes out on top in the legal or lyrical battle, beef between one of hip-hop’s favorite power couples is just bad for everyone. Who knows how this will end, but it certainly won’t be with Watch The Throne 2 (watch the lawsuit?). Kanye has been successful at avoiding the press lately, but he is planning on returning to his tour in early 2018. If this feud grows, maybe we can expect some more rants against Jay-Z?
Hopefully this all blows over, and if not, we can always just remember happier times.
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