Kanye West Blames Rivalry Between Apple and Tidal for Lack of New Collaboration With Jay Z - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Kanye West Blames Rivalry Between Apple and Tidal for Lack of New Collaboration With Jay Z

by

kanye west 2During the Seattle leg of his Saint Pablo Tour, Kanye West was reported as calling out the rivalry between Apple Music and Tidal as the main factor behind the reason why there won't be a sequel to Watch The Throne, his 2011 collaboration with Jay Z. The main reason appears to be Jay Z's ownership of Tidal and the streaming company's ongoing rift with Apple Music, which he previously said was negatively affecting the music industry as a whole (via The Fader).

West also said that he and Jay Z didn't appear on the final cut of Drake's song "Pop Style" because of the same "beef" between the two streaming services. The singer hinted that Apple didn't want artists mainly associated with a rival to appear on one of its exclusive albums, Drake's Views. During the concert, West said the trio needed to quash the squabble and "let people have this song," echoing a similar tweet he sent out over the summer.

"Y'all didn't get, what y'all were supposed to get with me and Drake on this song because of some Tidal/Apple bull----," Kanye said. "Every time I perform this song I think about this s---. I think about the politics. I think about how hard I go for music, for art, for y'all."

Kanye's discontent with Apple Music began earlier in the year when he remained adamant that his new album "Pablo" would "never" launch on the service, but it eventually did after a few weeks. In the summer, West tweeted out a request for Apple and Tidal to meet and officially end their fight, which came on the back of reports that Apple might have been discussing the acquisition of Tidal. Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine eventually quelled those rumors, saying "we're really running our own race. We're not looking to acquire any streaming services."

Popular Stories

apple music

Apple Music Is Down for Some Users

Monday April 20, 2026 12:18 pm PDT by
If Apple Music isn't working for you, you're not alone. According to Apple's System Status page, there's currently an Apple Music outage. Apple says that users may be experiencing intermittent issues with the service. The outage started at 2:38 p.m. Eastern Time, and it is ongoing. We'll update this article when the outage has been...
app store monthly sub commitment

Apple Introduces App Store Monthly Subscriptions With 12-Month Commitment

Monday April 27, 2026 12:52 pm PDT by
Apple today announced the launch of a new subscription option for App Store developers: monthly subscriptions with a 12-month commitment. The new option allows developers to offer subscribers discounted pricing typically associated with an annual subscription but paid on a monthly basis to keep payments more affordable. This new payment option allows you to offer subscribers more affordable...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

This Is What the iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like

Saturday April 25, 2026 10:00 am PDT by
A recent leak provides our best look yet at the design of Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Leaker Sonny Dickson recently shared images of the first iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone dummy models. The images largely conform with rumors about the designs of the three devices and provide the first real visual confirmation of how they will look. ...