Apple Music’s not interested in buying Tidal anymore, which seems to have given Kanye West all the more reason to hate on it.
The rapper—a part owner in Tidal, as well as a longtime friend of fellow rapper Jay Z, who owns the music streaming service—pushed for the tech giant to acquire Tidal earlier this summer. That never ended up happening, despite initial rumors that it would. Now West is saying Apple is the reason he and Jay Z haven’t released any new music collaborations of late.
“Let me tell you something—there will never be a Watch the Throne 2. You know why?” West called out to his audience during a concert last night in Seattle, and referring to the well-received joint album that the two rappers put out in 2011. “Because of Hov, because of some Tidal-Apple bullshit.”
Vague. But West alleges that behind-the-scenes drama between the two streaming services is also what prevented him and Jay Z from appearing on Drake’s album Views earlier this year: apparently, both rappers originally had guest verses on Drake’s song “Pop Style,” but were taken out due to “some political shit” between Tidal and Apple. (Drake’s album came out as an Apple Music exclusive, and he’s also been tight with Apple on other projects.)
A fan recorded West’s entire rant in the video below.
West first railed against Apple on Twitter a few months ago, insisting that Tidal deserved to be bought out by one of its bigger peers. Such a move would’ve boosted Apple Music’s star power and subscriber base, but it would have more importantly bailed Tidal out of some messy financial entanglements. ”Apple, give Jay his check for Tidal now,” the rapper complained.
He added:
Spotify was almost spared from Ye’s ire. Almost.