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Jay-Z Opens Up About His Troubled Relationship With Kanye West

"It’s always been a little competition."

Jay-Z's candidness, outside of his mysterious allure, has become a prized relic of sorts. Since the release of his thirteenth studio album 4:44, the rap mogul has done a grand total of two media-related chats. But as the cover star of the New York Times-backed T Magazine, Jay's recent sit-down with the esteemed publication has proved to be his most revealing interview yet.

From confirming a joint album with Beyoncé in fact exists to his infidelities and his "complicated" relationship with Kanye West, the Brooklyn lyricist seemingly left no stone unturned. 

The latter has been a hot topic over the past few years, with each artist either addressing their issues on wax or infamously venting about them. But, if you ask Hov, the duo are still very much brothers. "I [talked to] Kanye the other day, just to tell him, like, he’s my brother. I love Kanye. I do,” Jay told the Times’ executive editor Dean Baquet. “It’s a complicated relationship with us.”

Jay-Z continued, “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 … we gonna always be good.”

The “Family Feud” rapper then confirmed that there has been some tension between him and Ye, especially since the Chicago native lashed out at him during an onstage rant in October 2016. However, he hopes that time and distance can eventually repair what has transpired. "In the long relationship, you know, hopefully when we’re 89 we look at this six months or whatever time and we laugh at that,” Jay-Z said.

“There’s gonna be complications in the relationship that we have to get through," the Roc Nation CEO added. "And the only way to get through that is we sit down and have a dialogue and say, ‘These are the things that I’m uncomfortable with. These are the things that are unacceptable to me. This is what I feel.’ I’m sure he feels that I’ve done things to him as well. … I’m not a perfect human being by no stretch.”

The 21-time Grammy winner went on to call The Life of Pablo rapper “a very compassionate person” who simply “gets in trouble trying to help others.” Elsewhere in the interview, Jay also touches on his nearly 10-year relationship with Beyoncé, revealing that at one point the couple used their art as therapy. 

Take a look at Jay-Z's thoughts on marriage below. 

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