Jay-Z reunited with his wife, Beyoncé, for their first live performance together in six years on Sunday, June 22.
Jay-Z — real name Shawn Carter — joined his superstar spouse on stage for her third and final Cowboy Carter Tour performance at Paris’ Stade de France. The couple reeled off a string of their biggest hits, including “Crazy in Love” and “Drunk in Love,” which was remixed with Beyoncé’s song “Partition.”
The rapper also treated Paris to a live rendition of “N****s in Paris,” his hit collaboration with Kanye West from their 2011 Watch the Throne album.
Jay-Z notably tweaked one specific lyric referring to his longtime collaborator. Instead of rapping, “Just might let you meet Ye,” he said, “Just might let you meet Bey,” per fan footage shared via social media.
While Jay-Z, 55, and West, 48, were once close friends, they appear to have had a falling out in recent years.
In a since-deleted X post in April, West claimed that the drama stems from their collaboration on the song “Jail,” which appeared on his 2021 album, Donda.
“Why did Jay Z have to say ‘no red hat’ on Jail,” West wrote via X. “That s*** tore me to my soul. We fought about it and he told me either leave that line on there or take my verse off. Me wearing the red hat was the most stand out example of me going against ‘the program.’ Do you guys think he was instructed to say that?”
In Jay-Z’s verse on the track, he rapped, “Told him, ‘Stop all of that red cap, we goin’ home’ / Not me with all of these sins, castin’ stones / This might be the return of The Throne (Throne) / Hova and Yeezus, like Moses and Jesus.”
The lines were a reference to West’s support of President Donald Trump, which often saw the rapper wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cap.
In March, West made headlines for disparaging posts about Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s twins, Rumi and Sir, 8. (Jay-Z and Beyoncé, 43, also share daughter Blue Ivy, 13.)
Shortly after his tweets about Jay-Z’s kids, West apologized in additional X posts, writing, “I LOVE JAY Z AND I DO FEEL BAD.” He also claimed he was hurt by Jay-Z not attending his 2014 wedding to now-ex Kim Kardashian.
“I FELT LIKE BOTH HIM AND HIS WIFE COULD HAVE HELPED ME HAVE MORE LEVERAGE WITH MY KIDS,” West continued, referring to claims that he had been denied access to his four kids with Kardashian, 44. “THEY COULD HAVE USED THEIR CULTURAL POSITION TO NOT JUST WATCH THE KARDASHIANS RUN ME OVER. S*** HURTS … SO F*** BOTH OF THEM CAUSE WHEN I NEEDED THEM IT WAS F*** ME.”
