While fans listened closely to Kanye West’s DONDA during Thursday’s live stream event, they were treated to a variety of guest stars, but there was one featured rapper that stood out among all the others: Jay-Z! At the end of Kanye’s new album, Jay, 51, made a surprise appearance on a track apparently titled, “Guess Who’s Going To Jail Tonight?” “I told him to stop all that red cap, we going home,” raps Jay. “This might be the return of the Throne. Hova and Yeezus, like Moses and Jesus.”
— TIDAL (@TIDAL) July 23, 2021
Those lines mark the first time that Kanye, 41, and Jay have been on a track since Drake’s 2016 song, “Pop Style.” The verse also references Ye and Jay’s collaborative album, 2011’s Watch The Throne, while also using some clever wordplay to make note of Kanye’s infamous support of Donald Trump. To “cap” is to lie, exaggerate or brag, and Kanye famously said his red “Make America Great Again” cap was his superhero cape. Jay essentially tells his friend to knock it off with the MAGA bragging, and it’s time to go “home.”
This Jay-Z verse on Kanye West’s new DONDA album is insane.https://t.co/LdVBh446J5
— Tellaman (@Tellamahn) July 23, 2021
Jay’s feature might be a reason why DONDA didn’t hit the streaming services on Friday (July 23) as promised. While Kanye missing a deadline is nothing new – DONDA was initially set for a summer 2020 release, after all – Jay’s producer and engineer Young Guru tweeted that Jay “did the verse today!!!! At 4pm.” So, it’s possible that when Kanye played his new album for all those gathered at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (and to the millions tuning in to Apple Music’s live stream), it was still unfinished.
HOV did the verse today!!!! At 4pm
— Young Guru (@Young_Guru) July 23, 2021
At one time, Jay and Kanye were as close as brothers, which might explain their recent feud – after all, sometimes, brothers fight. The beef between Hova and Yeezy began, according to Kanye, when Jay and Beyoncé didn’t attend West and Kim Kardashian’s wedding in 2014. “I was hurt about them not coming to the wedding. I understand they were going through some things, but if it’s family, you’re not going to miss a wedding,” Kanye said in a 2018 interview with Charlamagne Tha God.
Two years earlier, Kanye went off on Jay and Bey during his Saint Pablo tour. “Call me, bruh! You still ain’t calling me! JAY-Z, call me!” he said during the Sacramento show, per High Snobiety. “Aye, bruh, I know you got killers, please don’t send them at my head! Just call me! Talk to me like a man!” However, despite all the ongoing drama between them, Kanye tweeted in 2020 that “JAY IS MY BROTHER.”
Jay wasn’t the only surprise reunion at the DONDA listening party. Kim, 40, made a public show of support of her soon-to-be ex-husband by attending the event along with their kids, r North, 7, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and Psalm, 1.