Jay Z’s former business partner is shocked by the rapper’s fallout with Kanye West.
Kareem Burke co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay in the 90s and has admitted to being bemused by Kanye’s recent on-stage rant against his ‘Watch the Throne’ collaborator.
Kareem said: “I was shocked to hear what Kanye said onstage. There was never anything rumbling … so when you hear these things in public, it’s a little shocking.”
Although he didn’t explicitly name Jay during his rant, Kanye is believed to have been talking about his one-time mentor when he blasted someone for not visiting Kanye’s family after his wife Kim Kardashian West was robbed in Paris.
Kanye also said. “Our kids ain’t never even played together.”
Kareem revealed he was surprised by Kanye’s outburst, especially as he has always enjoyed such a good relationship with Jay.
He told the New York Post newspaper: “The last I saw [West], he spoke really highly of Jay. I’m not sure about the relationship at this point. I spoke to Jay [after Kanye’s rant] and we’re both just like, ‘We miss the old Kanye.’
“From what I know of Kanye, he’s usually really honest. So it sounds like something he’s going through right now. He may [say] something like that, and then three weeks later he may be back to, ‘That’s my brother.’ But at this point, with everybody’s career, we’re a little too old for rap beef.”
Kareem’s comments comes shortly after it was reported that Jay “can’t stand” Kanye.
The ‘Empire State of Mind’ hitmaker has simply “tolerated” Kanye until recently, as he prefers to be away from the spotlight.
An insider explained: “Jay can’t stand him. He looks at him as this crazy, eccentric motherf ***er he can tolerate in small doses. Kanye is a nut job. Everyone knows that.
“He tolerated him [because] there was so much money to be made. Jay was like, ‘I’m gonna knock this out. We’re going to do a tour to bring in millions of dollars. I can tolerate that.’
“The reality is that Jay doesn’t want that much to do with him. He likes his own space and is private. They’re very much not the same person. Jay’s immediate circle is very insular, and Kanye is just a guy who always wants something in the spotlight.”
