Jay-Z reveals lyric that caused tension with Kanye West

Jay-Z wasn’t about to rewrite his own words—even when Kanye West wasn’t exactly thrilled about them.

During the latest episode of JAŸ-Z in 8, which aired Friday, October 2, the rapper looked back at the creative clash behind his verse on West’s 2021 album Donda.

The issue? One very pointed lyric on Jail.

“Told him, ‘Stop all of that red cap / we goin’ home’” was Jay-Z’s reference to MAGA, the political movement associated with Donald Trump’s signature red Make America Great Again hats.

Jay-Z said the disagreement didn’t happen immediately.

“I think we argued about this verse maybe two weeks after,” he said of West. “I was like, ‘This is why I didn’t wanna do this verse.’ It wasn’t easy.”

West eventually made his feelings clear.

“He was like, ‘The red line is not making me comfortable.’ And I was like, ‘Sorry, I’m not gonna change it. That’s how I feel.’”

That left Jay-Z with a choice: change the lyric or stand behind it. He chose the latter—but still gave West control over his own album.

“I said, ‘I understand how you feel; you should probably take the verse off. If you feel strongly enough about it, I’m not gonna change it, but respectfully, you should take it off because this is your project. Everything on it should be the way you want it to be,’” Jay-Z recalled.

In the end, neither man blinked. The lyric stayed, and so did Jay-Z’s appearance on “Jail,” which became the second track on Donda.

JAŸ-Z in 8, featuring Jay-Z in conversation with longtime friend and producer Rick Rubin, airs Fridays on HBO Max, with the finale arriving October 9.