Kanye West is a candid spirit. Often the gift and curse of Kanye is his tendency to purge his every thought without filter or regard. A day before the (hopeful) release of his ninth studio album, Jesus Is King, Apple Music and Zane Lowe unveiled a two-hour interview with West. The most lighthearted moment of the conversation arrives when West tells a story (unclear if it’s an elaborate troll or a real moment of sincerity) about leaving his new phone number at Drake‘s house after a year spent at odds.
“You cannot be in service to God and be mad at your brother next door. I go to Drake’s house,” West told Lowe. “I walk over there with no security and just will leave my phone number. Here’s my cell. I’m not trying to ring the doorbell and say, ‘You gotta come outside right now.’ He might be busy. He got a studio in there.”
Last summer, West, Pusha T, and Drake engaged in a feud that saw multiple diss tracks (“Infrared,” “Duppy Freestyle,” and “The Story of Adidon”) and the surprising reveal that Graham had fathered a child that the general public did not know about. Drake claimed that he played a song about his son to West in Wyoming, which is how G.O.O.D. Music President, Pusha T found out. Pusha revealed that Drake’s close collaborator and producer, Noah “40” Shebib, was partially responsible for the leak of information. Subliminals and social media jabs continued, only adding to the appearance that the relationship was beyond repair.
Later in the interview, Lowe asks West about the status of his relationship with Jay-Z, which has also gone through turmoil. In true Kanye fashion, he uses the moment to talk about the lineage of rap royalty. “With Jay, I love all of these people, but you got to know there’s a lineage of Jay to Ye to Drake,” West continued. “It’s this person is your idol. Then you get to know ’em, then you be friends, then you turn to frenemies, then you turn to enemies, and then you gotta bring back the positive energy. But that is the lineage of rap kings and inspirers.”