M.I.A. has given Ye credit for being crucial to Jay-Z’s rap career success.
In a recently resurfaced interview with the PBD Podcast from 2024, the singer claimed that the artist formerly known as Kanye West introduced “creativity” to Jay-Z’s work. She noted that while Hov was more of a “businessman,” Ye had a stronger “artistic” side.
“He added the creativity to that whole thing,” M.I.A. said about Ye’s collaboration with Jay. “I don’t think they give him enough respect and dues. Yes, Jay-Z was more of a businessman. Kanye was always the artistic one. He’s the creative one. I connected with that, and Jay-Z obviously had the clout and the reputation. But, I saw that they both represented two different dynamics.”
She also discussed their groundbreaking 2011 collaborative album, Watch the Throne, and how they managed to work together. However, she noted, “Only one person was gonna get the throne.”
M.I.A.’s recent remarks about Jay-Z follow her November Instagram Live where she alleged he tried to change her appearance. According to M.I.A., Jay told her to undergo plastic surgery.
“The first thing he said to me was, ‘Get plastic surgery,'” she stated at the time. “I’m not insecure because I would have got plastic surgery. So their argument of ‘Maya’s fucking insecure, that’s why she needs to fucking massage her ego,’ fails.”
She continued, “It fails because you turn around and ask … What women do you know who hasn’t had plastic surgery around [Jay-Z]? All of them have. I’m the only one who didn’t, which already proves the fact it’s not insecurity.”
In January, M.I.A. talked with Jaguar Wright and claimed Jay and his company, Roc Nation, attempted to make her sign what she considered a “slavery” contract.
“I was fighting giants. At that time, Jay-Z, Roc Nation was supposed to negotiate that. They wanted me to sign this thing, which was slavery,” M.I.A. said. “It was modern-day slavery where the NFL takes 100% of my earnings.”
