Jay-Z Fires Shots At Trump Not Kanye West On Meek Mill's "What's Free?": Report

The line may have been misinterpreted.

BYAron A.Nov 30, 20189.1K Views

Meek Mill released his fourth studio album, CHAMPIONSHIPS earlier today which features appearances from Drake, Cardi B, Rick Ross, Jay-Z and more. Ross and Jay-Z team up with Meek on the Biggie-sampling track, "What's Free?" which found the Philly rapper holding his own alongside two of the biggest rappers in hip-hop. Many people interpreted part of Jay-Z's verse as a diss towards Kanye, but according to sources, that's not the case.

Michael Buckner/Getty Images

On "What's Beef," Jay-Z raps, "No red hat, don't Michael and Prince me and Ye/ They separate you when you got Michael and Prince's DNA/ I ain't one of these house n***as you bought." While many took that as Jay taking a swipe at Yeezy over his MAGA hat fanaticism, TMZ's sources who were involved in the song's creation claim that's not the case. That particular line was a shot at Trump and his red MAGA Hat while the bars about Michael Jackson and Prince refer to the tensions between the two artists in the 80's and the 90's.

Hov is apparently saying that even though he and Kanye have their differences, politically and otherwise, people shouldn't pit them against each other in the way they did Prince and Michael Jackson. Jay's reference to "house n***as" on the track is reportedly a shot at black people in politics who suck up to Donald Trump which might be directed towards Ben Carson.

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Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.