JAY-Z and mentor Jaz-O reunite at 4:44 Tour in Chicago
The two beefed for years, but all looked well on Tuesday night.
JAY-Z may not be in the rap game if it wasn’t for his mentor Jaz-O, but the Marcy lyricists had a rift for years. So Hov fans were pleasantly surprised to see the two posing for a photo on Tuesday night before the 4:44 Tour stop in Chicago.
Emory Jones, the head of lifestyle at Roc Nation, posted a photo of Jaz-O, Jay-Z and Chicago-bred producer No I.D. on Tuesday night, with United Center tagged as the location. “Tonight going to be a special night Chitown,” Jones wrote in the caption. “Few legends in the building.”
Jaz-O took Jay-Z under his wing in the late 1980s, featuring a young Shawn Carter on his songs “The Originators” and “Hawaiian Sophie.” The two would also go on to collaborate in Jay’s breakout album Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life.
But the two began to feud when, rumor has it, JAY-Z offered what Jaz-O felt was a lackluster deal with Roc-A-Fella Records. The two dissed each other on wax over the years, on their own records or as guests on other artists’ songs.
There appeared to be room for reconciliation this past June, when JAY-Z was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He posted a series of tweets thanking all of the rappers who influenced him, and he mentioned Jaz-O as one of the first few names.
Only JAY-Z and Jaz-o know how long ago they squashed their differences. But based on Tuesday’s photo, all is well between the GOAT and his teacher.