Jay-Z and Kanye Clash Over 'Watch the Throne' Tour

Jay-Z and Kanye West

Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Jay-Z and Kanye West have not even begun their tour in support of Watch the Throne, their collaboration as the rap duo the Throne, but they are reportedly already clashing. According to the New York Post, the rappers are "barely speaking" over a dispute over the production values of their tour, which is set to kick off in Detroit on September 22nd.

The Post's sources say that West is pushing for a flashy concert with "next-level production," while Jay-Z is focused on keeping costs low in the interest of paying back a long-term advance from the promoter, Live Nation. "Jay-Z can't deal with Kanye," an insider told the Post. "Jay is a stone-cold businessman. He wants to recoup all of his money from Live Nation, but Kanye wants to upstage rock stars with a blowout show. He doesn't care about costs. He has a lot less to gain from the shows."

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The rap titans will need to come to an agreement regarding the staging of their tour by next week. There is some speculation that the two refused to share a stage at last Monday's Young Jeezy show in Manhattan, but they are scheduled to appear together at a Watch the Throne listening party at the Rose Planetarium in Central Park later today.

Update: Jay-Z denied that there is any animosity between he and Kanye in an interview on Hot 97 earlier today. "Kanye's my brother," he said. "Yes, we get on each other’s nerves. We push each other to be greater. Of course, there are times when we’re in the studio and we’re yelling. I would never disrespect that man or put my hands on him."

Related
• Jay-Z Previews 'Watch the Throne' in New York 
• Jay-Z and Kanye West Announce 'Watch the Throne' Tour
• Young Jeezy Joined Onstage in NYC By Jay-Z, Kanye West
• RZA Discusses His Role Producing 'Watch the Throne'

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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