A couple of music icons were taking a stroll down memory lane recently when Will.i.am sat down with Talib Kweli for the latter’s People’s Party podcast. The Black Eyed Peas hitmaker reflected on Kanye West’s explosive interview with Drink Champs where he dropped all sorts of gems—and insults—and it was Ye’s remarks about Kweli that rubbed Will.i.am the wrong way.
“The only times I talk about Ye, I feel conflicted, like a lot of people,” he said, adding that because he knows West on a personal level, he can see that the persona the rapper portrays to the public isn’t always how he is behind the scenes. “He’s different than the person he broadcasts.”
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“The broadcasting of Kanye is different than the actual Kanye that you sit and talk to—the sensitive one,” Will.i.am said. “When these two things exist in the world, the broadcast hurts… You’re like, ‘Yo, that’s my dude.’ One of the things that hurt me on Drink Champs was when he said, ‘I used them.’ That really hurt. I’m like, ‘What?’”
West was speaking about the early days of his career and said he “used” Kweli on The College Dropout (they collaborated with Common on “Get Em High”). Initially, Will.ii.am wasn’t happy about the remark, but after revisiting the lyrics to “Get Em High,” a track that also featured an addition from Kweli’s then-girlfriend, Will.i.am claimed that West sneaky dissed Kweli on the track.
Check out the clip from the People’s Party interview and listen to “Get Em High” below.