Roc-A-Fella Records, founded in 1996 by JAY-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, first brought Kanye West on board as a producer after his work on Beanie Sigel’s 2000 album The Truth. Kanye’s impressive production on the track “This Can’t Be Life” from Jay’s 2000 album The Dynasty: Roc La Familia marked the start of their collaborative relationship. This partnership is further chronicled in Kanye’s “Last Call” outro from The College Dropout.

Although Kanye aspired to be a rapper, Roc-A-Fella Records did not sign him as an artist until later. Initially seen primarily as a producer in 2002, Kanye faced delays in signing, leading to speculation that Jay-Z was reluctant. In 2009, Jay clarified that he wasn’t against signing Kanye but had suggested keeping the beats in-house if possible.

Over time, Kanye and Jay’s professional relationship evolved into a close friendship, which Kanye explored in his 2007 single “Big Brother.” The track portrays their bond as both challenging and affectionate, akin to a sibling relationship. In the song, Kanye reflects on past moments, such as when he asked Jay for Madison Square Garden tickets and was told to buy them himself. He raps, “Only thing I wanna know is why I get looked over / I guess I’ll understand when I get more older / Big brother saw me at the bottom of the totеm”.

At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West famously interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video, declaring that while he was happy for her, Beyoncé’s video for “Single Ladies” was one of the greatest of all time.

In 2011, Kanye and Jay-Z released their collaborative album Watch the Throne, which featured hit singles like “No Church in the Wild” and “N——s in Paris.” Kanye shared his excitement in a now-deleted tweet, expressing his amazement at working on a rap album with Jay-Z.

Despite offering Instagram condolences for Kanye and Kim Kardashian’s 2014 wedding, Beyoncé and Jay-Z chose not to attend the ceremony. When asked about their absence, Kanye told GQ, “I wouldn’t even touch upon that. It makes no difference in the world to me who shows up. Kim was the most important person there. Nothing else matters to me.”