Kanye West is dropping his exclusive status with Tidal, according to a TMZ report.
On Jay-Z‘s new album, 4:44, he takes shots at West on a few tracks, but West’s lawyer reportedly sent a letter to Tidal a month ago, declaring he’s owed more than $3 million and wants his contract terminated. West apparently went further, saying he’s done with exclusive releases on other streaming sites too. In April, Jay-Z pulled his catalog from Apple Music and Spotify.
West’s status with the Jay-Z-helmed streaming site has been murky for a while. He was one of of the early Tidal figureheads and released The Life of Pablo as an exclusive, which was supposed to draw subscribers to Tidal and allegedly involved a bonus that West never received.
He very publicly edited the album after release and it ended up on other streaming sites, becoming the first streaming-only release to go platinum. Last summer he tweeted that the “beef” between Tidal and Apple Music is “fucking up the music game.” In November, West alleged at a Sacramento tour stop that Jay-Z was dodging his calls and that “I know you got killers. Please don’t send them at my head. Just call me. Talk to me like a man.”
Tidal has reportedly claimed it will sue if he leaves. The window for Tidal exclusives seems to be getting smaller: 4:44 will reportedly be released on Apple Music this week.
We’ve reached out to Tidal for comment.
H/T TMZ
