Drake didn’t spare Jay-Z on Iceman, mentioning the Roc Nation head honcho on his new album like so many others.
On the track "Whisper My Name," Drizzy seems to indirectly refer to Jay with the line: "I take 500K down to dinner, I never could learn shit from none of y'all."
The lyric looks to be a nod to the popular meme, "Dinner with JAY-Z or $500,000?" The question has historically prompted debate among fans, with a dinner with Hov posited as potentially life-changing and worth more than half a million dollars.
In 2023, Jay commented on the topic during a CBS Mornings interview with Gayle King.
"You gotta take the money. What I'mma say, man, everything that I'mma teach you…you got all that in the music for $10.99. [Taking the dinner] is a bad deal," he told King. "I wouldn’t tell you to take a bad deal. Take the $500k, go buy some albums, and listen to the albums, and it’s all there. If you piece it together and really listen to the music for the words, for what it is, it’s all in there."
Over the years, many celebrities have weighed in on whether or not they would take the money or dine with the legendary Brooklyn rapper and businessman. In March, Jack Dorsey said that Jay-Z’s "wisdom" is unrivaled.
"The meme — half a million dollars or dinner with Jay? Like, that is real," Dorsey said. "Every moment I’ve had with him, every story I could tell, is really just a compounding realization around how much wisdom he has. A lot of it’s through experience, but a lot of it is just instinct. I haven't met a lot of people with that."
PlaqueBoyMax, DDG, Stephen A. Smith, Pusha T, and 21 Savage, among others, have offered their opinions over the years. Last November, PlaqueBoy said he would "deadass" go to dinner with Jay over taking the money.
While the 6 God’s beef with Jigga is confusing, it isn’t entirely surprising; the two have had their fair share of tension over the years. However, their relationship started off on good terms with the release of their 2009 collab "Off That," from Jay’s The Blueprint 3.
After that, things appeared to sour after Drake guested on DJ Khaled’s 2011 song "I’m on One," on which he raps about his work ethic and ascent in the rap game. He also took a not-so-subtle jab at Jay and Ye's blockbuster collab project, 2011’s Watch the Throne.
"I’m just feeling like the throne is for the taking / Watch me take it," Drizzy raps soon the track. While he reportedly denied the diss, it seems the first punch was thrown.
Years later, in 2024, we saw Drake’s infamous beef with Kendrick Lamar unfold. Jay commented on the feud in an extremely rare interview with GQ.
"We love the excitement, and I love the sparring, but in this day and age, there’s so much negative stuff that comes with it that you almost wish it didn’t happen," Jay said.
"Now, people that like Kendrick hate Drake, no matter what he makes. It’s like an attack on his character. I don’t know if I love that. I don’t know if it’s helpful to our growth where the fallout lands, especially on social media," he explained. "It’s too far."
