It'll take more than a little spat to break the family bond between JAY-Z and Kanye West, according to the 99 Problems star.
The Watch the Throne collaborators famously fell out in late 2016, after Kanye took aim at the rap mogul and his wife Beyonce during one of his troubled concerts, just days before he cancelled his Saint Pablo Tour and was hospitalised for a mental evaluation.
The longtime pals subsequently appeared to have patched up their differences and last year (17), they were spotted celebrating together at a birthday party for JAY-Z and Beyonce's now-six-year-old daughter Blue Ivy.
The Empire State of Mind hitmaker subsequently revealed they were still working on repairing their "complicated relationship" in November (17), and in a new chat with talk show veteran David Letterman, JAY-Z insists the rappers' bond runs deeper than any friendship.
"That's my brother," the 48-year-old says when asked if he's still friends with Kanye. "We're beyond friends. Like literally, my little brother is Kanye. And like your little brother, things happen sometimes."
"I have no problem (with him)...," JAY-Z adds. "That's still your sibling forever; that's my brother..."
He also shares his admiration for the confident and outspoken Stronger rapper, who began his career as a producer at JAY-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s.
"I've watched Kanye without an album," he tells Letterman. "The thing I respect about him is that he is the same person (now as he was then)."
Recalling one of their first meetings, JAY-Z continues, "He interrupted our studio session and stood on the table and started rapping, and we were like, 'Could you please get down?' And he was like, 'No, I am the saviour of Chicago..' He ain't even have a record...(sic)! He's brilliant."
The full interview on Letterman's show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction debuted on Netflix on Friday (06Apr18).
