Jay-Z's Brotherly Love

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What factors do you think contributed to Kanye coming out on top this week? What made his music resonate with the fans so much?
JAY-Z: It's pretty much how much he cares about it. It's not done for any other reason but to be the best music out at that specific time. You know, at times you could hear [other] people's music, and you hear, ''Okay, that's your girl single, that's the thug single, that's the...'' No, it's none of that. Every single song he makes, he makes because he thinks it's the best record at that specific time. He may not think it next week, but that week, he thought that was the best record that he could make.

You think that's something he doesn't share with other artists?
No. [Laughs] We have 75 mixes of ''Stronger.'' Who does that? When I was sitting in mastering to make sure the album got done, he was somewhere in Sweden sending through mixes of ''Good Life.'' Sixteen different mixes of the song! Who does that?

What's your favorite song on the album?
Aw, man. Okay, today? I'm pretty much consistent with ''I Wonder,'' ''Champion,'' and ''Flashing Lights.'' Those are my three records. I think ''Drunk and Hot Girls'' would be a great stadium song for him to perform — it sounds like a great time to me. I can just see one of those festivals, it's overseas somewhere and it's like 75,000 people just having a great time. And I think ''Big Brother'' is the best song he's written since ''Jesus Walks,'' as far as structure, emotion, everything.

I was going to ask you about that song — obviously it's about you. Do you think that was a fair portrayal of you?
I think it's a fair portrayal from a little brother's perspective. You know, you've got your big brother and you want to go out with him, he's like, ''Nah, get back in the house!'' Things like that, until you come of age. At Roc-A-Fella, we've always lived by tough love. Everyone knows that. It's nothing given. Everyone has to work for theirs, and that's how you make strong individuals, by not carrying them. That's how you make a Kanye West. You make him fight for his position.

Kanye's last two albums both had great, full verses from you, and this one you don't spit a verse. Why's that?
Well, I was going to do ''Barry Bonds,'' but it was late in the day, so I didn't get to do it.

I just heard your verse on 50's ''I Get Money'' remix last night. How did that come together?
I just wanted to show that we're not enemies. It's a great story for this, you're the first person to ask, so you got great timing! [50 Cent] called me to ask for the remix, and I told him he couldn't put the remix out until the first week came. I didn't want it to affect any type of numbers. [Laughs] So as you see, it came out the 17th, when the SoundScan cycle is finished. So just to show, I'm still competing! We're not enemies, we're just competing.

At the end of that verse, I love how you say, ''New York is still mine.'' Even though you've transitioned into a CEO role, you still want to put that out there?
Yeah. I was in artist mode at that time. When I'm in artist mode, why wouldn't New York be mine, right? It certainly is.