Jay-Z Talks Watch the Throne; His Relationship With President Obama

Rapper Jay-Z stopped by Hot 97 yesterday (August 2nd), where he discussed a number of topics, including reports surrounding his upcoming album with Kanye West, titled Watch the Throne and his relationship with President Barack Obama.

During the interview with Angie Martinez, Jay-Z addressed growing reports that he and Kanye West were feuding over details of the upcoming Watch the Throne tour, which is slated to kick off September 22nd in Detroit, Michigan.

"We have a healthy respect for one another and I know exactly where he's [Kanye] coming from," Jay-Z said. "It's always about the art and you have to respect that. And again, I've said that people who don't respect that, don't enjoy being pushed in that way."

Jay-Z also addressed criticism surrounding the pre-release of Watch the Throne, which angered a number of independent record stores across the country, who believe they will lose out on physical sales due to the Internet.

“As far as making this album, we took eight months," Jay-Z continued. "We should be able to release it the way we like, without everybody being up in arms. The real reason behind it is that we didn't want it to leak. We wanted to present it to the people in its entirety."

As for Watch the Throne leaking, Jay-Z said that would not happen.

According to Jay, the album has been guarded tightly since the initial recording sessions began.

Jay-Z also discussed his relationship with President Barack Obama, who he has met on several occasions.

Jay-Z detailed a trip to Washington D.C. , where he dined with Mayor Adrian Fenty and then headed to the White House, for a meeting with the Commander in Chief, of the United States of America.

According to Jay-Z, President Barack Obama is the “second coolest person in the world…," next to himself, noting that he received a "positive reaction" from the President.

"It's very humbling, it's weird, but I love it," Jay-Z said.