Jay-Z writes congratulatory letter to Drake for “Take Care” first week sales

Since 2009, tensions have been rising between Jay-Z and the Cash Money Records crew. For years, Birdman has been positioning Lil Wayne to compete with Jay-Z. When it seemed as if they had established peace, Birdman began using Lil Wayne to challenge Jay-Z. Initially, the duo only challenged Jay-Z over record sales. However, late last year, Birdman began challenging Jay-Z over money.

In January of this year, Jay-Z broke his silence with the “baby money” diss on “H.A.M.,” the promotional single for Watch the Throne with Kanye West. Playing the disses off Cash Money continued to drop more hits. While dominating the radio, the label was preparing for the official release of Tha Carter IV from Lil Wayne. Days before the release, Lil Wayne shook the hip hop world with his Jadakiss and Drake-assisted, “It’s Good,” with a Jay-Z diss.

Drake immediately separated himself from the situation, bringing up his collaborative history with Jay-Z. In 2009, Drake provided the hook to Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3 song, “Off That.” Jay-Z would, in turn, provide a verse on Drake’s “Light Up” track off his debut, Thank Me Later. Before the disses were exchanged, Drake expressed interest in collaborating with Jay-Z again on his Take Care album. Even after Lil Wayne went after Jay-Z, Drake said the beef, if any, was between them and he still wanted to record with Jay-Z.

The collaboration did not happen, but Drake’s Take Care was a success. In the first week, alone, the album sold nearly 700,000 copies and is well on its way to platinum. Since Jay-Z’s run, hip hop has been lacking a rapper to deliver an album every year, so far Drake has been the new rapper doing so. Watching from afar, Jay-Z tweeted to Drake.

Read Jay-Z’s tweet to Drake below:

“Monster # comes, proud of your journey. Peace, Hov”