Havoc of Mobb Deep says she 'should really chill out.'
Havoc of Mobb Deep, who helped produce Kanye West's "Famous" track, is opening up about the controversial song that reignited a years-long feud with Taylor Swift.
Regarding how Swift reacted to West's "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b***h famous" line, the 45-year-old rapper-producer tells The Daily Beast, "I think artists are artists, and she should really chill out. It’s not that serious."
"She has an awesome career, and she don't need to be fighting with another awesome artist," he continues. "Freedom of speech is alive and well -- or should be -- and she shouldn't be going out there complaining about not clearing this."
Havoc claims that West was just giving Swift "props," and he wasn't intentionally trying to "diss" her.
"Some people are a little too sensitive for the game but this is the game that we’re in. There's no time for soft skin -- and I'm not just saying that because she's a female," he says. "Everyone has to display tough skin for this industry since everyone is gonna come at you, and you might like it or you might not."
The interview comes just over a month after new video clips leaked on YouTube that revealed even more of the viral phone call between West and Swift over the lyrics, which was first leaked by the rapper's wife, Kim Kardashian West, via Snapchat. In the clips, West can be heard telling Swift he wants to use the "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex" lyric, but doesn't mention the "I made that b***h famous" line.
"I'm glad it's not mean though," Swift can be heard in the the clips, responding to West. "It doesn’t feel mean, but like, oh my god, the build-up you gave it. I thought it was gonna be like that stupid dumb b***h, like, but it’s not."
At the time, Swift addressed the new video clips via Instagram Stories.
"Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that was leaked, proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about *that call* (you know, the one that was illegally recorded, that somebody edited and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family, and fans through hell for 4 years)... SWIPE UP to see what really matters," Swift shared, with a link to a donation page for Feeding America.
Kardashian West fired back, tweeting, "@taylorswift13 has chosen to reignite an old exchange - that at this point in time feels very self-serving given the suffering millions of real victims are facing right now. I didn’t feel the need to comment a few days ago, and I’m actually really embarrassed and mortified to be doing it right now, but because she continues to speak on it, I feel I’m left without a choice but to respond because she is actually lying."
"To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that 'Kanye never called to ask for permission…' They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word 'b***h' was used without her permission," she continued. "At the time when they spoke the song had not been fully written yet, but as everyone can see in the video, she manipulated the truth of their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she 'declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. The lie was never about the word b***h, It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation."
Swift's publicist, Tree Paine, then weighed in via Twitter. "I'm Taylor’s publicist and this is my UNEDITED original statement. Btw, when you take parts out, that’s editing," Paine argued, along with the statement she first shared when the drama between Swift and West unfolded in 2016. "P.S. who did you guys piss off to leak that video?"
Paine said in her statement, "Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single "Famous" on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message."
"Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, 'I made that b***h famous,'" she added.
Hear more in the video below.
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