Jay Z Made Taylor Swift and Kanye West Become Friends

Taylor Swift has gone from calling Kanye West "Mean" to being buddies with the big-name rapper and producer. And six years after their big VMAs controversy, the world has Jay Z to thank for this new friendship.

In the September issue of Vanity Fair, which the "Bad Blood" singer covers as a "style icon," Swift opened up about finally forgiving and becoming friends with West. At the end of the day, it all boiled down to a mutual respect.

"I feel like I wasn't ready to be friends with [West] until I felt like he had some sort of respect for me, and he wasn't ready to be friends with me until he had some sort of respect for me-so it was the same issue, and we both reached the same place at the same time," Swift said. "I became friends with Jay Z, and I think it was important, for Jay Z, for Kanye and I to get along. And then Kanye and I both reached a place where he would say really nice things about my music and what I've accomplished, and I could ask him how his kid's doing."

(Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall for those conversations?)

Swift wasn't just on hand to mug for the camera and speak about kicking it with Jay Z and West - she also spoke about her major open letter to Apple Music about artist compensation, admitting that she was surprised that the media conglomerate listened (as opposed to Spotify, which shook her off).

Initially, Swift wasn't going to post her open letter but decided to publish it after speaking on the phone with her mother. And, when Apple responded almost immediately by offering its artists money during the first three-month trial period of streaming.

"Apple treated me like I was a voice of a creative community that they actually cared about," Swift said, after noting that she wrote the open letter at 4 a.m. in a creative tizzy. "And I found it really ironic that the multi-billion-dollar company reacted to criticism with humility, and the start-up with no cash flow reacted to criticism like a corporate machine."

For more on Swift's love life, friendships and style icon status, read the whole Vanity Fair profile.

Tags

Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Kanye West