Jay Z 'yearns for old days with Kanye West'

Jay Z "misses" the old Kanye West, his Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder has revealed after the outspoken rapper took aim at his former mentor in an onstage rant.

Kanye hit headlines last week (19Oct16) after verbally attacking Jay during his concert in Seattle, Washington, when he criticised his old pal for merely calling to check in on West and his wife Kim Kardashian after the reality star was bound, gagged, and robbed of jewellery and cell phones in Paris, France.

Reports suggested the rant was the last straw for Jay, who reportedly "can't stand" his "crazy" and "eccentric" former producer, a source told the New York Post's gossip column Page Six.

Now Jay's old business partner Kareem 'Biggs' Burke has opened up about the alleged feud, admitting he was "shocked" when he heard Kanye's rant, which he discussed with Jay shortly afterwards.

"There was never anything rumbling," he told Page Six of Kanye's outburst. "When you hear these things in public, it's a little shocking.

"The last I saw (Kanye) he spoke really highly of Jay. I'm not sure about the relationship at this point. I spoke to Jay (after Kanye's rant) and we're both just like, 'We miss the old Kanye.'"

However, Burke believes the Power hitmaker is just working through some issues, adding, "From what I know of Kanye, he's usually really honest. So it sounds like something he's going through right now. He may (say) something like that, and then three weeks later he may be back to, 'That's my brother.' But at this point, with everybody's career, we're a little too old for rap beef."

Jay Z has yet to directly comment on Kanye's remarks.

Kanye got his start as a producer for Jay's Roc-A-Fella Records before embarking on his own rap career, but relations between himself and his frequent collaborator have been particularly strained in recent years after the New York rap icon and his wife Beyonce decided against attending Kanye's European wedding to Kim in 2014.

In fan video footage of the Seattle concert rant, an emotional Kanye told the crowd: "Don't call me after the robbery and say, 'How you feelin'?' You wanna know how I'm feelin'? Come by the house. Bring the kids by the house like we're brothers. Let's sit down."

"I can't take this (stuff) bro (sic). Our kids have never even played together."