<p id=”par-1_59″>In 2004, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/jay-z/?swcfpc=1″>Jay-Z </a>and R. Kelly began touring together. The artists had released two <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/music/”>albums</a> and decided to travel across the United States together. As it turned out, this was not a good idea. They clashed frequently, and Kelly’s involvement in the tour ended abruptly after a show at Madison Square Garden. The show was reportedly a complete disaster.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jay-z-and-r-kelly-s-last-show-together-was-chaotic”>Jay-Z and R. Kelly’s last show together was chaotic</h2>
<p id=”par-2_14″>On their 2004 tour, Kelly became increasingly convinced that Jay-Z wanted to sabotage him.</p>
<p id=”par-3_69″>“We began hearing reports that there were problems on the show, that the lighting guys were not up to the mark, and they were screwing up (Kelly’s) conception, and that it wasn’t just an unfortunate situation, it was a deliberate situation,” Kelly’s former crisis manager Allan Mayer said, per the <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.chicagotribune.com/2014/01/02/jay-z-and-r-kelly-chronicles-of-a-feud/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Chicago Tribune</a>. “That these were Jay Z’s people, and for some reason Jay Z was trying to sabotage Rob.”</p>
<p id=”par-4_26″>He was frequently late and, during a show in St. Louis, Kelly left to commandeer the drive-thru at a McDonald’s. Everything fell apart in New York.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Jay-Z-R.-Kelly.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”R. Kelly wears a bowler hat and sunglasses and stands with Jay-Z who wears a sweatband and a Brooklyn jacket.” class=”wp-image-3753066″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>R. Kelly and Jay-Z | Theo Wargo/WireImage</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-5_86″>“Rob (goes onstage at the Garden) and he feels like it’s a very hostile environment … Ten minutes into the show, he stops the show and he’s very upset and he’s insisting, I saw a guy pull a gun from under his coat and point it at me,” Mayer said, adding, “We go back to his dressing room and he’s very upset. The question of did Rob really see the gun or not I don’t suppose will ever be answered, but he insists he saw one.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_28″>People tried to calm Kelly down while a <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jay-zs-friend-seen-fall-hard-beyonce.html/”>friend of Jay-Z’s</a> yelled at him. After 20 minutes, Kelly agreed to get onstage. He didn’t make it far, though.</p>
<p id=”par-7_69″>“I was right behind Rob as he mounts the metal steps to go up onto the backstage area, and all of a sudden there’s a commotion and he falls back on top of me, and he’s yelling about his eyes, that he’s been sprayed,” Mayer said. “The same young guy who had been running up and down the corridor had (pepper) sprayed him. It was pandemonium at that point.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-pair-reportedly-didn-t-get-along-well-in-the-studio-either”>The pair reportedly didn’t get along well in the studio, either</h2>
<p id=”par-8_18″>Kelly and Jay-Z didn’t click even before the short-lived tour. They never quite connected while <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/damon-dash-reveals-how-r-kelly-is-part-of-the-reason-his-business-relationship-with-jay-z-ended-on-surviving-r-kelly.html/”>recording their albums</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-9_67″>“There was tension. R. Kelly wasn’t around. They weren’t together. … They both seemed a little weird,” producer Alexander “Spanador” Mosley said. “Quiet, like you don’t know what they’re thinking. Jay Z back then seemed quiet and reserved. R. Kelly, he was in and out of the studio. It was definitely an extreme kind of experience. You could tell the disconnection that they had with each other.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_11″>Mosley said the albums didn’t seem worth it in the end.</p>
<p id=”par-11_46″>“They weren’t going to be bosom buddies, it was obvious,” Mosley said. “I thought (the project) was gonna do well, but it crashed, you know what I mean? … It was a mess. It took it a couple of years to get paid, it was ridiculous.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jay-z-once-said-his-tour-with-r-kelly-was-sad”>Jay-Z once said his tour with R. Kelly was sad</h2>
<p id=”par-12_11″>Several years after the aborted tour, Jay-Z <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jay-z-said-short-lived-tour-r-kelly-sad-see.html/”>spoke about the experience</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-13_15″>“Didn’t go well?” he told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-z-king-of-america-173501/3/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Rolling Stone</a> in 2010. “That’s the understatement of the year.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/R.-Kelly-Jay-Z.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Jay-Z and R. Kelly stand on a stage wearing white outfits and sunglasses. Jay-Z holds a microphone to his mouth.” class=”wp-image-3753067″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Jay-Z and R. Kelly | KMazur/WireImage</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-14_15″>He claimed he wanted to help Kelly, but his tour mate wasn’t open to it.</p>
<p id=”par-15_25″>“I wanted to help him, and I’d tell him things that were maybe not my place to say,” he said. “It was sad to see.”</p>