Since the release of Jay-Z's 13th studio album, 4:44, the hip-hop community, fans, and others alike have been dissecting the rap mogul's hefty lyrics about financial freedom, infidelity, and more.

One lyric in particular, however, on "Kill Jay Z," hit close to home for fellow industrymate Eric Benét. But in spite of the subtle shade and the social media frenzy which followed, the singer is surprisingly still a fan of Jay's latest effort. 

On the buzzworthy track, Hov references the singer's highly publicized divorce from Halle Berry as he raps the lines: “You almost went Eric Benét/ Let the baddest girl in the world get away/ I don’t even know what else to say/ N*gga, never go Eric Benét." While Eric swiftly responded to the lyrical jab by taking to Twitter, it appears that he in fact doesn’t take any issue with the cheeky one-liner. 

Speaking with TMZ, the "Sunshine" singer poked fun at rumors that he allegedly traveled to Hovi’s home to confront him about the lyrics, while also giving props to the rapper for his personal growth. “Yeah, didn’t you hear? I went to his house in Malibu, and banged on his door or something crazy about that?” Eric jokingly asks the reporter, who responds with a “no.” The singer then revealed that he was in Cuba at the time those rumors began spreading.

“So I’m like — I’m in Cuba, chilling, when this whole thing goes down and my manager — we’re having dinner — and she shows me this little blog and, apparently, while I was in Cuba I was at Jay-Z’s house, like, banging on his door, like, saying, ‘Don’t talk about [her].”

Eric eventually goes on to praise Jay’s honesty and growth as a human being. “I think it was dope how he, you know, like, lyrically, he really — you could hear the maturation and growth as a man, you know, and admitting when he was wrong, and that’s always a good thing,” he explained. 

Watch the rest of Eric Benet's thoughts on Jay-Z's magnum opus below.