Jay Z does not communicate on social media very often. In fact he’s only used Twitter three times this entire year so fa—the "Glory" Oscar win, official announcement of Tidal, and Roc Nation’s signing of Vic Mensa. He never says more than a few words, and it is always one tweet only.

However, battling incessant media reports that Tidal’s struggle is real with app sales and public perception in a complete nosedive plus artists such as Mumford & Sons now joining the rising chorus of backlash—the mogul broke a long silence, and picked up the mic.

In a series of nearly two dozen tweets posted Sunday morning, preceded by the assertion this was a “stream of consciousness,” Jay defended every aspect of Tidal. From the company's long-term view on success and the time it takes to build, to royalty rates for independent artists and the overall content offering they will ulimately have.

Jay also accused his competitors (using the cleverly vague term of “big companies” which applies to both tech and media outlets) of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against the fledgling service, with one tweet even ranking equity numbers of behemoths like YouTube, Spotify and Apple in comparison.

This move comes on the heels of a Page Six report about sabotage by "rival" Apple in the iTunes store, alleging that it that has slowed down the availability of the Tidal app in the download store.

The Post story also says that Sony Music won't grant Tidal a license, further claiming that Doug Morris is asking for a $35m advance and $20 million in one year. A rep for Sony Music declined to comment. More on that story here.

With the Apple/Beats Music launch now less than six weeks away, this all gets more intruiging by the minute.