Jay-Z: “I Don’t Dislike Anything About Myself”
Posted by Media Outrage on November 5, 2009
Jay-Z spoke to Gotham Magazine about his music career and core values. Peep game…
When Jay-Z enters the 50th birthday celebration of music magnate Lyor Cohen, his friend and mentor, he’s wearing black from head to toe and his signature Tom Ford sunglasses. His demonstrative wife, Beyonce Knowles, is with him. There’s no need for him to check out the scene because the entire scene descends upon him, and it’s clear it’s something he’s used to.
“I don’t dislike anything about myself,” he says. “I know this sounds a little arrogant but I really accept what God has given me. I’ve got a short temper but I work on controlling it. I can say inappropriate things because I believe them to be true and sometimes that can be hurtful to others. But I think in the long run it is more helpful.”
In the midst of one of the most successful hip-hop careers in history, Jay-Z, who turns 40 next month, has a lot to be thankful for. He was born Shawn Carter in 1969 and grew up in the Marcy Houses project of Brooklyn as “Jazzy.” He was abandoned by his father at 11, shot his older brother for stealing at 12 and sold crack at 13. It wasn’t until he released his first album, Reasonable Doubt, in 1996 on his label Roc-a-Fella Records that the then 26-year old left drug dealing, gangs and poverty behind. “[Making music] is a gift from God,” he says. “I put it to the side for so long because it was so easy. It took me a while to really know it was my true calling. I wanted to tell my story.”
Jay-Z remains creative director of Rocawear and majority owner of Roc Apparel, Rocawear’s men’s licensee. He’s a part owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets (the team is rumored to be moving to his home borough of Brooklyn). And when not dining at his favorite neighborhood boite, Nobu (“three or four times a week”), he’s at gastropub The Spotted Pig in the West Village or the sports bar 40/40 Club (he owns stakes in both).
But it all seems to come back to the music. When he came out of “retirement” in 2006, “It went down pretty well,” he notes modestly. In the years since, he’s released the album Kingdom Come, signed a $150 million partnership with Live Nation, created the sound track to Ridley Scott’s 2007 film American Gangster and completed the third Blueprint. His Roc Nation entertainment company recently launched another music label, StarRoc, with Norwegian-based StarGate. And he’s got a greatest-hits album coming out soon. It’s all due to an incredible drive that he attributes to his mother. “She always told me that the amount of work you put into it is what you get out of it,” he says.
Friends, family and privacy matter most at this point in Jay-Z’s life. He’s a mentor to artists like Rihanna and Kanye West. The most important thing on the horizon seems to be a plan to have children with Knowles, whom he wed on the roof of their Tribeca building last year. He keeps his perspective by remaining close with his family, all of whom work with him in some capacity. (His mother runs a scholarship program he developed.) He even made good with his estranged father before his death.
“Making music is art,” he continues. “It doesn’t change who you are as a person. It doesn’t mean you’re entitled or you’re above the law. You still treat people as human beings. It doesn’t change the laws of the universe. Life has a balance and for every action there is a reaction. So if you put negative energy in, negative energy comes back to you. You have to live your life within the laws of the universe and I haven’t lost sight of that.
“You have to be close with your foundation and the people who know you best because they’ve known you for so long that they can see the changes in you,’ he continues. “Fame is such a deadly drug that you can’t see the changes because you are so consumed by it. You need a close-knit group of friends and family to make sure you stay grounded.”
When asked what else he’d like to accomplish, he replies, “Go to the moon.”
Mediaoutrage- Interesting…
ucanb2 said
OKAY
Yeah I Said It said
Everybody dislike something about themselves. For me it’s my second toe being longer than my first and the small size of my breast. For you J I know it’s has to be slop out crooked face with that big nose and wide moccasin mouth thats holding your face up. Throw in that crane neck and the way your ears drop down like mules and there you have it. Stop turning the mirror toward the wall when you past.
Dickwell Thrust said
I have some things I dislike about myself…The fact that I cant wear the right size boxers because the my penis may rip the fucking elastic…
…..or cause a woman to feel like she is having a Hysterectomy when I put just the head in….
It’s so embarrassing sometimes that I cry at night….
Media Outrage said
Lmao @ DT
K-SMOOTH (LBC) said
Pride is the prelude to the fall. This nigga is a joke!
Ms_Behave said
Jay Z i hope someone told u this –> “Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful” -John Wooden
Atlantaaaaa said
You said that K-smooth. I might post that as my status on fb one day.
that dude said
Jay and Wayne sounds like the kind of guys that are so conceited and full of themselves, that they honestly believe that they can do no wrong.
Like they can rap on the most wackest beat and say the most corniest lines you ever heard of. But because its jay z or lil wayne saying it, the public is still going to buy it and its still going to be considered hot.
Unkle Death said
@ That Dude-you have just said what I’ve been saying sine 2005. This right here is the reason that I have not performed live in 3 years. I’ve been working without a pause to make Hip Hop with a MESSAGE. And next Friday, the first copy of my 5-Disc project will be sold!
Kanyade said
Jay Z i hope someone told u this –> “Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful” -John Wooden
THIS.