Jay-z
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It feels like it’s been forever and a day since we’ve gotten new material from D’Angelo. So it only makes sense that the man makes up for lost time with a new track that not only features the G.O.A.T himself, Jay-Z, but also has a running time of 9 minutes.
Collaborating with Hova on “I Want You Forever” off of the soundtrack for The Book of Clarence, D’Angelo goes into baby making mode and hits all the notes you’d want to hear with the lights dim and the candles lit. Even Jay-Z gets into the rhythm as he drops his bars with a slow style you’d expect to hear from a man looking to sweet talk his way into a woman’s heart saying “Life don’t the taste the same without you / tears in my champagne without you / Quit playin’ girl, you know I’m crazy about you / You know that week you ran back to ya mama house, ask my friends they can vouch / Slept on the couch cause the bed ain’t a bed without you…”
Jay out here reminding Beyoncé he’s all about their love. Heck, if we were married to her we’d be dropping 9-minute love songs for her too.
Check out the track in its entirety below and let us know if you rocking with this and whether you’ll be catching The Book of Clarence this weekend in the comments section below.
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Just when it seemed like Jay-Z’s days of winning awards in the entertainment industry were well behind him, the man goes and earns another spoil to add to his illustrious trophy case.
On Sunday night (Jan. 7), during the 2023 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Jay-Z took home the awared for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special for co-directing the Super Bowl Halftime Show which starred Rihanna and was so lit that it had senior citizens recreating her performance. Yeah, that really happened.
Co-directing the show with Hamish Hamilton, Hova beat out the likes of Joel Gallen (Chris Rock: Selective Outrage), Linda Mendoza (Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer), Paul Miller (Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love), and Glenn Weiss (The Oscars).
Though this might be Jay-Z’s first award for the work he did, Hamilton has been directing the Super Bowl Halftime Show since 2010 and has also put in work for the Academy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and even the Special Olympics. Glad to see him take home some gold for all his good work.
If you forgot just how dope Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime performance was, check it out below and let us know your thoughts on Jay-Z and Hamish Hamilton taking home the gold in the comments section.
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Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty / JAY-Z
December 4 is already an unofficial holiday among Hip-Hop heads and fans of Sean Corey Carter, better known as JAY-Z. If a handful of NYC City council members get their wish, JAY-Z Day will become an official New York City holiday.
You read that right. Jigga Day could become a real thing if a proposal pushing for Dec.4, JAY-Z’s day of birth, to become a NYC holiday, claiming the rapper’s impeccable rap skills and his business acumen as the main reasons he is deserving of such an honor.
The description for the proposed bill under the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations reads, “A resolution designating December 4 annually as Jay-Z Day in the City of New York and celebrating his legendary status as a masterful MC and lyricist and as an innovative entrepreneur.”
Who Exactly Is Backing The Bill?
Democrat Council Member Farah N. Louis, a Brooklyn native, late podcast pioneer and Hip-Hop attorney Combat Jack’s son, Council Member Chi Ossé, a Crown Heights native, plus Kevin C. Riley, Crystal Hudson, and Jennifer Gutiérrez all back the bill.
“In the spirit of celebrating hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, establishing an annual celebration to recognize a homegrown hero while proclaiming our municipal support is fitting to designate,” Louis said during a meeting for the proposal. “Our resolution is an emotional, practical banner raised. Jay-Z has shown the resilience to beat the odds, self-admitted errors, and has developed mechanisms to create opportunities for others. As always, he has done this work wearing Brooklyn and NYC on his heart.”
If approved, this proposal would follow The Book of Hov, an exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library located at Grand Army Plaza, allowing visitors to reflect and celebrate the Brooklyn-born MC’s three-decade-long career.
JAY-Z Day sounds good to us.
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Photo: Kevin Mazur / Getty
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TIDAL treated their subscribers to an early Christmas gift when they had one of the platform’s founders, Jay-Z, share his year end music playlist, but instead of just listing the titles of his favorite tracks of 2023, the streaming platform played each song one-by-one.
Dubbed the “Couple Songs of ’23,” the list that Jay-Z’s been rocking out to for the past 12 months includes songs from his fellow music superstars such as Beyoncé (of course), Nas, Drake, and Nicki Minaj. And even though Jay will obviously listen to cuts crafted by artists he grew in the game with and even welcomed into the business, the man isn’t relegated to just people he’s personally known for years and has included some artists people would be surprised to learn broke into his rotation such as Mozzy, Southside and Lil Yachty, and Veeze.
Who would’ve thought? Jay really keeping up with this next generation of Hip-Hop artists.
Whether or not Jay-Z showcasing these artists on his personal playlist of 2023 helps further their popularity or streams remains to be seen (it probably will), but we’re sure they’re happy to be a part of one of the game’s G.O.A.T.’s music rotation for the year. Not many people can say that but these artists now can.
Check out the full list below and let us know your thoughts on Jay-Z’s playlist for 2023 in the comments section below. Take a listen to the playlist right here.
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Source: CHRISTIE’S / Christie’s
While Jay-Z hasn’t announced a new project his fans think one is on the way. They think a new auction item from The Book Of Hov exhibit is possibly alluding to a new album is coming soon.
Source: CHRISTIE’S / Christie’s
As spotted on TMZ, the popular exhibit chronicling the Rap legend’s career might be hinting at new music. People Magazine is reporting that Roc Nation has partnered with Christie’s as a way to raise funds for The Brooklyn Library. Going under the hammer will be a one of one case signed by JAY-Z. Inside are 14 library cards, 13 of which represent each of his albums and an accompanying bookmark. Next to the card that represents 4:44 (his last album released in 2017) is a blue card with no artwork.
While the British auction house describes this insert as a “14th blue library card commemorating The Book of HOV exhibition” the Hip-Hop community thinks this is a sly nod to a possible forthcoming project from JAY-Z. But when the Gayle King asked the “Dead Presidents” MC about it he made it clear it has to be purposeful. “I don’t want to just make a bunch of tunes” he explained. “That’s not going to serve me. It won’t feed me, first of all. I have to be saying something important. It has to mean something, you know? It has to mean something to a larger society.”
The auction is currently being hosted at Christies.com until Tuesday, December 5. You can bid here. is
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Gayle King got some one on one time with Jay-Z but so far only short clips have been released. The hour long interview she conducted with the Hip-Hop mogul is set to air next week.
Variety is reporting that the award-winning journalist’s sit down with the Rap legend has received an official date . The special will air on Tuesday, November 14 at 9:00PM – 10:00PM ET/PT. Titled “JAY-Z And Gayle King: Brooklyn’s Own” the interview finds the duo touring the “Book Of HOV” exhibit at the Brooklyn Library. Their discussion touched on a several topics regarding his storied career, family and more.
At one point the “99 Problems” rapper touched on what is motivating him these days . “I think what matters most is, today, is, being a beacon and helping out … my culture,” he explained. “People of color. I think I pull the most satisfaction from that. Like making music earlier was, like – my first love. I could sit there for hours. It consumed me. Just finding words and figuring out words and how to say this and different ways to say that and different pockets and melodies and how to write this song… That consumed me.” He added “that’s why my pace was so fast. I had so much material. And I think now, you know, the idea of, of taking that platform and, you know, reproducing it for others or doing something like Reform. I think I derive the most joy from that.”
The “JAY-Z And Gayle King: Brooklyn’s Own” special will air on CBS Television Network and also stream on Paramount+.
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Landing an interview with Jay-Z is no easy feat, but when your name is Gayle King it can be a bit easier to do so as her name holds the kind of weight that Jay-Z used to a move a lifetime ago.
Getting the exclusive with arguably the greatest rapper of all time, Gayle King and Jay-Z linked up at the Brooklyn Public Library where they toured his lifework and got into different aspects of his accomplishments and what they mean to him today.
From explaining where the diamond hand sign that became synonymous with Roc-A-Fella Records to revealing why he and Beyoncé named their daughter Blue Ivy, Jay-Z opens up about various topics and shows us how a lot of his life’s work is much deeper than rap.
Take a look at the full interview below and check out the eight things we learned from Jay-Z on CBS Mornings.
The hands displayed at The Book of Hov exhibit are actually Jay-Z’s hands
Jay-Z did the impression for the eventual mold. Interestingly enough, he didn’t know what he was doing it for. He says the team simply asked him to do it, so he did without questioning it. As for why he and his Roc-A-Fella team began throwing up the diamond sign, Jay-Z says it came from their belief that their R&B group Christión would sell 10 million records and go diamond. So they would throw up the diamond sign in support of Christión. They did not go diamond or even platinum, but that diamond sign itself definitely blew up.
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Jay-Z settled the raging hypothetical debate that has dominated the web, advising folks to take $500,000 instead of having dinner with him.
The Hip-Hop icon recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Gayle King for CBS Mornings to air later in the week. During the conversation, King brought up the debate that has become a viral fixture on social media platforms. “If you had a choice between being paid $500,000 in cash or lunch with Jay-Z, which would you choose?”, she asked. “You gotta take the money,” Jay-Z answered.
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King countered by saying that perhaps dining with the mogul would provide someone with wisdom more valuable than the money. “I mean, what am I gonna say? Everything that I’m gonna say — you got all that in the music, what, for $10.99? That’s a bad deal. I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal,” Jay-Z responded with laughter. “Take the $500,000, buy some albums, listen to the albums, it’s all there. If you piece it together, if you listen to the words it’s all there.”
“Everything that I said was going to happen happened,” he continued, referencing one of his key hit albums in relation to his career. “Everything that I said I wanted to do, I’ve done. And there’s ‘The Blueprint’ — the blueprint, literally — to me and my life and my journey is there already.” The immediate response after the clip aired showed some relief that the viral hypothetical debate was over. It was also noted that Jay-Z had already answered the question – via the TIDAL account on X, formerly Twitter back in 2021. “Take the money,”, the post said.
The interview – which will be aired in two parts on Thursday and Friday (October 26 and 27) – was conducted as King and Jay-Z toured The Book of HOV exhibit which is currently on display at the Brooklyn Public Library. The massive exhibit, featuring a recreation of the studio where Jay-Z’s first album Reasonable Doubt was made, made its debut in the summer and has been extended twice due to popular demand.
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As one of Hip-Hop’s greatest talents, Jay-Z hasn’t always batted 100% when it comes to his videos. He admits it is hard for him to watch some of his older visuals.
HipHopDX is reporting that the Brooklyn, New York, native recently spoke to Complex about Hype Williams’ indelible contribution to the culture as a legendary music director. The music site spoke to many of Hype’s most noted collaborators including Missy Elliot, DJ Khaled and Jay-Z. Hov detailed some of his memorable shoots with the film producer. While recalling all their great work the “Dead Presidents” rapper went on to admit that he wasn’t the easiest rapper to work with when it came to bringing his songs to life.
“Hype definitely has a vision for what he wants to see. So he’d be like, ‘Yo, blow the smoke right here and this is gonna be crazy, it’s going to be bananas!’ he explained. “But I don’t know if I was coachable as far as a performance at that time. I don’t know if anyone could coach me, you know, because I was so guarded. I think about the early videos that I have and I listen to myself talking and it’s kind of hard for me to watch. That’s not even how I speak.”
Jay-Z also discussed “Sunshine,” a video that his core fanbase at the time deemed a crossover attempt to grab some of Bad Boy Entertainment’s light. He said the original idea for the shoot was even more grand than the final product. “And then he said the number, and I think it was, like, $1.8 million or something. And I was like, ‘Hype, come on, bro.’ Like I got mad at him. Like are you trying to play me? You think I’m dumb?” he recalled.
“So to fit the budget we stripped the idea down. And I learned a valuable lesson from that. Either I’m going to trust Hype’s vision or I’m going to go with another idea,” he added. “I remember receiving criticism from that video, but I think because of Reasonable Doubt, everyone had this different sort of expectation for me. I’m not going to say it was great. It’s a good song and I just think people didn’t want that from me at the time.”
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You can read the rest of Jay-Z’s interview where he denied he was originally supposed to have DMX’s role in Belly and more here.
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Dame Dash is in a great space years after severing ways with Jay-Z. The Roc-a-fella founder says is more than open to speaking to him to resolve their issues.
XXL Magazine is reporting that the Harlem, New York native recently discussed his former partner in great detail. During the newest episode of The CEO Show he and acclaimed Hip-Hop journalist Datwon Thomas talked the fall of Roc-A-Fella Records in relation to him and Hov. “When I look at what happened between me and Jay it’s like I blame Jay for letting it happen but all the people that really made it happen are the ones that are…benefiting from him the most now,” he explained. “I was stopping them from getting money. My friendship comes before the business. Either way unless he [Jay-Z] was down with it then it wouldn’t [have] happened.”
The former cake-a-holic went on to make it clear that he is willing to have a sit down with Jay-Z to discuss what went wrong. “Where I’m at now is that if Roc-A-Fella and the ones that weren’t billionaires want to get money on the right terms I’m down,” he said. “I’m telling you publicly I will [have the conversation]. And I’ve never not said that. But Jay’s never had that accountability to have that real conversation with me.” Dame Dash went on to add “I always said as a man that we could always talk it up. Men should always be able to talk things up, but I’m really happy with my life right now.”
While he is hopeful that the two can move on from the past don’t expect him to be doing his signature dance at any Jay-Z concert. “I know the world would love to see it and I’m down for it. If we could create something that inspires me, period. I don’t want to be f**king running on the stage dancing around I’m too chubby for that right now” he said.
You can watch the interview below.
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