Jay-Z interview (GOOD READ!)

[Frenetic]

Ay yo.... sit back... chill.. this is a long interview, but one of the best i've read in a loooong time. It's from rolling stone magazine with jay-z. It's not the usual standard interview... this goes deep. Everyone with some interest in hiphop will liike it. He talks about his father, about hiphop, how he started, his style of rhyming, his nephew, beyonce, nas, the battle, the time at def jam, LL and much more.

u can read the full interview here: Interview

I recommend u reading the full interview.

Here's some loose pieces from it:

A new song from Young Jeezy—the 25-year-old Atlanta rapper—has been leaked to radio and Jeezy’s A&R man is afraid this will screw up their plans for Jeezy’s next single. Jeezy is one of Jay’s first big successes as a record executive. His album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation, entered the charts in August at Number Two and has moved over a million units making Jeezy the hottest new rapper of the year. Still, Jay fails to see the song leak as an emergency. He’s always been panic-averse. His persona, in life and on record, is cool and in control—the same even, authoritative tone whether the subject is sex, survival, wealth or vengeance. “His thing is just make it simple,” says Beehigh, Jay’s cousin who grew up with him in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn. “People make obstacles for theyselves when sh!t ain’t really no obstacle. He’ll just show you the simpler way to do it.”

In the 80s, when crack was dominating America’s inner cities, he was a teenage street entrepreneur selling crack and other drugs. In his 20s he escaped the street and became a rapper but when no label wanted to sign him he founded Rocafella Records. As hiphop moved into the Get Big Money era and rappers maximized their earning potential by diversifying into clothes, movies, and bottled water, Jay-Z became one of hiphop’s most successful entrepreneurs. According to a close business associate, Jay’s top revenue stream has been his music enterprises, second has been Rocawear, which has grossed over $500 million since it was founded in 1999, and third an endorsement deal with Reebok (but if Jay liquidated his share of Rocawear that would surpass his music earnings). On December 4th Jay turns 36 and there’s no midlife crisis anywhere in sight: he’s worth more than $320 million and he’s the President of the most important label in the history of hiphop, Def Jam. Founded in 1984 by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, the label has been home to several generations of major rappers: L.L. Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy in the 80s; Jay, Method Man, Redman, and DMX in the 90s; and, more recently, Kanye and Jeezy. But no matter what Def Jam was in the past, many people think Jay being at Def Jam is more important for Def Jam than for Jay. “Def Jam is the number one hiphop label in the world,” said L.A. Reid, the Chairman of the Island Def Jam Music Group. “Having Jay says that the legacy continues. If you’re a 16 year-old rapper in Brooklyn or Atlanta or Houston, and you know that Jay-Z carries on the legacy of hiphop, then Def Jam becomes your preferred destination. Without Jay-Z you start to wonder if it’s become what Motown has become. The past, lost its vision, lost its value. Jay is the foundation that Def Jam continues into the future.”

Jay’s deal with Universal reportedly pays him between $8 and $10 million a year. He’s also the President and part owner of Rocafella Records, the proud owner of a small piece of the soon to be Brooklyn Nets (“I was happy to cut that check!” he says), and, owner of two multimillion dollar Manhattan apartments, one of them a 10,000-square-foot loft in Tribeca worth $7.5 million, and the other a penthouse at the Time Warner Center by Central Park worth more than $10 million, from which he can see a penthouse owned by his girlfriend, Beyonce. He is also, sometimes, an MC. “My life is crazy,” he says, in awe of his own journey. “I’m not jaded. I’m on the board of the Nets. I’m the only black guy and I’m the youngest one there. I’m a fcukin President-CEO of Def Jam. That sh!t still sounds crazy to me even to this day. What the fcuk does that mean?” Then he gets all philosophical. “And I’m outside of it, too, baby. I’m outside of it, like, hot damn. That’s some crazy sh!t. And it’s not stopping. It’s gonna get even crazier.”

His office has great views, a large chocolate brown couch, a huge-screen TV bookended by gigantic speakers, and, next to his desk, a large monitor for his emails. There’s peach roses, white calalilies, and a purple orchid scattered around. On the wall there’s a picture of Jay sharing a laugh with Prince Charles at a swanky event in London and behind his desk a picture of Jay with a smiling Mariah Carey, an Island Def Jam artist. On the table there’s a two foot-tall three-dimensional model of architect Frank Gehry’s plan for downtown Brooklyn where the Nets will move to in 2008, with little trees and shrubs planted around the wooden buildings and acrylic skyscrapers shaped in the forms that Gehry will create. (Gehry also sent Jay a stack of James Joyce novels after explaining to Jay that Joyce was the first rapper. Gehry explained by email, “When I listen to the tapes of his voice doing Finnegan's Wake it sounds like rap. He's very fast with the Irish accent, it's all slurred together and it's quite interesting. When I heard it I thought he was a rapper and I sent them to Jay Z because I thought he might like it.” Jay says he only reads non-fiction.) In the corner, on the floor, there’s a street sign that says, Marcy Ave., a remnant from his days growing up in the Marcy Projects. And on his desk, in the center, is the Best Rap Song Grammy he won for “99 Problems,” the 2003 single produced by Rick Rubin from the album that announced his retirement, The Black Album. The Grammy arrived a few days ago and he decided to let it sit on his desk for a moment before bringing it home. In 1999 Jay told the Associated Press, “I am boycotting the Grammy Awards because too many major rap artists continue to be overlooked.” Not anymore. “I didn’t care about Grammys until we won one,” he says. This is his fourth Grammy. Beyonce has eight. He says she teases him about having so few.

Most of the day the door to Jay’s office stays open and people flow in and out as if his were the cool room in the dorm. They come in and plop down on the couch, maybe toss a football around, maybe talk to him, maybe not. Jay sits behind his desk answering emails, looking at radio airplay charts and album sales charts, listening to songs fresh from the studio brought in by his A&R men (Jay says he edits records but tends not to rewrite songs because with 70 artists to watch over he doesn’t have time), approving art for his artist’s ads, meeting with lawyers and managers, and talking to his artists. “Ludacris calls me every so often,” he says. “I just wanna pick your brain, man, what do you think is my next step? Redman just called the other day and said he wants me to pick the single.” Jay was nervous the first time he sat down with L.L. Cool J. L.L.’s 1985 single “I Need A Beat” was Def Jam’s first release and he’s been on the label ever since, a major part of the Def Jam brand. ”I was a little worried about the meeting,” he said. “I didn’t know how he was gonna take it because he’s the pillar. But he was real cool about it. He was so cool it was shocking. He was like, whatever you want to do, man. He was accepting.”

What has Jay told the Roots? Well, he hasn’t said the group must sell truckloads of records. “What’s scarin the sh!t out of me is that his priority with the Game Theory [the Roots’ next album] is us turning in a critically-acclaimed album. When I talk about singles he frowns on that. He says, get that thought out of your head. I’ve never before been presented with a situation where the President is saying I absolutely don’t want you turning in anything you think will fit on Hot 97’s format. He knows, and the one thing that Jimmy [iovine] didn’t know, is that there’s no fooling your audience.”

“Managing people is really difficult,” Jay says. “Everyone has their own personality and their own idea of how everything should go. Then you got friends that’s fuedin with each other and you have to be the peacemaker. And the more people you have the tougher it is. But I don’t have a goal to be liked. I want people to relax and just focus on what’s important, the artist. It’s fcukin music. We get paid to listen to music for a fcukin living. C’mon now. Everybody chill out, relax.”

Jay strolls around the corner to check out Kanye’s then-unreleased video for “Gold Digger,” on someone’s laptop. He’s impressed by Kanye’s performance in the video, but toward the end there’s a shot of an angry woman holding a dagger. That’s a problem. When Jay talks to the video department about it they know MTV won’t play a video that prominently features a knife, but they’ve had no luck convincing Kanye to edit out the knife because, he argues, Shakira has a knife in her video for “La Tortura,” so why can’t he. But her knife is in a kitchen scene while she’s cutting onions. The shot must be changed and delivered to MTV by 8am Monday or they’ll miss the chance to get onto MTV’s rotation for a whole week. So Jay has to figure out the proper way to get one of his most stubborn and most successful artists to acquiesce. (Kanye later agreed to obscure the knife with sparks of light.) The video promotions woman, who worked with Jay when he was an artist, laughs at his predicament. “You used to do this to me,” she sneers, enjoying the turnabout. “And I used to say I can’t wait till you’re on the other side.”

He’s been building the brand called Jay-Z since the beginning of his hiphop career. Jay stepped into the hiphop limelight in 1996 with the perfect backstory: he grew up in Brooklyn, a drug dealer who was never jailed, but was able to walk into the hiphop game with big money. There was no need to exaggerate. But more than that, he came into the game with big talent. “He’s a figure hiphop purists can respect,” said Ahmir of the Roots. “If you bring his name up with KRS-One, Rakim, Nas, and Biggie, most people would agree with you.” The same way that KRS, Rakim, Nas, and Big introduced themselves with classic albums, Jay’s Reasonable Doubt was overlooked by many when it came out, but is now considered a classic by the vast majority of hiphop fans. From that first album he understood what flow was really about. “I try to become an instrument within the track,” he says. Part of why Jay can flow so well is because he’s learned to write without writing. When he was out in the streets hustling he found himself coming up with great rhymes and no easy way to write them down so he learned to memorize his songs, then developed the capacity to store six or more songs in his head. When he became a recording artist he’d listen to a track ten or twenty times, then start mumbling to himself—on Fade To Black, the film detailing his 2003 retirement concert, he called it “my rainman,”—and in his mind the song comes into shape. Within as little as twenty minutes he’ll get in the booth and spit an intricately-written rhyme. He says the penless writing allowed him to have a truer relationship to the music. He isn’t setting words to music, he’s adding his voice as a layer of sound within the song while becoming one with the song.

His street stories told us he was tough and courageous, his sarcasm, witticisms and double-entendres told us he was smart and funny, his conversation-chill flows told you he was cool, and his massive, unwavering self-confidence, his swagger, his “I will not lose ever” stance resonated with fans everywhere. Also, despite years of superfame, Jay’s been able to keep much of his life private—sure, we’ve seen pictures of he and Beyonce but he never talks about the relationship, he’ll never do “Cribs” or let the general public see his home, and he says he’ll never do a movie detailing his life. His autobiography, The Black Book, co-written by dream hampton, is written but after years of work, Jay says he probably won’t let it be published. “I know that people really want to know about me,” he says, “and I thought I was ok with it but as it got closer and closer I said, what am I doing? What am I doing? And then when I really got [hampton’s manuscript] I was like, [pantomimes fainting]. Just someone just having your life in their hands made me like, I ain’t doin this sh!t.” He paused. “I can’t read it, by the way. She was sending me chapters but I haven’t read it all together like one thing because I can’t.

On this Friday Jay leaves the office around 6:30pm. As the Maybach flows back into New Jersey the phone rings. It’s Beyonce. He immediately starts teasing her. “Houston ain’t ghetto!” he says. “You told me Houston was ghetto. You ain’t tell me they got surfin down there in Houston. I saw SportsCenter.” This morning there was a report on people who surf waves made by oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico. “The water’s green. They got grass and white people. That ain’t ghetto. Let me find out you lyin, homie,” he adds, throwing in a little Southern twang to tease her even more. You can hear her laughing on the other end.

Until recently Jay never knew the real reason why his father left. While dream hampton was working on the Black Book she uncovered the truth in an interview with Jay’s mother. “He didn’t know that a big turning point in his Dad’s life was when his younger brother got stabbed in the heart,” hampton says. “Jay’s uncle was stabbed in the chest during an unfair fight and his father became consumed with desire for revenge. His boys would be calling him at two in the morning like yo, I just saw that nigga over here and he would throw on some clothes and head out lookin for this nigga. And he kinda never recovered from that.” Jay said, “That made him a bitter, evil, different guy.”

When Jay’s mother found out that AJ didn’t have long to live she made it her mission to get Jay and his father to reconnect before it was too late. Jay was resistant. “I was like, mmmm, nah,” he said. “But she kept going, kept goin. So I was like alright, bring him over to my house. Of course, I knew he’s not gonna come.” Jay sat at his place in New Jersey, waiting for his father to come see him, just knowing he wouldn’t come, bringing back childhood feelings of abandonment that he’d worked so hard to insulate himself from. AJ didn’t come. “I was like, I knew it,” Jay said.

But on June 28th, 2005, Luckie was killed in a car accident in Pennsylvania while riding in the Chrysler Jay had bought him as a graduation present. Jay was in LA for the BET Awards when he heard. “He cried,” Waples said. “I know he had a couple good cries. He told me he needed a good cry. I think it was mind-blowing for him.” Jay said, “It was the toughest sh!t. Nothing close to it. Numbingly. Like I’m numb. I’m numb.” Months later he’s still deling with the pain. “sh!t comes time-released.” He paused. “Beautiful kid.”

On Thursday, October 27th, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the current home of the New Jersey Nets, hiphop history was made. It was 11.25pm, two hours into Jay’s “I Declare War” concert sponsored by Power 105.1. Jay was onstage, moving through the Oval Office-themed stage—a rug with a presidential seal, a desk with two green banker’s lamps and an all-red phone, and two secret service-like men standing still at the back of the stage. He was doing his classic “Where I’m From,” from In My Lifetime Vol. 1. He rhymed, “I’m from where niggas pull your card/ And argue all day about who’s the best MC/ Biggie, Jay-Z, or Nas.” Then he abruptly told the DJ to stop the record. The concert was called “I Declare War” because Jay had promised to diss some rappers, to damage some careers. Now, the crowd thought, Jay will deliver on his promise of war. Four years before at a radio station-sponsored concert in New York Jay unleashed “The Takeover,” a song dissing Nas (a.k.a. Esco, after Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar) and Mobb Deep. A venomous and all too personal battle ensued between Jay and Nas, who came back attacking “Gay-Z and Cock-A-Fella Records” on “Ether.” Jay feels he won the battle though he knows many people think Nas won it. “I think if you judge “Takeover” against “Ether,” it’s a better record,” Jay said. “But when you have a David and Goliath situation, it’s tough to win those things when you win everything.” Many people were offended by Jay’s rhymes in “Superugly,” his underground reply to “Ether,” where he spoke in graphic detail about having sex with the mother of Nas’s daughter, but Jay felt justified to say anything after “Ether,” where Nas slings several gay slurs. ”If you listen to “Ether,” like d!ck sucking lips and sh!t like that, as a man you don’t say that to another man,” Jay said. “I would never tell a man, yo suck my d!ck. I would never say nothing like that to a man unless I planned on goin all the way with him.”

Days later Jay was typically understated. “That was some little sh!t,” he said. “Don’t make it a big section at the end of the article.” But Nas feels it was a major moment. “That was the highest mountain ever climbed in the game,” he said. “The feeling was beyond words.” Nas said the reconcilliation began when he realized he was nearing the end of his deal with Columbia and started thinking about signing with Jay’s label. “Def Jam is somewhere where the understanding of our culture is respected,” Nas said. “I’m all for people who love the music to control it. That was what I was wantin to get into and just by explorin what was out there, this conversation [with Jay] came about. It just felt like time.” Nas and Jay met a few weeks before the concert. “It was a conversation that was long overdue,” Nas said. “There was a lot of laughter and a lot of serious conversation where there’s no laugh or smile. It was a meeting of the minds and reconcilliation.” He feels that hiphop has become overrun with beefs and battles. “Ever since me and Jay started our thing, the whole thing has been battles,” he said. “Just about every MC got a beef with another MC. Everybody. Which is cool, could be creative, but uplifting is what the nature of hiphop is about and I think people are forgettin where to draw the line. That beef sh!t is played out.”

The main source of beef in modern hiphop is, of course, 50 Cent, the neighborhood bully of hiphop who’s currently got issues with Nas, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, the Game, and Dr. Dre. Asked if the concert had been partly about 50, Nas said, “If the shoe fits.”

[fan 4ever]

Thanx man! I'll read it when I have some more time!

[TopDawg14]

So now that Nas and Jay-Z have buried their hatchet and become friendly, does that mean that 50 now has beef with Jay? 50 has said that anyone who befriends people he has beef with then he has beef with those people. Since Nas and Will are friends and Will is cool with Jigga, does 50 have beef with Will?

And how come 50 never went after Jay-Z when Jay said on a song, "I'm worth about a dollar, who the F*&^ is 50 Cent?" Maybe because he knows that Jay will crush him?

Good read btw. I may not like all of Jigga's songs, but I respect him and he is one of the nicest MCs with one of the sickest flows in the game.

[Guest renagade_tim]

the person who made who the F*ck is 50 cent is the Wu Tang Clan

[Mike]

i have this isssue and i read the whole thing. very good article.

continental airlines is close to where i live!

[mfuqua23]

The reason 50 didn't diss Jay back was because he felt Jay did him a favor when he mentioned his name.

[TopDawg14]

The reason 50 didn't diss Jay back was because he felt Jay did him a favor when he mentioned his name.

OK, but still he's supposed to the baddest rapper on the planet. Surely he can take out Jay-Z, right? I mean he is the top dog in rap now, right?

50 Cent is a clown and won't take on emcees he knows he can't beat. He can't beat Nas but for some reason Nas doesn't get quite the shine that Hov does.

[fan 4ever]

the person who made who the F*ck is 50 cent is the Wu Tang Clan

First of...Wu Tang ain't a person...they're a group!

:wiggle:

Second...Jay-z said this in his song "It's Hot (Some Like it Hot)" from his album "Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter"

"I'm about a dollar, what the **** is 50 Cents?"

He responded to that 50 cent song where 50 is dissing everyone!

[J-o-e]

Actually it is on a song but...he done it at 106 and park a long time ago before 50 cent was on G unit Aftermath etc....50 cent done his diss songs on the stage and then Jay z simply just came out and said to the crowd...

"Im about a dolla, who the **** is 50 cent" and the place exploaded, while 50 cent was in the back haha

[bigted]

That's a good read, good to see Jay humbling down now, that's funny how he talks about he was nervous when he 1st met LL, sorta how Eminem felt when he first met Will, lol. I don't he'll get involved with the 50 Cent beef now though since he's saying "F*** Beef", 50's career gonna start slowing down and I'm sure he's aware of that already, LL's probably giving him some advice...

I remember Wyclef also said something about 50 Cent on "Low Income": "Low income I stay so hungry/So if 50 Cent came to rob me he'd be a part of my charity", basically responding to what 50 Cent said on "How To Rob", he disses basically every famous rapper in the game in the late 90s, it's a funny song though, sorta like Eminem's "My Name Is", he was rolling with Nas and the Bravehearts at that time too who actually helped ghostwrite some of the tracks that were supposed to be on 50's "Power Of A Dollar" that was supposed to drop on Columbia before 50 got shot(that's why Jada said:"Bravehearts made you" when he dissed 50), so maybe that's how the Jay-Z/Nas beef came along, Jay-Z might've heard that Nas wrote the diss song for 50 that dissed Jay in it:

btw, why did Jay-Z say: "Volume 3 still spittin' the real s***/Sold more records than Will Smith", was that a diss towards Will?

[Turntable]

btw, why did Jay-Z say: "Volume 3 still spittin' the real s***/Sold more records than Will Smith", was that a diss towards Will?

No. Thats more like "loot at me I made it". He just wanted to mention an MC that selled allot And he picked Will..

[mfuqua23]

I think it was just a point to say, Will was so great at selling records, that I surpassed him. That's how big of an accomplishment I've had. He must have been referring to BWS.

[bigted]

Maybe he was referring to Volume 3 outselling Willenium, but maybe he was sayin' he's "keepin' it real" while Will's selling out, that could be a diss too, he was saying something about how he was more real than Will in that '98 interview that AJ posted...

I'm gonna be honest Volume 3 was the album I started not liking Jay-Z that much anymore, that album was weak and straight garbage compared to Willenium but he picked it up with "Blueprint" and "Black Album" even though they're a lil' overrated too in my opinion but they're solid, I can't front...

Anyway here's the lyrics to "How To Rob", it's obvious that Nas had input in this, look at all the big words 50 uses compared to now :mygod: :

Madd Rapper

The art of getting robbed

This is how we do Brooklyn style boy you know what I'm sayin?

50 Cent

R.I.P B.I.G, R.I.P P-A-C, R.I.P niggas that wanna OD

Aiyyo the bottom line is I'ma crook with a deal

If my record don't sell I'ma rob and steal

You better recognize nigga I'm straight from the street

These industry niggaz startin to look like somethin to eat

I'll snatch Kim and tell Puff, "You wanna see her again?"

Get your ass down to the nearest ATM

I have dreams of ****in an R&B bitch

And I'll wake up early and bounce with all your ****

When I apply pressure,son it aint even funny

I'm about to stick Bobby for some of that Whitney money

Brian McKnight, I can get that nigga anytime

Have Keith sweatin starin down the barrel from my nine

Since these Harlem World niggaz seem to all be fam

I put the gun to Cardan tell him, "Tell your man

Mason Betha, haha, come up of that watch now

I mean right now"

The only excuse for being broke is bein in jail

An entertainer can't make bail if he broke as hell

I'd rob ODB but that'd be a waste of time

Probably have to clap him run and toss the nine

I'd follow Fox in the drop for four blocks

Plottin to juice her for that rock Kurupt copped

What Jigga just sold like 4 mil? He got somethin to live for

Don't want no nigga puttin four thru that Bentley Coupe door

I'll man handle Mariah like "Bitch get on the ground"

You ain't with Tommy no more who gonna protect you now?

I been skeamin on Tone and Poke since they found me

Steve know not to wear that platinum **** around me

I'm a klepto nah for real son I'm sick

I'm bout to stick Slick Rick for all that old school ****

Right now I'm bent and when I get like this I don't think

About to make Stevie J take off that tight ass mink

I'll rob Pun without a gun snatch his piece then run

This nigga weigh 400 pounds, how he gon catch me son?

Madd Rapper

Chorus: repeat 2X

This aint serious

Being broke can make you delirious

So we rob and steal so our ones can be bigger

50 Cent how it feel to rob and industry nigga?

50 Cents

Ill catch P and Silk The Shocker right after the Grammies

And Will Smith and Jada ass down in Miami

Run up on Timberland and Missy w/the pound

Like you gimme the cash and u put the hot dog down

I figured it out

Been robbin Joe before that's why his ass

don't wanna be a playa no more

Mad at you I'm robbin J.D., **** YOU!! PAY ME!!

Had Da Brat with em, shoulda had his gat with him

DMX wanna get down well you tell homey

I'm on that Treach ****, I do my +Dirt All By My Lonely+

I should rob Clue man his **** did well

I wanna stick TQ but his **** ain't sell

I hit the studios take **** and leave

Catch Rae Ghost and RZA for them funny ass rings

Tell Sticky gimme the cash before I empty three

Ill beat your ass like that white boy on MTV

Cannibus wanna battle while I'm stickin them up

Nigga get capped coroners pickin em up

Heavy tried to hide his ****, nigga try to stall ya

He said "Why you robbin me I got _Nuttin But Love_ for ya!"

Caught Juvenile for his Cash Money piece

Told him I want it all he said, "Even my gold teeth?"

I caught Blackstreet on a back street in a black jeep

One at a time get out and take off your shine

Did you ever think that you would be this rich?

Did you ever think that you would have these hits?

Did you ever think that I'd flash the nine?

And walk off with your **** like it's mine?

I'ma keep stickin niggas until I'm livid

I'll rob Boys II Men like I'm Michael Bivins

Catch Tyson for half that cash like Robyn Givens

I'm hungry for real im bout to stick Mister C

That nigga still eatin off Big's first LP

I had Busta and the whole Flipmode on the floor

He asked me if I had enuff I told him "Gimme Some More"

Is you feelin this? Then wait for the sequel

I gotta get Kirk Franklin for robbin Gods People

Madd Rapper

Chorus

For real yo you know what I'm sayin?

Niggas got to get stuck up that's just how it goes down

It don't matter if you an industry nigga or a regular nigga

It don't matter, if you got it and I need it I want it

50 Cents ain't ****in around

Track Masters ain't ****in around

Crazy Cat ain't ****in around

The Madd Rapper aint ****in around

So watch your backs, watch your pocket book, watch your pockets

Watch everybody on the train, watch everybody on the bus

Cause we gonna get you whether you like it or not

Edited December 16, 2005 by bigted

[bigted]

This article came from April '99 from Vibe, this was around the time "Volume 2" and "Big Willie Style" were out on the chart, it's not as bad as what Bow Wow said but I don't like that he said that his music is more reality based and harder than Will's, especially since he was rapping over a lot of commercial samples at that time too, "Volume 2" was a good album though, I liked that album, lol, it's safe to say that "Just The Two Of Us" is reality for Will just like "Hard Knock Life" is reality for Jay-Z... Dr. Dre and Eminem were mad at Will for criticising rappers who talk about killing on their songs at that time and Jay-Z was working with them around that time so he probably was just backing them up then, he gave "Lost and Found" props I think so there's no beef anymore...:

VIBE: Your album's at 3 million. Will Smith's is at 4 million. What dose that tell you about the state of hip-hop?

JAY-Z: Will did a great thing for hip-hop. He brought light onto it, exposed people to it who normally wouldn't be listenin.' Some people are gonna love and stick with Will. SOme people are gonna say, "I wanna little more edge to my music." The more educated people are, the more they're gonna look for the cream of the crop.

VIBE: Do you mean your own work?

JAY-Z: Yeah.

VIBE: You would say Will is the cream of the crop?

JAY-Z: Me and Will make different music. He's a very creative person. I think mine has more edge and is more reality-based than his.

Edited December 16, 2005 by bigted

[mfuqua23]

Nah. That's not so much as a diss as you think it is, if even at all. How much more educated can you get than Will Smith? I sure as heck can't see the better fit between Jay-Z and Will. Jay-Z is relevant with reality in his own right, just like Will is. Only thing I didn't like about that interview that you posted Ted was that Jay-Z didn't answer the questions str8 up.

"Is Will the cream of the crop?"

- all he had to say was yes or a surprising no. and then go on with what he said. I don't know why he couldn't just man up. You and Will make different music, so what's the deal with not being able to say he's the cream of the crop (his crop), and on BWS Will even said it himself. :lolsign:

Edited December 17, 2005 by mfuqua23