Jay-Z sat down with Power 105 this morning while doing press for his new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. The usually private Jay opened up about many topics, including Beyoncé’s fake pregnancy rumors, his thoughts on Yeezus, not signing Lil Wayne when he had the chance and more.
Check out a few excerpts:
On sports:
Jay revealed that he’s a big Dallas Cowboys fans because it was his dad’s favorite team. “It’s my pops fault. The era. Those guys who wantd that cowboy lifestyle. All thoses guy was on coke (jokes). It’s my pop’s team. I had to watch them growing up.
On ranking his top albums:
“Reasonable Doubt is the first album I made. That’s the joint I took my whole life to make. Then Blueprint, then The Black Album. Sometimes I switch the Blueprint and The Black ALbum…don’t tell nobody.” He says MCHG is his fourth best album. “Thats part of the reason I put it fourth because you can recreate those times. Just for it to be so high says what I think about it
On who inspires him:
The era I grew up in is Biggie, Nas, Tupac. It’s very difficult to compare to those guys. I’m inspired by my previous work. I have to measure myself against that.
On Yeezus:
It’s polarizing. Some people love it. It forces you to have an opinion. Someone has to experiment and go do it first. It all pushes the genre forward.
On making art vs. making money
Me, myself I can operate in that venue. I can walk the line between making great art and getting paid for my art. I just happen to be really good at the music business.
On his lyrics possibly being taken out of context:
I’m an artist. I have creative license to say whatever I want at that moment.
On the “Ether”/”Takeover” beef with Nas:
That was a great moment for hip hop. But we really have a great relationship. We laugh…..it’s so far in the background that it’s not awkward for us.
On Fatherhood:
I hope I’m great. I’m learning. It’s a new thing to me. I guess it’s changed me in a way that I know that [certain] things that are important. I have a pretty good sense of that but it reaffirmed the things I knew.
On Dame Dash and his finances:
Dame is a smart guy. He’ll figure it out. People have to understand, nothing is gonna change the way I feel about Dame. No time or space. I got love for Damon Dash the same way I did before. I don’t know if we can be around each other ’cause times have changed…..but nothing can erase that era. We did something great. We built something that will be talked about forever….
On why he didn’t sign Lil Wayne:
The truth is, I had a relationship with Baby (Birdman). I felt it was only right to call him out of respect. So I was like, ‘Yo I was talking to Wayne.’ And then boom boom, after that we received a letter at our office for, I think it was, ‘Torturous interference.'”
I would rather lose that situation and do the right thing than the opposite. I could have signed him and called [Birdman] after that, but I made the right choice.”
On why he became a sports agent:
For the most part, I’m going to do more for the athlete than what he can do for me. I do this because it’s an extension of the bigger goal. The bigger goal is for all artists to get their due. That’s why those guys are broke in four years….that’s terrible money management. We are a better money management firm than agents.
On why he’s no longer president of DEF JAM:
I want to do more things that just being able to make music. In that position I was able to foster artist’s career and make money….but I was like yo…I can do more. Before “Beats By Dre” I was like…I can do things like that. But they were like, “Bring some hits.” I was like I gotta move on…my time is being wasted.
On rumors of Beyonce faking her pregnancy:
That’s probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. And the fact that people would run with it. It started going so far….That’s really messed up. This is the time when it;s supposed to be most joyous…and to have to deal with that? Whether you say you care about it or not…it’s annoying.
On the lyrical meaning of “Magna Carta Holy Grail” and rumors that it’s about Beyonce cheating on him:
That record is about fame. And its about how fame is fleeting…that whole first verse is about fame…she cheats on me. But I took her back….
Watch the 2-part interview below!
via The YBF
