Part two of Jay-Z’s interview has been released on the Life and Times YouTube channel. Yesterday we highlighted part one of the interview with Elliott Wilson, where Jay-Z spoke about fame, his career and new album Magna Carta Holy Grail and what they mean to hip-hop right now.
In the second part of the interview Jay discusses his relationships to the younger rappers, politics, and the importance of his new subject matter.
Jay-Z mocked the NFL’s investigation during his quest to become a sports agent, noting that he had been through FBI probes, so what’s the worst the NFL could do to him? He does, however, discuss why it is important for him to represent sports players as their lives are so similar to those of rappers.
Jay noted that current sports agents are not working hard enough to take care of the well-being of the athletes. He said he felt a duty to “help the culture:”
“Most athletes go broke in three or four years, I felt like it was a greater purpose there,” he said. “We were always mentoring, [including] LeBron James, as friends, though. No business arrangement, just having discussions.”
Jay also discussed the new generation of hip-hop artists and his relationship to them. He spoke of healthy competition and mutual respect. He drew the comparison to the rappers who came before him like Rakim and Kool Herc, saying he respected them but naturally wanted to be better. The new generation of rappers, he believes, should feel the same way. Jay-Z and Wilson particularly single out Drake as a superstar.
Jay cites Drake’s lyrics: “I’m just feeling like the throne is for taking, watch me take it,” referring to October’s Very Own’s verse on “I’m On One.”
When asked specifically about Drake, Jay-Z said: “He’s definitely Kobe Bryant. And we already know Jay-Z thinks he’s ‘the Mike Jordan of the mic recording.'”
The Blueprint rapper touched on political topics, applauding Obama’s highly criticized speech in reaction to the Trayvon Martin case. Calling the speech “amazing” for its true representation of human emotion. Jay himself showed some emotion when referring to the case, calling Martin’s killer George Zimmerman, a “mall cop.”
Jay-Z addressed singer Harry Belafonte’s comments about him and his wife.
Jay said, “[Belafonte] sent the wrong message all the way around.” He seemed particularly annoyed at Belafonte’s comment on singer Bruce Springsteen saying: “You’re this civil rights activist, you just bigged up the white guy against me. On white media?”
The interview ends with Jay and Wilson discussing Magna Carta Holy Grail.
Hov echoed my sentiments on the album, which is that some critics didn’t understand it.
Overall, it was a good interview. Check it out and tell us what you think.
