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| With all the
drama of the highly anticipated,
unexpected fizzle of the
Unfinished Business Tour, no one
would dare think that Jay Z
would be running screaming in
circles. Just the opposite, Jay
Z has, in the illustrious words
of Aaliyah, “dust himself off
and try again” by continuing on
with the tour accompanied by
some friends who are all too
happy to grace the stage with
him. |
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By Tonisha Johnson |
As I sat down with Jay Z just hours
before his ill performance at The
Garden, clad in brown checkered dress
shirt, light brown suede vest, and loose
fitting jeans clamped around his small
waist. J proceeded to give me a lot more
than I asked.
Waiting for the bus which is infamous
for coming at its own time; I began to
panic. I had to meet J in an hour and I
was still on this damn rock. Living in
the cut ain’t no joke. Especially when
you have to get to the Big City in damn
near minutes. So, once I arrived on
Plymouth Rock so to speak, I did like
all the other rush hour people do. I
jumped on the 5, transferred to the 6
and raced up the stairs, pulling a
muscle in my leg. So, when I meet J I’ll
look like a hunch back. Nice.
Of course, not realizing, I’m running
for nothing. If you don’t know, rappers
are always late. So, I beat J by an hour
and a half. I entertained myself with
complimentary snacks and a continuous
visual of the trailer to the Fade to
Black film. Which is not J’s first film,
but is his first in regards to
documentaries. But it is clear that J
paid personal attention to this project.
By narrating over it and showing other
sides of himself and the creative people
that surround him. If he wasn’t shown
often on the screen, you would believe
he was the one holding the camera. That
is how real it is.
Finally our suite at The Regency Hotel
is ready. Uh, don’t get the wrong idea!
It’s for interviews. I hardly need the
whip lash from one of Beyonce’ heavy
hair weaves. J walks in and of course I
gots to check him out. His head is
actually smaller than it appears on
television. Guess TV really does add 10
pounds. All over apparently. Nice, clean
looking, very polite and his teeth were
a huge gleaming white. It was like a
cartoon character. No lines. Just a
white block with a black trace. Sort of
off to the side of his face. It’s like a
smile with attitude. I definitely felt
blessed to be in his presence. Not cause
he was a star but more for his business
mind. It’s like being in the know.
“This is a real discussion,” said J upon
entering. I said ‘yeah. By the way…who
are you?’ He just gave me this I can’t
believe she said that look. He asked me
to introduce myself, I said Tonisha
Johnson, Black Reign News (plus a slew
of other entities I write for), he said
“Oh a bevy of jobs.”
You study music
type films to get the feel of this type
of documentary or did you just wing it?
Jay Z: No. The film started
as a concert film. After watching the
first 15 minutes, we seen more than just
a concert film. It was like this journey
about this kid from Brooklyn, who made
it to play the biggest stage in the
world. We started getting offers. We
showed the 15 minutes around and the
offers just came in and it just morphed
into this thing.
What started
this love affair with rap?
Jay Z: That’s what I knew.
When I came into the rap game, I was
just really trying to make a way for
myself. I didn’t look at like an art
form for what it is. It took me a minute
to appreciate the culture of hip hop. I
was a hustler from the streets. It
really was a job for me. It was a way
for me to make an honest days pay. I
was, really, talking about the things
going on around me and the things that
I’ve been through. And I seen people
around me really related to me. People
were really like wow. Your story is my
story. You’re looking in my window. I
can tell you a million of those
different liners that people would come
up to me and say.
So, in
actuality, the things you are rhyming
about are an actual experience?
Jay Z: Sometimes it’s real
and sometimes it’s exaggerated. Reality
is the basis of a great fantasy.
Did you think
about how you would incorporate the
aspects of your life into the recording
of the concert?
Jay Z: Yeah. I knew I had
this footage of the recording of The
Black Album. I had conversations with my
friends. I wanted to show a human side
of me. When people see videos, that’s
Superman, cause in videos if it’s not
the complete right cut, we do it again.
So, you see this guy on a huge boat with
a bunch of girls and they all love him.
But that’s not real life.
You must have
had tons of footage to choose from. What
made you decide to go with the cuts you
did, especially the one where you’re
discussing the realism of the way
rappers are viewed?
Jay Z: That’s one of my
favorite scenes. And that needed to be
said. Because that’s the pressure that
new artists are under. Because right
now, the music industry don’t build
artists; it’s so many artists. And the
price of doing business is so high now,
with marketing costsand everything like
that. Before a kid could have a demo and
blow up. And that was it, you just
needed a demo. And now you need the
proper machine behind you. And now the
price of doing business is so high
because the pressure comes from up top.
And the pressure trickle’s down to the
artist. So now the artist is under
pressure, to where its man you better
make a hit now, or we not shooting your
next video. Before, you used to see guys
with 3 videos, that was guaranteed. The
second video is not even guaranteed.
Damn, did you notice that, what happened
to the second video? It’s not
guaranteed. So, the new artists are
under pressure to make the biggest
record they can to get on radio to get
as many impressions. You have to have 50
million in audience before your album
comes out. And they have all these
pressures so they can’t be themselves. A
perfect example of that is a guy like
Anthony Hamilton, that’s an artist; it
takes time to build something like that.
He’s at 900, 000 thousand right now.
When he was at 200,000 they moved away
from the project. If the “Why” record,
with Jadakiss wouldn’t have come out, I
don’t know if he would have had that
other video or new exposure. So, you
have to invest in artists and albums.
Not just singles.
Earlier you
said in the beginning you didn’t
appreciate rap for the art that it was.
What are you planning to do to improve
how others view the real culture of Hip
Hop?
Jay Z: We have to have it
documented like this also. Because I
mean in every other form of music they
know the history of it. They know
artists. If you ask people, they don’t
know Doug E Fresh. I’m asking my nephews
“Do you know who Slick Rick is?” and
they are like, not really. I mean,
that’s not even a long time ago. We have
to have an appreciation of our art form
and a respect level of which we do it.
It has to be done with some type of
integrity and some type of respect for
it. People are just sluting it all the
way out for the money. I mean, at the
same time you can’t and I don’t like to
criticize anyone’ art, you can’t knock
these guys. They are coming from
hardships and areas with struggle but
they just see it as a way of making
money. This is it for a lot of people.
But they don’t understand that unless
you give 100% of yourself, the people
that they envy and that they love gave
themselves. The people that they love
and respect gave themselves. Tupac, he
gave himself. He was vulnerable at
times. Biggie Smalls, “Smiles every time
my face is up in the source”. That’s a
vulnerable moment for a big guy in a
Kool G sweater. He was talking about how
happy his mom was when she seen him in
The Source.
Are you a
commercial artist that wants to use this
film to perceive what it’s like being
one?
Jay Z: I’m a not the most
commercial artist. There are other
artists who sell a lot more records than
me. I’m just steady. I’m just there
every year. I just felt like I stuck to
my guns from day one. So, I’ve had
success because of my consistency. My
success was in 1 album. Like I sold 5
million in 98’ but the rest of my albums
have sold 2 to 3 million every time.
That’s a following. That’s people who
are going to buy your record regardless
if your first single is hot.
What do you
expect people to get from this film?
Jay Z: I hope it’s
inspirational to a lot of artists. I
hope it’s, you know…if you ever listen
to 99 Problems But A Bitch Ain’t One,
you swear I was talking about a woman.
But I’m not. In no verses am I talking
about a woman. But if you hear that hook
you will automatically think that he’s
talking about a woman. But if you take a
second and listen I’m talking about a
female dog. And the first verse is the
system. And in the third verse I’m
talking about being punked.
You talked
about being inspirational. Lots of
artists shy away from being role models.
Jay Z: I'm not a role model
in the sense that I do everything good.
I'm a role model in the sense that I’m a
human being. People learn from mistakes
as well as a person who learns from a
persons triumphs and doing well. You
learn from my mistakes also. Absolutely,
I have that in mind. Cause I’m a guy who
couldn’t get signed. So, I hope that
says to the average person that it
doesn’t have to be the traditional way.
No one discovered me. I wasn’t singing
at Radio City Music Hall where someone
heard me singing. And signed me to this
big contract and I blew up. I had to
take my own records to record stores and
take my own money off consignment and
then take that money and invest it in
myself and do it again. I had to do this
till 98. I was doing that until 98. 98
was my break out year.
What was the
first year that you really started?
Jay Z: 96 was my first album,
but before that we were planting the
seeds by putting out different singles,
In My Lifetime and I Can’t Get With
That. I would say about 92, 93.
You showcase
lots of positive woman in your film?
Jay Z: I learn from woman.
Women are more into themselves at a
young age. When they say woman mature
faster than us because ya’ll have
diaries at a young age and ya’ll write.
And ya’ll know yourselves before guys.
We just running around playing skellies.
I’m surrounded by a ton of strong woman.
I learn from them everyday.
You’re eager to
assist upcoming artists and those that
are already names in the business. Is
this something you will address if and
when you accept the position at Def Jam?
Jay Z: I hope that whatever
position that it is, whether it’s Warner
Bros, Def Jam or Universal. I hope
whatever it is…I look at it as sports.
In sports I look at the Hall of Fame
players and they go on to be great
coaches and the players respect their
opinions because they know the game.
They’ve been there, they’ve hurt. They
know the pain. So, they’ll say, get out
there and play with pain. And they’ll
look at this guy like he’s done it
before, so he knows. So I can,
absolutely say to an artist, no I don’t
think that’s great, let’s do this again.
So, they’ll respect that, cause they
know I’ve made a couple of good albums
in my lifetime and I will be the best
qualified to take on the executive role.
How will this
affect the rap game?
Jay Z: I hope to help it. I
hope to develop more artists and you’ll
get better albums. I’ll give you 80
Kanye West’ who make these great albums
and do whatever they want to do.
In the film you
talk about social Ills. Do you wish you
had spoken out more?
Jay Z: No. Cause I’ve done it
my way. Everybody has different ways.
Like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King
had different approaches but it actually
served the same thing. That’s just my
technique, you know?
You were
talking about Rick Rubin’s’
idiosyncrasies in the film.
Jay Z: You have to know him
and his soul and what he was doing. Like
I said I didn’t get a chance to tell the
whole story. But when we were downstairs
recording 99 Problems, he was having a
free Tibetan…Alanis Morrisette. You
know, it was all of them. They was
drinking tea and it was really mellow
and violins was playing and all that.
and we’re down in the basement…I got 99
Problems…wildin it. This is a guy who
made Johnny Cash’ last recordings. And
we’re downstairs making 99 Problems. He
just has no boundaries. His duality…he’s
upstairs eating Koala leaves. He’s one
of the…really. I’m so impressed with
him. He’s one of the most incredible
people…person… that I’ve ever met in my
life.
Did going to
school have an effect on your rhyming
skills?
Jay Z: Well, I was great in
English. And I was reading on a 12 th
grade level in the 6 th grade. It didn’t
play an important role for me
personally. But I’m the long shot.
That’s why I have the Shawn Carter
Scholarship program so kids can continue
in school. But, absolutely; if you’re
making music that’s really talking and
speaking to people, you should have a
broad vocabulary. You should know how to
enunciate your words. .
What parts of
your upbringing do you wish to pass down
when you become a parent?
Jay Z: Just my moms; I can’t
swim because of my moms. I was telling
her that the other day. She couldn’t
control the situation. She was so
protective of us that she would take us
to the Y and would say “don’t go by that
water.” And we didn’t learn how to swim.
Nobody in our family can swim. And
that’s what type of mother she was. I
don’t remember her not working. Since my
soul was first in my body, my first
memory, my first thought was, I remember
her going off to work. And it took me
years to convince her to retire. Even
though I could do that for her. I was
ecstatic that I could do that for her,
she wouldn’t let me because in her whole
life know one has taken care of her. She
wasn’t used to that. She wasn’t used to
being a kept woman. She was just used to
working herself. She wouldn’t even let
her son do it for her.
How will that
affect you as a parent?
Jay Z: Ummm. I mean its self
explanatory. You know what I’m saying? I
just hope I can teach my kids how to
swim.
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Copyright © 2005 Gesica Magazine |
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