JAY-Z on Returning to the Studio: “I Have To Be Saying Something Important”
The artist also opened up about regaining control of his masters and what matters most to him nowadays.
JAY-Z recently opened up about the possibility of his return to the studio, telling Gayle King that his creation of new music should serve a higher purpose.
The rapper spoke to King for a CBS Mornings interview, reiterating that he is still wants to make music, “but it has to be something important.” Hov continued, “I don’t wanna just make a bunch of tunes. That’s not gonna serve me and it won’t feed me, first of all.” When asked by King about what feeds him, he shared, ” I have to be saying something important. It has to mean something, you know? It has to mean something to a larger society.”
“Like 4:44 for example,” he added, referring to his 2017 record that also marks his latest solo effort, “it was a personal story. But the amount of vulnerability in there allowed for a lot of people to explore the space.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he talked about the “fight of his life” as he attempted to regain his masters. “I get why people do it,” he said of the artists who recently sold their masters for millions of dollars. “I’ve been fortunate enough to make money in this place, but for me, it was the fight of my life.” He explained that it was one of his conditions when he took on the role of Def Jam president, “From being an independent company from the beginning and then going through the Def Jam system, not really understanding how that works and them having my masters, then going back to Def Jam as the president and then saying, ‘Okay, I’ll do this job and part of this job is my masters to revert back to me.’”
“I want my kids to see my work. If they decide to sell it, then it’s up to them,” he added.
“I think what matters most today is being a beacon and helping out my culture, people of color. I think I pull the most satisfaction from that,” he said later in the interview. “Making music early was my first love. I could sit there for hours and it could consume me…that’s why my pace was so fast, I had so much material. And I think, now, the idea of taking that platform and reproducing it for others or doing something like reform, etcetera etcetera, I derive the most joy from that.”
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In case you missed it, Hov recently answered the question of whether fans should have a dinner with JAY-Z or take home $500,000 USD.
