Jay-Z Talks Almost Signing Lil Wayne, Beyoncé Pregnancy Rumors, & Joint Album with Nas on 'The Breakfast Club'
Mr. Carter is not done talking. Following his Twitter Q&A and interview with Angie Martinez on Hot 97, Jay-Z was in the hot seat on Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club.” During his hour-long conversation with Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee, he revealed why he didn’t sign Lil Wayne to Roc-A-Fella and why he won’t do a collaborative album with Nas.
According to Jay, over 1.3 million Samsung Mobile users tried to access the Magna Carta app on July 4, causing it to crash. “It was 20 million hits to the app and it broke,” he said.
He also shared his reaction to the rumors that Beyoncé didn’t give birth to Blue Ivy and how fatherhood has changed him.
Plus, find out which MCs he thinks will be around for the long haul.
On which of his artists he’s most proud of: “I would have to say Kanye West, the most successful at this stage in his career. The growth and the progress he’s made is unbelievable. When he first came in, he wasn’t the artist that he is today. But he always aspired to be.”
On being a corporate MC: “I can walk that line between putting out great art and getting paid for my art.”
On reviews: “I think reviews have lost a lot of their importance now because of the Internet. Everyone is experiencing things at the same time.”
On recording with Nas: “We really have a good relationship. We laugh. That [beef] is so far past and I understand why even today people are still fascinated with it, but it’s so far removed. It’s so far in the background. We’re not awkward around each other at all.”
On doing a collaborative album with Nas: “Not at this point. Any other collaboration album would have to be with Kanye because there’s chemistry there and we already know how we work. I don’t really have the time to really figure out those situations and how a person works. That’s hard to do, especially if you’re gonna make something great. The hardest thing ever was going through those R. Kelly albums.”
On the glitches with MCHG: “It was 20 million hits to the app and it broke. There’s no way in the world for you to calculate 20 million hits.”
On how he discovers new music: “I don’t listen to everything. I don’t really care to listen to everything. I actually don’t want to listen to anything, so if it makes it to me, that means you doing something right.”
On fatherhood: “I hope I’m great, but I’m learning. It’s a new thing for me. It changed me in a way of just knowing what’s important. I had a pretty good sense of that, but it just reaffirmed all the things that I believed I knew.”
On changing diapers: “I got an army. It’s hard, man. It’s difficult.”
On who will be around in the future: “Obviously J. Cole. Drake absolutely. Kendrick as well. Just on sheer will and wanting it, Wale is gonna be here as well.”
On almost signing Lil Wayne to Roc-A-Fella: “After I had a meeting with Wayne, I had a relationship with Baby, so I felt it was only right to call him out of respect. After that, I think we received a letter at our office for like tortious interference. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ And it just all went from there. I would rather lose that situation and do the right thing than do the opposite. I think I could have signed him and told him after, but I did the right thing. I’m cool with that decision.”
On Lil Wayne’s diss on “It’s Good”: “I didn’t take it serious. I didn’t view it as a threat. I thought it was just a flip of a line that I said ’cause I said, ‘You ain’t got my wifey money.’ I wasn’t really speaking to him, but I guess he’s holding the flag so he did the right thing for his camp. But I didn’t take it as a real threat, I took it as a flip of a line.”
On rumors that Beyoncé didn’t give birth to Blue Ivy: “That’s probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Whether you say you care about it or not, it’s annoying and you shouldn’t have to deal with it as a human being.”