It takes a lot more than just saying, "Happy Birthday" to really show appreciation for the G.O.A.T., Jay-Z.
The used-to-be stoop kid from the Marcy projects is now a 50-year-old self-made legend in business and entertainment. It was obviously an honor to have HOV sit in on the Breakfast Club back in 2013. The crew picked his brain about getting into sports, his relationship with Kanye West and even fatherhood.
Enjoy the SUPER throwback below and check out a couple gems he dropped throughout the conversation.
On why he enjoyed Kanye West's album, Yeezus:
"It's polarizing. That's what great art is. It's polarizing. It forces you to have an opinion. At least you're not wishy-washy about it. It forces you to have an opinion, which is good and it's needed. What tends to happen is someone has to experiment and go do it first. Artists will sit back and watch and say, 'Okay. I like this. I don't like that. I like this part.' And they'll perfect the method and it all pushes the genre forward."
On the impact of music with the influence from the internet:
"Like you said, these great things are fleeting. They're going faster and faster and it's up to the individual to slow it down and be like, 'Okay I'm living with this album. This is what I chose to rock to. This is going to be the soundtrack to my life for these next couple months.' That's an individual thing. I'm not going to let anybody speed up my process. I don't care what's happening out there. That's the great thing about having ultimate confidence in yourself. It doesn't matter what's happening, I don't care what you're on...My life is tailor-made for me."
On complaints on the state of New York hip-hop:
"It's a regional thing. That's the way music moves out west, down south...The whole thing is, complaining does nothing. Make music. Make some great music and that's the end of it...It's almost like a loser's mentality. Everyone's so spoiled...My albums came out with Outkast, Lauryn, Q-Tip, all of them in one week. Everybody did good. Look at the chart now. It's Wale at number one, Roc Nation-managed artist J. Cole, which will probably go to number one next...and then it's Kanye. Everyone is flourishing. You gotta be able to compete...You gotta earn your spot. It's not given."
On his career not taking off his Biggie was still alive:
"I feel like it's God's plan...You can make up any scenario in your mind why a person shouldn't be here, or why a person wouldn't attain certain success. But I, personally, don't believe anybody could stop me. I was coming. I was destined to be here."
On people giving Illuminati credit for his success:
"Some people are like, 'That person's successful. Imma strive and be exactly where they are.' And some people got the reverse attitude like, 'Their success means my failure, so I'd hate that success. So I have to make some kind of explanation of why they're here and why they shouldn't be here...' If you take that long to think about why someone shouldn't be here, then you're good. You should be doing something with that intelligence."
On critics/agents hating his venture into sports management:
"They have that belief that you can only do one thing. We don't have that. We're not inflicted with that disease. I can walk and chew gum. It's insane to even say that. 'What does he know about sports?' Uh, everything. More than you. And as far as business, those guys they've been sitting around just doing the typical thing...They've been sitting back for 20, 30 years just not doing anything. So me coming, it's a problem for them because now they have to go to work...They don't want me around because now they have to do something for these athletes...I do this because it's an extension of the bigger goal. The bigger goal is for all artists to get their just due."
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