‘JAŸ-Z in 8’: 8 Things We Learned From Episodes 5 & 6

Episodes five and six of JAŸ-Z in 8 premiered on HBO Max on Friday night (Oct. 2). Hov and Rick Rubin continued to peel back the layers on Jay-Z’s discography, ranging from Reasonable Doubt to 4:44 and even Jigga’s reunion with Ye (formerly Kanye West) on Donda in 2021.

The pair of episodes dive into Ye’s “JAIL,” “U Don’t Know,” “Politics as Usual,” “Regrets,” “Ignorant S—,” “Hovi Baby,” “Kill Jay-Z,” “99 Problems,” “Threat,” “Dead Presidents II” and “Public Service Announcement (Interlude).”

Episode six features the quote that has gone viral of Jay-Z being highly complimentary of West’s artistry. Although he doesn’t provide an exact look at where their relationship stands today, following Ye’s derogatory attack on Jay’s children last year.

Hov also details how Goodfellas inspired “Threat,” “Public Service Announcement” nearly not making The Black Album, while a journalist inspired the third verse on the track, and much more.

It’s been refreshing to see the 56-year-old rap mogul candidly open up about his family life, relationships with the likes of Biggie Smalls and break down the intricacies of his brilliant wordplay, which may have gone over the average fan’s head.

“Nothing was difficult,” Jay told Billboard when asked if it was hard to reflect on anything in the documentary. “It wasn’t difficult at all. It was easy. The ease of the conversation with Rick [Rubin]; he’s super curious about life [and] music. We share the same love for music. It was an easy conversation.”

Here are eight things we learned from episodes five and six below. Tune into the JAŸ-Z in 8 finale on Friday night (Oct. 9) on HBO Max.

• Calls Ye “One of the Most Brilliant Creatives” of Our Time

  While it remains unclear where Jay and Ye currently stand after West attacked Hov’s children in a derogatory social media rant last year, the respect for West’s artistry and their decorated collaborative history remains. “One of the most brilliant creatives we’re gonna see. He is as advertised,” Jay said.

  Jay recalled meeting West 25 years ago heading into The Blueprint at a studio where Ye fittingly was calling himself the “savior of Chicago” while standing on top of a table, a pure belief in himself that’s never wavered. He also broke down the debates they had when reuniting on Donda‘s “JAIL” in 2021, where Jay referenced West’s MAGA pivot.

• Jay and Ye Argued Over His “Red Cap” Line on “JAIL”

  West and Hov reunited The Throne on Donda‘s “JAIL” in 2021. Ye took issue with Jay’s bar referencing him aligning with Donald Trump and wearing a MAGA hat. “Stop all of that red cap, we goin’ home,” Hov raps on the track.

  Jay recalled them arguing for a couple of weeks as Ye felt uncomfortable about the line, but Hov had no plans of changing it. He looked at it as a “blanket of protection” since he also calls himself out on the verse, which goes on to shrewdly incorporate West song titles in his bars.

  “There was issues there and it was almost acknowledging the elephant [in the room]. I also know if it was switched, he would stand by the artistic integrity of what he created,” Jay said.

  Ye left Jay-Z’s verse as it was and “JAIL” scored a Grammy win for best rap song in 2022 and reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

• “The Blueprint” Was Largely Recorded in a Weekend

  While discussing the Ye-produced “U Don’t Know,” Jay opened up about how the foundation of the 2001 album was crafted in just a weekend, as nine tracks were recorded for The Blueprint in a span of a few days.

  “Bink started the album and then Kanye and Just Blaze was just everyday coming back and forth. Kanye would come with a track and Just would come back with this,” Jay recalled. “This album was made over a weekend. This album [had] nine songs in a weekend.”

  Hov continued, “We tinkered with things the rest of the month, but every song that was done during that weekend it was ‘U Don’t Know,’ ‘Song Cry,’ ‘Heart of the City.’ It took a minute to finalize and really nail in the chorus and put a female’s voice under [it].”

• Jay Still Doesn’t Think He Fully “Cracked” “Young Forever”

  “Young Forever” served as the fifth single of 2009’s The Blueprint 3, which reached the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10. However, whenever Jay thinks back to the Ye-produced cut, he doesn’t think he fully nailed rapping over the Alphaville sample.

  “I knew what I wanted to say, but I wanted to find a special way to [deliver it] with my performance,” he explained. “I never cracked it. Still, to this day, when I hear that song, I’m like, ugh.”
  

• Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” Inspired Hov on “Threat”

  Jay joined forces with 9th Wonder on the production side for “Threat,” which landed on 2003’s The Black Album and featured an interlude from comedian Cedric the Entertainer.

  The Brooklyn rap deity explained that a scene from Italian mob boss classic Goodfellas actually inspired The Black Album standout. Hov painted the picture of Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito character hilariously peppering Billy Batts, who is played by Frank Vincted, with a series of violent threats. Jay actually name-drops Pesci on his final verse.

  “Gangsters are hilarious. The way they see life is really funny. People think a gangster is this brute who doesn’t speak or doesn’t know how to speak,” Hov said. “To create a business like the ones that have been created, you have to be intelligent. You just use your intelligence in a different way.”

• Jay Still Remembers His Verse From an Unreleased Rick Rubin Collab

  Jay took a detour from decoding Reasonable Doubt‘s “Politics as Usual” to jump into an unreleased collaboration he had recorded at an unknown time with Rick Rubin, and Hov still remembers his verse to this day.

  “I got so much trouble on my mind/ Refuse to lose, and my nephews need new shoes/ And I chew food like it’s going out of style/ So take that blaow/ Fall way back/ I’m always strapped/ Like Nike Airs/ Right here/ Under the belt, with one in the air/ Anybody out there know anybody realer/ Any amount of hunger make any n—a a dealer/ That’s why in any hood they feel us/ I don’t walk around with a gun cause it’s in style/ I walk around with one because I ain’t trying to miss my child,” he effortlessly raps.

  The rap mogul used that as an example of explaining how he’s just a product of his environment and detailed to Rubin how different neighborhoods live by different codes and street politics depending on where you’re from.

• He Doesn’t Have Many Regrets in Life

  While everyone has things in life happen that they wish they could change, Jay doesn’t live with many regrets in life, instead looking at them as opportunities to live, learn and do better going forward.

  “I’m in a place where I’m more so things happen. You try to learn and you try to do better. I would say I have more of those feelings,” he said. “I want to do better, be a better person, be a better friend, be a better human being… Only think about the past as a form of correction… I don’t have many regrets; that’s life.”

• Jay Recalls Beefing With Hot 97

  Of course, Jay and Rick Rubin delved into their “99 Problems” collaboration, which included his beef with radio. Hov spoke about radio stations like Hot 97 attempting to blackball him on the airwaves if he would go to their competitor stations.

  “At that time, you’ve become the premier artist in the city — everyone’s trying to squeeze you. The radio stations are like, ‘If you go to our competitor across the street, we’re not gonna play your record.’ And I would never play those politics,” he said.

  Jay didn’t understand the logic because the same radio stations were playing tracks from all of his competitors in the rap game as well.

  “That didn’t last long, cause I stood my ground,” Jay added. “I was like, I’m not having it… I don’t know if they was used to dealing with that kind of personality.”