This generation seems to love capturing everything on camera, but Jay-Z isn't about that life. The media mogul often avoids the camera or prying paparazzi, and he was even spotted politely dismissing a photographer during this year's Roc Nation brunch. A video of Hov walking through the party went viral, showing him calmly waving his hand at a photographer looking to get that perfect shot.
Elliott Wilson caught up with Jay for an interview with TIDAL, and during the chat, the Rap icon explained why is often avoids the cameras. "Yeah, we don’t come from that school," he said. "We come from the don’t-you-ever-record-us school. What was the line? [He quoted lyrics from 2013’s “Oceans”] 'See me in sh*t you never saw / If it wasn’t for these pictures you wouldn’t see me at all.'"
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He added, "We come from that school and we had fights over that. N---as trying to record — 'Aye yo, don’t record me, champ. I ain’t into that.' We come from a different world." Hov further explained that this is "why The Black Album was so special." He said "it was the first time cameras came into the studios and just lived with us."
Meanwhile, Jay-Z also joined DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Fridayy, John Legend, and Rick Ross for a performance of "God Did." He shared why he decided to return to the Grammy stage. "This ain’t your traditional song," said the hitmaker. "It’s not your traditional structure of what you think a song that would be nominated for Song of the Year would sound like."
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It’s not what you expect. And for the culture and for hip-hop, we got to do that. We owe that. This thing that changed our lives. We got to do that. A four-minute verse performed at the Grammys. We owe it to the culture, and it ain’t even a burden. It’s a blessing. It’s easy and fun." Check out the performance below.
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