Jay-Z, “I’ll Still Kill” (Originally Published December 2007)

Over the past few weeks, Jay-Z's been steadily popping up in more and more Instagram images with other rappers. While nothing's been officially confirm, it does lead one to suspect that Jay may be hitting the studio and recording as of late. Whether that's the case or not, XXL wanted to take a moment and look back at our December 2007 cover story with Jay, as he was gering up to release his acclaimed effort American Gangster.

Just when you thought it was safe, just when you thought the world’s greatest mc had left the streets behind to put his feet up on a beach chair, just when you least expected it: Jay-Z’s back. Again. With a vengeance. - Words by Elliott Wilson

There’s a party going on at New York’s Roc the Mic studios. The music is deafening, the Patrón shots are flowing, Beyoncé is shaking her rump, and everyone has stopped watching Denzel Washington on the monitors above the booth. This is where Jay-Z has been for the last two weeks, creating an album in a whirlwind of inspiration after catching an early screening of the movie American Gangster.

In the flick, Denzel plays Frank Lucas, a superduper heroin kingpin who accumulated $250 million in the 1970s. The character’s calm, cool persona reminded Jay of himself and relit a spark inside him to record music about his own checkered past. Who’s to say he said it all in Reasonable Doubt? “I lived a rich life,” he says, fiddling with his black laptop to cue up the next song. “I knew there were stories there, I just didn’t think that I would be able to get there in an honest way and really relive those emotions.”

It seems like strange timing. An album of unapologetic criminology rap at a time when—in the wake of the Imus scandal— even folks like Russell Simmons are endorsing censorship. Then again, a year after Jay’s last album, Kingdom Come, was widely panned as “adult contemporary” hip-hop, his street credibili- ty could sure use a boost. Former hustler buddies Calvin Klein and DeHaven have gone public with accusations that Jay is out of touch and dishonorable, while disgruntled Def Jam artists like LL Cool J complain about getting the back-burner treatment as their label’s president puts out his own music.

Speaking of the corporate side, Jay’s contract is up at the first of the year, and rumors have him bouncing to join his old Roc-A-Fella protégé Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua and Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin in rebuilding the venerable Sony/Columbia (though the pair just signed one of Jay’s most vocal antagonists, Dipset’s Jim Jones). Looks like it’s gonna be a hot winter. But in the meantime, Jay-Z’s 10th album is on par with some of his finest work. And, for now, he’s lost in the music.

It’s not every day in hip-hop you hear a legendary rapper say he saw a movie that inspired him to create an album.

Yeah. When I saw the movie, the way Denzel portrayed the character, you know, we never seen a Black guy ascend this high in a movie before, to being over the mob. So immediately that struck with me. Like, the success of it all. Like, “Wow, go!” [Applauds] The reason we applaud Oprah—no matter what she says about us—it’s ’cause she’s gone so far.

One of the most important scenes [in the movie] to me was when Denzel and the T.I. character sat down, and they had that talk. T.I. was a pitching prospect. Denzel’s character got him that tryout with the Yankees, and he blew it off, and Denzel was like, “Why did you blow it off?” And he’s like, “I want to be like you.” They didn’t show the scene after that. Denzel in the corner reflecting. Denzel in his bedroom crying. You know, like in The Godfather. The Godfather didn’t want Michael in the business, right? I’m sure Denzel felt the same way about his nephew. But he couldn’t say that. So what I did was take emotions from [scenes like] that. Like, I took that emotion and pulled it into my song [“Sweet”]. So it’s my own movie. I call it an indie film now—that’s my new shit. It’s the indie-film version of American Gangster.

It also gave you a chance to do an album with content more in the vein of Reasonable Doubt, right? More street content.

Exactly. I never thought I would make it back there. I never thought I would be in that place. Because I wasn’t going to do it for the sake of doing it. That’s corny, and that’s fake. If I don’t show the world growth, how are we going to grow? And I represent hip-hop as well, you know, with what I do. What I do is a reflection on hip-hop. And if I don’t show growth, then they going to be like: “This guy right here, he’s successful. Why is he shooting at people in his raps?”

It’s interesting that, in a year where we had the Imus scandal and all these attacks on hip-hop, you would make a record like this, at this level in your career. Do you worry about being misunderstood?

I don’t really care about that, ’cause it’s true emotions. You can’t just fix a curse and fix a neighborhood. If you told me tomorrow that if I stop say- ing “nigga,” that the neighborhood would be fixed, I’ll never say “nig- ga” again. I’ll never say shit again. I deal with that on this album, with the “Ignorant Shit.” Scarface the movie did more than Scarface the rapper, to me, but still that ain’t the blame for everything that has happened to me. If you’re going to attack a section of entertainment, you have to attack it all. You can’t just attack music. You have to attack films and video games— they killed more people in the opening of Grand Theft Auto than 50 Cent killed on any one of his albums. All his albums put together.

How did you feel when all that went down? Did you think it was just something that was going to blow over?

Yeah. I didn’t even think it was worth my attention. Because I was really upset that—like, how did we get there? We just took the argument and moved it. Imus is a racist. Hip-hop are entertainers. They’re en- tertainers. That’s two different issues. Imus is not a fan of hip-hop. He couldn’t name three songs off of any rapper’s album. He’s not a fan of hip-hop. He’s not listening to hip-hop. So he’s not influenced by hip- hop. That’s his choice and his feelings. Or even his playing and going way too far. Which is cool. If he stood behind that, like: “I’m just entertaining. I’m acting a fool.” That’s cool. That’s not what he said.

The hip-hop community was mad ’cause Russell said we should clean it up and—

I had a conversation with Russell, to be perfectly frank. I’m like: “Russell, man, you gotta be careful in how you go about doing that. You represent us. You can’t do that. At least have a conversation with everybody about it. You just can’t speak out like that.” And I don’t agree. You know, I ain’t agree with everybody going on Oprah. I thought it was really a bad move for us, because there’s no way to win. That show, it’s not edited by us. You can’t win. It’s not an equal forum. I don’t think that was the right forum for that type of conversation. If you have the conversation, really have the conversation. Have a conversation. Don’t talk at me.

This new music is coming after Kingdom Come, an album where you showed maturity and growth and laid off of the street con- tent. Do you feel like the rap audience misunderstood where you were going with Kingdom Come?

Art is subjective. It’s subjective, right? So, you know, you gotta be careful with—you don’t have to be careful. You’re really supposed to do what you gotta do, and if people follow you... But the space I was in, it’s very difficult [for the audience] to relate to those emotions. Like, you can relate to the emotions on Blueprint. You know, that’s more— universal feeling. That’s the struggle. It’s hard to relate to the feeling on the other side. And I think it was too much of that, but it was an honest feeling at the time. Like I said, I love that because that’s what I’m supposed to be doing—whether it’s accepted by everybody or not. I’m supposed to be pushing the envelope and trying new things. And people are supposed to say, “Hov, you might have went too far.”

It’s the new generation of fans and rappers who are gonna judge you the harshest. Do you think it’s fair that you’re compared to every new sensation, like Lil Wayne?

I don’t think it’s fair to me, and I don’t think it’s fair to them, with the amount of work that I put in. But it’s human nature. So I gotta do what I’ve been doing. I gotta compete with my work. Not to take anything away from him. I think Lil Wayne is extremely talented. I think he’s one of the most talented ones out there. I mean, even more so how his de- livery is than what he says. I don’t think some of the things he says sometimes are the greatest things, but the way he delivers it, that’s part of it. People got to look at that, too. That’s a big, important part of the puzzle. But do I think me and Lil Wayne should be in the same sentence? Me? No. I mean, hopefully one day. He has to accumulate work. Put some classics under his belt.

So you’re not ready to hand him or anyone else the torch yet. This isn’t gonna be your last album?

I want to never say that again. Just make the albums, man. And if one day people wake up and it’s four years later, and you haven’t made another, they go, “Wait a minute, you’re retired!” I think that’s best for me. I think I pulled the retirement ripcord too many times. People look- ing at me like, “Please shut up.” I was looking at Fade to Black the other day. I was embarrassed. I couldn’t watch. I’m not playing with you. I had to turn it off. I was cringing. Like, I’m about to put out another album, man. Another one. Not only was that not my last, I put out another one, and I’m about to put out another one. I wasted a great film! I’m about to make another film, though. Not on retirement, just another film. I want to make a movie with this album. Like a short film, a better Streets Is Watching. I want to get the Hughes brothers to direct it. I’ll be doing a disservice if I didn’t deliver it [American Gangster] in a proper way. When you look at the last project, you had an incredible market- ing promotion campaign behind it. I guess— I love when people talk about the marketing campaign of the last al- bum. They talk about it as if I spent the money. I’ve been watching this for a year, like, what’s wrong with you? No one’s figured this out? I didn’t pay Budweiser. They paid me. They shot my video and put it on TV and paid me.They paid me to do that. I don’t pay HP.They paid me. I didn’t pay AT&T to run them clips. They paid me. Yeah, so when peo- ple go and talk about the marketing of the last album, I find it very funny. You think I put all that on TV? I paid for that? I didn’t pay for none of that. Budweiser paid me. HP paid me. AT&T paid me. All the things that ran, they paid me. I received money. I didn’t spend it. Def Jam was happy as shit. And then I didn’t shoot no more videos. I shot two videos, and I shut it down. I was the president. I shut it down, big man.

Ha! Are you staying at Def Jam, big man? Are you staying or going? What’s up? Or is this album a convenient distraction for you not to make that decision yet?

I’m giving myself some time. It’ll be hot out there for a minute, so— I don’t know. I love what I’m doing. I love the artists that I’m develop- ing. I love the whole thing about it. Once again, I have to really look at it for the next three years and say, “Am I doing it for the right reasons?” ’Cause all I want to do is make history at this point. They got to pay me for making history, of course. But that’s my goal. I want to sit there with people really into making history. I mean everybody. I don’t mean just artists. The interns—if everybody’s not committed to mak- ing history every time I go into that meeting, and if I can’t look in their eyes and I don’t see the fire, then I gotta move on. ’Cause, you know, I don’t have time. I don’t have the luxury of time to just blow off three years. I do, but I don’t. But I’m not looking to have a job. That’s not hot! If there was a place or a new situation where it was exciting and, you know, it was about making history and doing something so epic, then I’d do that. I’m not just gonna go to Columbia and just sit down and collect a check.

Speaking of big checks, word on the street is Jim Jones just inked himself a nice situation at Sony. Would that have any effect of deterring you from going over there?

First of all, I don’t look at none of that shit as real. If it’s a real thing, then it’s a real thing. Then it’s nothing to talk about in the magazine. There’s nothing to talk about on radio. Go get your crew, go sit on some mattresses, and we gotta finish this thing until it’s over. ’Cause I’m not walking around the street, chilling, and eating at Cipriani’s outside if we got a problem. I’m not doing that. That’s stupid. I’m just going to wait for you to catch me off balance? Like, they ain’t no problem to me. And as far as business, I never been like that. Juelz Santana is on Def Jam. I try to do anything to try to make the guy comfortable. My name is on every single paper in that building. That’s how we work... It’s all good with me. I don’t give a shit. What I care? I hope he gets a ton of money. Then the next lil’ guy is going to take shots at him. I love that. I hope he makes a ton of money.

Speaking of taking shots, there’s a certain veteran Def Jam artist who continues to blame you for his last album’s poor sales. Are you surprised at what LL’s been saying?

Yeah, I’m definitely surprised. ’Cause, you know, like, I got a lot of respect for him. He’s a legend in the game, and you can’t market LL. You’re LL. That’s it. Nobody really wants to look at themselves. He’s had a long, long career. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don’t work. Sometimes the stars line up and magic is in the right place. Sometimes it ain’t. Who can I blame about my last album going two million? L.A., you piece of shit! [Laughs] That’s just how it goes. You can market to death. The people ultimately decide. And the people are not saying that was a great album they missed. Are the people saying that? Let’s be honest with each other. Are the people saying, “That’s a great album we missed”? No one is saying that.

How is your relationship with L.A.? People are fascinated about that, too. Like, when he hired Jermaine Dupri, did that mean he was trying to protect himself in case Jay leaves?

We absolutely tried to get Jermaine when I first got there. I was like: “Jermaine, we can do co-president—I don’t have no ego with that. Whatever you want to do.” I don’t know what led to his decision to go to Virgin, but me and L.A. absolutely sat in the of- fice with Jermaine trying to convince him to come over from day one, when I first got there. I think the more talented people you have there, the better. And for protection, it’s a great thing. It’s a smart move as well. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

Some of your old hustler buddies have been poppin’ up lately, saying you did them wrong. Especially a guy named DeHaven. You address him on American Gangster, on the song “No Hook.”

Right, I pulled up some things.

Did you feel like you needed to address that, or was it naturally something that just came out of you?

Yeah, it’s just me. Like, when I’m recording, the things that come out, I don’t deny them. I just let it happen, and let the chips fall where they may. I don’t ever feel the need to do anything I don’t want to do for the sake of, Hov better say something or Hov better—I’m not under that pressure, because I know who I am so much. That’s it. It was quick, too. End of the story. “I followed the code, I cracked the safe/Other niggas ain’t in the game, so they practice hate.” You ain’t in the game, so you practice hate.

Is that also directed toward Calvin Klein, who also spoke ill of you?

Nah. I know Calvin through a friend of a friend. Like, it wasn’t like we was—that was it. So we really have nothing to talk about. It was shocking, I guess, but that was about it. You usually try to keep your personal life private.

But you put a whole verse about Beyoncé on “Party Life.” Do you feel like that’s going to satisfy the gossip hounds?

I didn’t say that verse was about her. But it sounds hot. [Laughs] The only reason I don’t deal with that aspect of my life is because I think people are only interested in it three times: when you get together, when you break up, and when you have a baby. Other than that, people don’t give a shit. They don’t have good intentions. People just want to manipulate the situation to benefit them. I think relationships are broken up because of the media. That’s a difficult thing when you live it out through the media. They’ll take something—you know, like, you sign Rihanna—and then everybody is like, “’Cause she’s a girl artist, put them together. He slept with her! It’s a great story! Let’s run with it.” But you don’t realize there’s people involved there. Like, you know, how about if it ain’t true?! Right? So you got to be private with your shit. And you got to be strong in your rela- tionship to know each other.
But it seems like you guys have overcome all that by now, right?

Overcome what?

The scrutiny and being together and like—

Oh yeah, that’s ’cause we don’t deal with it. If we woulda dealt with it, like, on magazine covers together and shit like that...

[Laughs] I wouldn’t try to get that one.

[Laughs] I’m not saying you, man. But you may be the only one! But everybody else... Unless B starts rapping, I can’t really justify— Yeah, exactly.

She gotta put a 16 together.

[Laughs] That’s going too far, man! She got to do at least one verse! But the more you get into it, then the more it comes back on you.

Alright, we’ll switch gears. What’d you make of the whole Dipset drama this year between Jim and Cam?

I said it in one of those records on the R. Kelly album: “You know your friends when they don’t need you no more.” Y’all see if y’all really like each other. When people don’t need you, you never know. ’Cause if they need you, they’re going to be quiet about the situation. [Whispers] “I hate this nigga! This nigga wear pink one more time...” It’s like, okay, now let’s see if you can deal with success.

That’s just how life is. I think because you obviously repaired your relationship with Nas, people wonder if you’d do the same in this case.

The marketing plan they came up with was: This guy did this to Dame. They didn’t have no problem with me. I ain’t do nothing but great things for them. Everything that they do is based on us. Their work ethic is based on watching us being in there. Cam’s biggest album was based on us. We put those records on there. Those are Just Blaze records. I ain’t never do nothing to them. Nothing bad. Great things. Made them money. Everybody made money with me. That’s the thing. Look back at my history. Everybody made money with me. I’m Hyman Roth in The Godfather. “I made all my partners rich!” It’s true. Every single person.