Looking so dashing on the cover of Vanity Fair‘s November 2013 issue, 43-year-old entertainer Jay Z
got to share with the magazine his Rags-to-Riches Story, wooing Beyoncé, how they reacted when the
media said her pregnancy was fake, and how their daughter Blue Ivy is his “Biggest Fan”.
Excerpts: Read Below:
- On his well known crack dealing days in Brooklyn.
I know about budgets. I was a drug dealer. To be in a drug deal, you need to know what you can spend,
what you need to re-up.
Not until later, when I realized the effects on the community. I started looking at the community on
the whole, but in the beginning, no.
the whole, but in the beginning, no.
I was thinking about surviving. I was thinking about improving my situation. I was thinking about buying clothes.”
- On his daughter Blue Ivy being his biggest fan:
“She does like her mother [Beyonce's] music – she watches [Beyonce's concerts] on the computer every night.
But my album came out and I don’t know if Blue ever heard any of my music prior to this album — she’s only
18 months old and I don’t play my music around the house.
But this album was new, so we played it. And she loves all the songs. She plays a song and she goes,
‘More, Daddy, more . . . Daddy song.’
She’s my biggest fan. If no one bought the Magna Carta [album], the fact that she loves it so much,
it gives me the greatest joy.
And that’s not like a cliche. I’m really serious. Just to see her — ‘Daddy song, more, Daddy.’ She’s genuine,
she’s honest, because she doesn’t know it makes me happy. She just wants to hear it.”
- On wooing Beyonce before they began dating:
“Well, you know, you’ve got to try first. You got to dazzle…wine and dine….she’s a charming southern girl,
you know, she’s not impressed. But I would have definitely had to be this cool.”
Jay Z told Vanity Fair Robinson that “of course” he pursued Beyoncé, and when asked if he hadn’t
been Jay Z—say, he had been a gas-station attendant and she pulled up—would he have been able to
date her, he responded:
If I’m as cool as I am, yes. But she’s a charming Southern girl, you know, she’s not impressed. . . .
But I would have definitely had to be this cool.”
Jay confirmed that the line on his latest album, “She was a good girl ’til she knew me” is about Beyoncé,
and when Robinson asks if she’s not a good girl anymore, Jay laughed, saying:
Nah. She’s gangsta now.”
- On the fake rumors that Beyonce wasn’t pregnant:
“It’s just so stupid. You know, I felt dismissive about it, but you’ve got to feel for her. I mean, we’ve got a
really charmed life, so how can we complain? But when you think about it, we’re still human beings.
And even in hip-hop, all the blogs — they had a field day with it.
I’m like, We come from you guys, we represent you guys. Why are you perpetuating this?
Why are you adding fuel to this ridiculous rumor?”
- On trademarking Blue’s name:
“People wanted to make products based on our child’s name and you don’t want anybody trying to
benefit off your baby’s name. It wasn’t for us to do anything; as you see, we haven’t done anything.”
