Around 20. I’d been trying to transition from the streets to the music business, but I would make demos and then quit for six months. And I started to realize that I couldn’t be successful until I let the street life go. Jay-Z Read Quote
I’m just going to make the music I love to make, and I’m going to mature with my music. Jay-Z Read Quote
Companies that pretend to care about music and really care about other things – whether it be hardware, whether it be advertising – and now they look at music as a loss leader. And we know music isn’t a loss leader; music is an important part of our lives. Jay-Z Read Quote
Do you know how many athletes go broke three years after they stop playing? I want to help them hold on to their money. I mean, I know about budgets. Jay-Z Read Quote
For me, being with Obama or having dinner with Bill Clinton… it’s crazy. It’s mind-blowing, because where I come from is just another world. We were just ignored by politicians – by America in general. Jay-Z Read Quote
What people have to understand is ‘Billboard’ is a magazine. They’re like elected officials – they work for us. Jay-Z Read Quote
As an artist, you make music. And if you see people who don’t know how to market your music, you get involved in it. Otherwise, what you want to accomplish ‘gets lost in translation’ – no pun intended. Jay-Z Read Quote
My passion is music, you know, and music influences culture, influences lifestyle, which leads me to ‘Roc-A-Wear’. I was forced to be an entrepreneur, so that led me to be CEO of ‘Roc-A-Fella’ records, which lead to Def Jam. Jay-Z Read Quote
I think the problem with people, as they start to mature, they say, ‘Rap is a young man’s game,’ and they keep trying to make young songs. But you don’t know the slang – it changes every day, and you’re just visiting. So you’re trying to be something you’re not, and the audience doesn’t buy into that. Jay-Z Read Quote
