There have not been many artists, in any genre, that have been more prolific than Jay-Z in the last 8 years. Since 1996, Jay has averaged an album every 8 months, all with platinum or multi-platinum sales. How much more can Jay do? Apparently not much as Jay recently told the LA Times that he only has one album left in him. “
“My next album will be ‘The Black Album,’ ” he says, “and then that’s it. I want to make it a prequel to ‘Reasonable Doubt,’ leading up to me having an idea for a song. I’ll be saying, ‘I’m going to use that Four Tops song, “Ain’t No Woman” [a reference to his breakthrough single “Ain’t No Nigga”],’ and that’s how the album’s going to end. I’m going to loop the whole thing back together, make it a nice package, and that’s it — it truly, truly is. I just feel like it’s time to do something else.”
So does this mean he will be out of the rap game altogether? Not likely. “I really enjoy new artists,” he says. “I like watching someone grow, watching when they first get on Letterman, hearing them say, ‘I’m never going to get a chain, I ain’t into it like that,’ and then next time you see them, they have eight chains. It’s almost like having a kid. I don’t have any kids, but I can imagine that’s what it’s like.”
