JAY-Z‘s close friend Emory Jones has opened up about how he earned Hov’s trust while he was serving a prison bid back in the day.
On Wednesday (July 12), Vegas Jones joined Ear Pollution where he spoke about a conversation with JAY-Z about the rap deity not owing him anything while he spent over a decade behind bars on drug charges.
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“From day one, the main thing I did to set the tone was when I used to call home I would tell my brothers, ‘Y’all don’t owe me nothing.’ It start there. What we did for each other, we did from [the heart],” he said.
“So once you clear that slate coming from me, that’s that balance right there. I can’t look at it like you and the world owe me something. That’s where we go wrong when we go in the system.”
According to Hov historian Ain’t No Jigga, Jones pleaded guilty to a drug distribution in September 1997 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2000.
Jones was released in 2016 and became the Head of Lifestyle at Roc Nation and a co-founder of the Paper Planes apparel brand. He also notched a partnership deal with PUMA.
JAY-Z saluted Emory when he was behind bars as he touched on their tight-knit bond on the Kanye West-produced “Do U Wanna Ride,” which landed on 2006’s Kingdom Come.
“When Jay did the John Legend song, he was like, ‘Yo I wanna do this song,’” Jones reflected on the track’s origins during a 2017 interview with The Breakfast Club. “The first thing I told him was, ‘We don’t need a song to solidify who we are. We know who we are for each other.’
“He gave it to me and I was like ‘Fuck!’ I’m in jail and it was just like a tear-jerker because he wanted to show how much he appreciated me the same way I appreciate him.”
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The Maryland native continued: “The guards used to always try to befriend me. One day one of them pulled me in the office and played the song for me.
“To me, that got me through that last three years or two years. I’m like, ‘I’m good now.’ That’s the beautiful thing of the music. Jay’s music got me through.”
