JAY-Z has been back in the news this week for addressing the long-circulating “$500,000 or dinner with JAY-Z?” debate. But he’s got more serious issues on his mind as well, like ownership.
When asked whether he’d sell his masters during an extensive interview with CBS Mornings, Hov explained that while he understands why people do it, the move isn’t in the cards for him. “I’ve been fortunate enough to make money in this place, but for me, [getting control of my masters] was the fight of my life,” he said in a snippet of his chat with CBS Mornings host Gayle King.
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JAY-Z talked about the long journey to ownership: “From being an independent company from the beginning; and then going through the Def Jam system, not really understanding how that works, and them having my masters; then going back to Def Jam as the president and then saying, ‘Okay, I’ll do this job, and part of this job is my masters have to be revert back to me.'”
“I want my kids to see my work and if they decide to sell it, then it’s up to them,” he concluded.
Check out the snippet below, beginning at the 7:09 mark.
In another clip from his interview, the 53-year-old was asked about the prospect of returning to the studio and recording a new album.
He explained that any new material would need to have substance and impact people’s lives in order for him to share it with the world, rather than being a simply collection of “tunes.”
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“I already [used the word ‘retirement’], I can’t do that ever again,” he said. “I’ll say I wanna make music, but it has to be something important.
“I don’t wanna just make a bunch of tunes. That’s not gonna serve me. It won’t feed me, first of all. I have to be saying something important. It has to mean something, you know? It has to mean something to a larger society.”
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He continued: “4:44, for example, was a personal story, but the amount of vulnerability in there allowed for a lot of people to explore the space.”
JAY-Z previously addressed the prospect of new music last year, explaining that he’s “not actively” recording a new album but doesn’t want to close the door on a comeback.
“I tried that,” he said about his 2003 retirement in an interview with Kevin Hart. “I just needed a break. I was really burnt out at that time. I was releasing an album every year… I just looked up one day and was like, ‘I’m tired.’
“I had never been on a vacation until I wanna say 2000 — my whole life. I was really burnt out in that moment.”
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Hov went on to say: “I’m not actively making music or making an album or have plans to make an album, but I never want to say that I’m retired. It’s a gift, so who am I to shut it off?
“And it may have a different form or interpretation. Maybe it’s not an album, maybe it is. I have no idea, but I’m just going to leave it open.”
