Jay-Z Covers Interview Magazine

Jay-Z covers the February 2010 issue of Andy Warhol’s publication. In the piece, he speaks on meeting with U.S. Presidents and Eminem’s price of fame.

I never even told him this, but I remember that Eminem came into the studio when we made ‘Moment of Clarity,‘ which he produced, on The Black Album,” Jay said. “So here’s Eminem. It’s 2003, I think The Eminem Show had come out, and he was, like, the biggest rapper in the world — he sold, like, 20 million records worldwide or some ridiculous number. But when he came to the studio, I remember I hugged him and I could feel that he had on a bulletproof vest. I couldn’t imagine being that successful. I mean, he’s a guy who loves rap and wanted to be successful his whole career. Then he finally gets it, and there’s this dark cloud over him.”

MTV

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  1. teejay says:

    wow, shit’s crazy

  2. DARKAQUA says:

    EM WAS HIGH AS A KITE AND EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED DURING THAT TIME AS WELL…SO I CAN SEE THE PARANOID FACTOR

  3. Mokh says:

    i think t’m the first…
    anyway, in 2003 jay was talkin the same that he’s talkin now: I’m The best and all that shit…and now after 7years he’s saying that Em was in 2003 the best rapper in the world.. i guess that in 2017 he will say the same thing about eminem or about another
    rapper… nigga pleeaaaz

  4. john macabee says:

    “shit is real shun” – eminem

  5. The Dynasty says:

    @ Mokh

    The quote says Eminem was “the biggest rapper in the world” he didn’t say best. Reading comprehension is key to guard yourself from looking like an ass….

  6. Mokh is a fucktard says:

    Mokh – after you read this, that is all you can think to say is that number one shit? What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you fall off a tree and bump your head. Did you even read it? The man was so far out there that he wore a vest so if he was shot. The man had a family and children, and you are talking about who is number one? No fucking wonder our society is fucked up as people like you focus on the wrong shit man.

  7. ASID says:

    @ Mokh

    How fuked up are u nigga….is everything need to be naked in the negative way….

    i’d rather you should say how much respect the two rappers have for each other

  8. teejay says:

    @ mokh is a fucktard:

    One could argue that the reason our society is so fucked up that we have all become hyper reactive to everything we see and make huge deals out of things that are completely inconsequential to our lives and take them personally. Yeah the dude was wrong, but no reason to catch feelings.

  9. Dashing says:

    Yeah, biggest rapper does not equal best. At one point, MC Hammer was the biggest in the world…

  10. Cunning Link Quest says:

    what good is a vest… head shots work faster.

  11. teejay says:

    maybe the shady and g-unit hats are all made of teflon?

  12. Rhyme says:

    “think The Eminem Show had come out, and he “was”, like, the biggest rapper in the world” – Jay-Z
    ^Was?

    Jay-Z doesn’t where a vest anymore cuz he goes nowhere near danger…..I remeber him around 97-99 rocking bullet proof vest. By 2003 he was far removed from that. So i don’t get what he trying to say (dark cloud over him)

    In 2003 Em was rolling with G-Unit and they were still thuggin heavy back in those days. Add in all the beef shady aftermath had at the time, bring purpose for the vest.

  13. JayJay says:

    Damn!! You hear that Stans?!

  14. B.Dot says:

    @ Rhyme

    So i don’t get what he trying to say (dark cloud over him)
    ^
    Meaning, his fame has become a burden. These fans are nuts. Look at what happened to John Lennon. Fame is great…but can be a mothafucka at the same time.

  15. mmkayy says:

    Jay didnt mean anything bad jesus some ppl get hyped over the stupidest shit.. no wonder Em wore a bulletproof vest..

  16. Mithritades says:

    @B.dot ^ I’d hate to see what would happen when u get famous lol

    In case ya’ll don’t know,Money and Fame changes EVERYTHING,fuck what other ppl say

  17. Will says:

    @darkaqua

    its wasnt that its that when you have that many people that love you there is a half of that number who hates you it has nothing to do with drugs especially since em was doing downers not uppers downers slow you down not make you paranoid

    the shit DMX is on make you paranoid the shit em is on make your body sleepy and shit

    but em was like Tiger Woods of Rap bacc then He was good and the majority hiphop fans didnt like him becuz he was better than most of the people who was suppose to be the best alot of niggas still hate till this day that a white dude is one of the best in Hiphop

    and not to mention he put a bigger Target on his bacc when signed 50 Cent a nigga who was blaccballed by the industry by some Gangsters That really showed Em didnt give a fucc when he signed 50 nobody would give 50 a deal 50 was selling 100s of thousands of mixtapes and nobopdy would sign this nigga becuz of the Niggas Preme and Irv that nigga Em basically said fucc yall niggas when he signed 50

  18. Blakout615 says:

    I think Em wearing a vest had more so to do with the Shady/murder inc beef at the time. I seen a video of Bang em smurf talking about an incident too that involved Em wearing a vest…

  19. Will says:

    @the nigga dashing ya father shouldve put you on ya moms face instead with that comment

    this nigga compared MC hammer to Eminem

    Nigga MC Hammer cant sell a fuccing ship with winds blowing 45 mph west While em sold MC Hammer and Jay-Z numbers combined with 2 fuccing albums

    Em is the best like if you wanna say dude aint got 3 Classics go ahead but he has at least 1 classic(Marshall Mathers LP) and 2 far above average CDs with Slim Shady Lp and Eminem Show not to mention the 8 mile soundtracc was fuccing Insane and the Re-Up was also a hot album niggas forget about those two

    point is Jay is a good rapper but when it comes down to it him and em went toe to toe Eminem outrapped cuz so that makes him better thats like if Larry Bird and Jordan had a 1 on 1 and Bird was to win that would make Bird the Better Basketball Player if Usain Bolt was beat by Chad Johnson in a race that would make Chad Johnson Faster i dont see how this differs when it comes to rap the 2 niggas got on a song together which eminem lyrics and flow were better than Jay-Z that makes dude the better Rapper I retract saying em the best since Nas and Rakim aint rapped with dude yet but Em has murdered rappers on the Mainstream and Underground MCs on traccs

  20. Toya says:

    Guess it really was that serious during that time. “Like Toy Soldier” is more insightful now. Course ’03 is the year 50 came on the scene and he was rocking the bulletproof vest 24/7.

  21. Mokh says:

    eminem’s situation was 7years ago, now he’s right, clean and still have the best selling in rap game, that’s why i didn’t focus on that…
    i just hate the fact that i can’t hear a jay-z song without hearing him say or let people understand that he’s the fucking best…. man, be a little more humble and if you are really the best, the public will recognize that…Ex: EMinem (i really can’t c any other big name in this rap game that is more humble than eminem..)

  22. JayJay says:

    Yall don’t understand. Listen to Shady’s old shit. He dissed everyone from gay rights groups to the parents of the kids that were listening to him. This dude Em was hated by Cheney and Bush. That’s enough of a reason to have a bullet proof vest on. FUCK THAT LITTLE ASS RAP BEEF!!! When you have the CIA investigating your shit you got problems.

  23. Toya says:

    @ Mokh, I agree. One of the things I like about Eminem is that for a rapper he is a pretty humble, down to earth guy. He even acknowledges that his time is temporary with such songs as “Sing For The Moment” and “Rap Game”.

    And JayJay, I hope you realize that Em isn’t the first rapper to be investigated by the CIA and the FBI. Tupac, Biggie, and even NWA had folders in DC.

  24. I WANT MY SPOT BACK TAKE 2…..THE CIA?FBI? NIGGA PLEASE…IM THE REAL KING OF NY

  25. Blakout615 says:

    @ Will
    I think u took Dashing comment completely outta proportion bruh lol
    @ Mokh
    U have to understand thats Jay’s personality on the mic. The guy calls himself HOVA for goodness sakes lmao.

  26. Interscope Employee says:

    Em > Jay-Z …point blank period

  27. IrelandRepresents says:

    Could Jay be referring to the De Niro scene as a stab at Dame Dash? Remember when he was up for rape? He was his man b4 he raped that girl…. Just my thoughts people. Just was I was thinkin at the time.

  28. B.Dot says:

    Mithritades

    @B.dot ^ I’d hate to see what would happen when u get famous lol

    In case ya’ll don’t know,Money and Fame changes EVERYTHING,fuck what other ppl say
    ^
    Fuck fame. I’d rather be a rich nobody than broke with a name.

  29. Mokh says:

    @ Blakout615
    if that’s jay-z persona then i don’t like 😀
    EM is with 6 albums the best selling rapper in history, the one who got the bigger number of grammys… if jay-z had this you wouldn’t be able to catch, he wouldn’t walk, he would fly…
    and then you c eminem…
    anyway, we won’t be able to judge them, like whose better, till they stop from rappin
    for those who dont like to c this, ignore my posts 😀

  30. yaboitone says:

    I’m SURE someone else said it but i didnt feel like reading:

    He didnt say Em was the BEST rapper he said he was THE BIGGEST at that moment. pay attention doofus.

  31. Nathaniel says:

    sorry guys, but eminem’s record sales are directly related to his whiteness. i’ll explain if you don’t understand.

  32. Nathaniel says:

    @yaboitone

    yes…niggas are missing that….its a reading comprehension problem.

    but in any case, i think they took the argument to who was the best automatically, which is what always happens when jay-z is mentioned on internet blogs, lol.

    smh saga continues.

  33. JayJay says:

    @Toya I do realize that….but not on as big a scale. He is more of a threat to them because of his skin color. The white kids will definitely listen to Eminem and follow everything he says.

  34. JayJay says:

    @Toya and that is just making my point even more. I didn’t say he was the only rapper to be investigated…….I’m just saying it’s the main reason for the vest….that’s the truth

  35. Mokh says:

    there are other wihte rapppers that doesn’t sell as well as eminem.. and everybody knows that

  36. nushay says:

    eminem is the biggest rapper there ever was(thats what jay said)..co-incidentally,he is arguably the best(or one of the best)

  37. Nathaniel says:

    bingo @ mokh

    BUT. not only was eminem endorsed, executive and sonically produced by dr. dre, aftermath and interscope records, but…

    he’s also dope as hell…and most notably EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL…which is a recipe for the attention of the entire american pop culture. like killer mike said, he showed you what it was like to grow up white poor and fucked up in america. as a rapper, no other white emcee had every done that. and he was/is mad critical of america, its bullshit entertainment industry, and culture.

    all things that black hip hop artists had always been. but “they” ignored us, largely. i didnt say him being white was the only reason he was and is popular, but it is DIRECTLY related to his huge success. you should know this joe, your boi marshall has said it himself on more than one occasion.

  38. Nathaniel says:

    yall gotta think about how em marketed himself. all the pop icons he shitted on in music, SINGLES and music videos. its called branding…run that shit on mtv all day, add some national news attention, hatred from suburban white parents while their kids ate it all up…poof.

    the media tried to assassinate ye for interrupting taylor swift. on his bet freestyle cypher, em said

    “mail a gift to taylor swift’s trailer, a picture of my genitalia with a note sayin ‘bitch i can’t wait to nail ya'”
    ^c’mon sons…imagine iono, jay-z saying that. it’d be curtains. his race does play an important role. this is america guys…lol lest we forget?

  39. Nathaniel says:

    and i ain’t taking anything away from the dude. he’s amazing. the lyrics don’t lie. musically, as a hip hop artist…catalog, i’d go with jay though. i think em would too…oh wait, he has. pow!

    relapse 2 on deck

  40. Dashing says:

    @Will

    “Whoa. You mad, huh?” My comment was in response to Mokh’s comment “in 2003 jay was talkin the same that he’s talkin now: I’m The best and all that shit…and now after 7years he’s saying that Em was in 2003 the best rapper in the world”

    Jay said Eminem was “the biggest rapper in the world.” He never said “best.” The reason that distinction is important is because at one point MC Hammer was “the biggest rapper in the world” based on sales, popularity, and money earned. Obviously, no one would say MC Hammer was the “best” rapper at that time though. So when Jay says “biggest” he means “most popular at the time.” Simlarly, Nelly was the biggest rapper in the world for a second, as was 50 Cent. It’s not a question of content, lyrical ability, street credibility. It’s clearly about numbers.

    Now, if you want to compare Em vs Jay, that’s a whole different question. Your criteria for who’s best is flawed though. If Larry Bird beat Michael Jordan one-on-one that wouldn’t make him automatically better than him. There’s a whole bunch of criteria that you’d have to factor in that you couldn’t see in a one-on-game. (i.e. assists, clutch free throw percentage, team leading skills). Also, what if Jordan has an off-day? That’s not legit.

    Similarly, to judge Jay vs Em you can’t look at one track and see who outshined who and that determines the better rapper. There’s a lot that you have to look at. Versatility, depth of songs, depth of flows, ability to update with the times, beat selection, commercial and critical success etc. that all factor into that equation.

    Me personally, I think it’s very close with Jay and Eminem. They’re probably 1 and 2 of best right now in my mind, with Nas a very close 3rd. And I would give Jay the edge because he has more classics under his belt and his albums have more variety (different flows, production, and themes). Eminem loses points in my mind for the last few albums having predictable sounds, lyrical content, and a gimmicky first single. I believe in his natural talent though and I’m hoping Relapse 2 (with production from Just Blaze, k’Naan and others) is a big change of pace for him.

  41. dajumpoff44 says:

    Shady is the greatest period!Jay Z second,they are both ridiculous on the mic!!!They share a great respect for one another and thats hard to find when your both on top.Talent recognizes talent.

  42. Mokh says:

    @ nathaniel
    “and i ain’t taking anything away from the dude. he’s amazing. the lyrics don’t lie. musically, as a hip hop artist” u’r takin a looooot when u say that his “eminem’s record sales are directly related to his whiteness”

  43. Roy says:

    Nathaniel got some real talk going on.

    Yo, I don’t care about no white shit. He’s dope as fuck. I mean, his new album aint that great but shit it had some hot flows and rhymes. It aint all that lyrically but still crazy. Better than Encore. Encore had NOTHING to offer. Man regardless, the dude’s dope. Man in the end, why Em sold 80 mill records worldwide doesn’t matter. Just the fact that he did. I mean, as an artist not just hip hop. It’s hard for any artist of any genre to sell how much he has. And straight up there are more white artists outside of hip hop. So that in itself is an accomplishment.

    People gotta realize, he’s still one of our own. He’s a rapper, we accepted him. He may be white, but he’s still hip hop. Be proud of what the man accomplished just like any other rapper.

  44. JayJay says:

    @Roy….that’s some real shit… Cosign

  45. JayJay says:

    Pretty soon this is gonna be the hottest post on RR…..all because Em’s named was dropped. Damn white boy….

  46. Mokh says:

    @ Roy
    I Agree 100 per cent!

  47. jdot says:

    Bulletproof vest in 03? Sounds like Curtis to me..

  48. Nathaniel says:

    @mokh,

    well i guess when he says it he’s taking away from himself, with your logic. i didn’t say it was the only reason, but it does weigh in. case in point, his album sales don’t = a sufficient argument to his greatness. sorry…Dashing (above) i think, said it best.

  49. Dashing says:

    It’s very possible that both of these statements are true.

    1. Eminem is one of the nicest, dopest rappers in the game.
    2. Being white, while initially a huge stumbling block for Em, eventually did contribute to his level of success and acceptance.

    Eminem’s records were played on rock stations that would never play hip hop records. He got play on VH1 back when they never played hip hop records (before it became a haven for bad reality dating shows).

    I’d also submit this, although it’s hard to play the “if” game

    1. If Eminem was white with half of his talent, we probably never would have heard of him.
    2. If Eminem was black with the same talent, he’d probably be like a Pharoahe Monch (a great, well respected underground rapper with limited commercial success)

    Like Nathaniel said, Em said it himself. Listen to “White America”

    “Look at these eyes, baby blue, baby just like yourself,
    if they were brown, Shady lose, Shady sits on the shelf,
    but Shady’s cute, Shady knew, Shady’s dimple’s would help,
    make ladies swoon Baby, {ooh baby}, look at my sales,
    Let’s do the math, if I was black, I would’ve sold half,
    I ain’t have to graduate from Lincoln high school to know that,
    But I could rap, so fuck school,
    I’m too cool to go back,
    Gimme the mic, show me where the fuckin’ studio’s at,
    When I was underground, no one gave a fuck I was white,
    No labels wanted to sign me, almost gave up, I was like,
    Fuck it, until I met Dre, the only one to look past,
    Gave me a chance, and I lit a fire up under his ass,
    Helped him get back to the top,
    Every black fan that I got,
    Was probably his in exchange for every white fan that he’s got,
    Like damn, we just swapped,
    Sittin’ back lookin’ at shit, wow,
    I’m like my skin is it starting to work to my benefit now”

    That said, no one should use Eminem’s race to try to downplay or eliminate his talent. If it was just that, he would have been a gimmick and he would have disappeared quickly. He has the respect of every rapper in the game (and deservedly so) and very few MCs can say that.

  50. JayJay says:

    @Dashing….one of my favorite Em songs

  51. Nathaniel says:

    @Dashing

    indeed indeed indeed. i agree wholeheartedly. i stated the white boi can rhyme circles around a large percentage of rap…(a percentage in the 90’s lol). i was only commenting on his astronomical record sales, and reminding the thread to remember we DO live in america. but yea, nothing further…you clarified nicely mane.

  52. Jimbo Slice says:

    I agree wholeheartedly as well. Em is the only MC that I would publically say got in Jay when they did that collab on Jay’s album and that’s not even a disss to HOV but M went off. The boy snapped.
    can rhyme circles around a large percentage of rap…www.reverbnation.com/blastmusicconcepts looking forward to seeing Jay and Remi facilitate Live Nation

  53. rakim allah says:

    in terms of percentage in the 90’s…..it’s easily 99% of rap.

    white america hits the nail on the head in a lot of ways. the white boy deserves his throne though.

  54. Tame . says:

    Fuck Gucci . . .
    WE OFF THAT . . .On TO THE NEXT ONE ! ! !
    Relapse 2 please .

  55. Drucifer says:

    Cant blame him for wearing a vest at that time……….At that time the whole crew was in conflict with Benzino, Murder Inc and all the drug dealers who were behind Irv’s ass, the Suge Knight thing with him poppin up at video shoots………..All 3 of those aformentioned names have pretty credible street reputations………I’d be wearing a vest too…….

  56. Sin says:

    Idk how anybody kan say jay is better than em.
    It’s ludicrous. The proof is in the pudding, jus ask Deshaun holton. RIP

  57. Cal says:

    Man despite all the success and fame Em’s shared the fact that he’d never return or even repeat the 01-04 era when he sat on Everest all alone!

    Speaking on what Jay said, reading the whole transcript there’s a certain duplicitous nature to the way he keeps saying he found Em’s fame “sad” almost like he was saying “yeah yeah he was bigger than me but I wouldn’t want it anyway!”

  58. Toya says:

    “yeah yeah he was bigger than me but I wouldn’t want it anyway!”
    ————————————————-
    … And it can’t hurt that he wifeyed Beyonce.

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