Charlamagne Tha God Criticizes Rick Rubin For JAY-Z Interview

Rarely do we get hard-hitting journalism in music anymore, especially when taking on stalwarts like JAY-Z.

Charlamagne Tha God, who interviews people for a living, felt Rubin dropped the ball.

“I had my reservations about the doc when I saw it at the premiere,” Charlamagne said. “I understand that Rick Rubin has a reverence for music, I just didn’t know if he had a reverence for JAY-Z’s music. JAY carries the doc. But, Rubin was just p****** me off with some of his questions, cause it’s just like, he just wasn’t going as deep as I wanted him to.”

Charlamagne also questioned if Rubin lived Hip Hop enough to conduct the interview, saying he felt Angie Martinez and Guru should have got the look.

The panel went back and forth about the merits of Rubin, ultimately saying he wasn’t a natural interviewer, producer, and mostly was known for taste and a golden ear.

“When you get JAY-Z that talkative, I need an interviewer that can really pull. We haven’t gotten that push and pull, and I don’t think he will.”

Charlamagne also said when it comes to learning about JAY-Z the doc works as it lets JAY put his guard down.

The series premiered last week and will continue with two new episodes every week. The 8 part series will examine JAY through his music, telling the stories of his biggest hits.

In the original teaser, HOV explains the purpose behind the doc.

“Everyone had the same experience. Except I was the one to stand on the soapbox and articulate what we were going through. So the pain, we don’t say it’s necessary. We don’t say you need it, but if it’s there, you use it,” JAY tells Rubin.

The series streams on HBO and Mubi and will continue through October.