Today, CBS Mornings aired the first part of Gayle King’s exclusive interview with Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, visiting the iconic rapper on location at the ‘The Book of Hov’ exhibit located in the Brooklyn Public Library.
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Introducing the segment, King revealed that since its opening in July, the Brooklyn Public Library has seen an increase of 97% in new card activations.
As Gayle and Hov walked through the exhibit, Jay revealed a few interesting tidbits about his three decade plus career as a musician, songwriter, and businessman.
Analyzing his album cover artwork on display, Jay-Z credited Vol.2 as his “most important” album as he tells Gayle it was the record “that honed his craft as a songwriter”.
In a somber reflection, when recounting the place of In My Lifetime Vol.1 in his discography, Jay revealed that the “Streets Is Watching” is the last song he ever played for Biggie before his untimely death in 1997. According to Jay , Biggie was enamored by the record and asked if “the rest of the album would sound like that” indicating to Hov that Big felt he was on the way.
Additional nuggets Jay gave King is that he would never sell his masters as acquiring them was the “fight of his life” but seemed resigned to the fact “if his kids decide to sell it’s up to them”.
The Brooklyn Public Library ‘Book of Hov’ exhibit runs through December 4th. Check back with us for coverage of part 2 of the interview.
Check out the highlights of the interview below:
