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I'm constantly exchanging ideas with new artists. Honestly, with Jay-Z, our only interaction was a brief hello after I signed.
I don't wanna be yelling all my life. How loud did I have to yell to say that Jay-Z was the man and the best rapper of all time?
House, rap, R&B, disco rock, they are all part of hip-hop culture. Why you ain't playing Kraftwerk along with Jay-Z? That's hip-hop.
People compare me to Kendrick. I've seen comparisons with Jay-Z, with Nas, with Chance The Rapper. I get a lot of Eminem comparisons.
If we got into a time machine and went back to the 1700s, classical and baroque music would have been the equivalent of Beyonce and Jay-Z.
I come from where Mike Tyson came from. I come from right across the street from Jay-Z. I didn't have a pond in my backyard. I saw violence.
I'm trying to be the Jay-Z of comedy one day. I don't know if there's any comedy moguls out there, but I would love to be the first comedy mogul.
I grew up part of the MTV generation. I saw Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z on TV and I thought: 'Wow, look at these powerful black people.' I wanted that.
In the past, when Jay-Z did 'Best of Both Worlds' with R. Kelly, I thought it was a great album, but the campaign went south because of personalities.
If I was stuck on an island with one artist's discography, it'd probably be Jay-Z's. It would keep me entertained and it has a lot of stories behind it.
Swag defines an artist, period. Lil Wayne has his super-tattooed pierces and dreads swag. Jay-Z has his New York, grown man, Beyonce and 40/40 Club swag.
I listen to music - Lady Gaga, Kanye, Jay-Z, the Beatles, Robert Plant - while I'm walking down Fifth Avenue to my office in the Trump Tower early each morning.
Jay-Z was huge. I was like 2 years old throwing up my diamond, rapping. I know all of 'The Blueprint.' I've heard that album 1,000 times. And 'Reasonable Doubt.'
Nobody from my label called any of their labels to get this done. Most of it happened very naturally. Mary and I have been friends for a long time. Then Jay-Z offered.
I listened to a lot of Jay-Z and Kanye coming up, which would be unexpected for a boy bander like me. But I'd listen to a lot of that, and a lot of Ed Sheeran, actually.
I know right now she has no idea who I am, but I'd like to collaborate with Enya one day. Of course I'd love to work with Jay-Z, maybe even Phil Collins. I love his voice.
There's Jay-Z, who morphs a certain street hustler's cool and indifference into CEO extravagance. But for all his prominence, Jay-Z hasn't written a lot of crossover hits.
You go to any Jay-Z concert, and he plays his hits. Comedians don't have hits. You have to have a whole brand-new hour. You have no hits to rely on. It's the hardest thing.
You going to call me arrogant for believing in myself? Come on! It's a competitive sport. Rappin' is the closest thing to boxing. Jay-Z said that. You gotta fight every day.
Jay-Z is one of the biggest stars in the world and such an icon. He was so down to earth. It was like talking to a friend. I have huge respect for how he handles everything.
From Jay-Z to Nas to Kanye to whoever, I'm just not the type to say, 'Hey, let me get on your album.' If they want me, they're going to reach out and say, 'I need a joint from you.'
I like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Common. But I like the underground stuff like Young Jeezy, Black Rob and Shine. I also love heavy metal like Slipknot and Pantera, It's very intense stuff.
Jay-Z has kind of shown that you can get to the very top without waiting, without following rules. In fact, it's better if you don't. People will admire you more if you break the rules.
Biggie has definitely stood the test of time. He's the reason Jay-Z and loads of other rappers are who they are. His flow and wordplay is brilliant - the stories he would tell are just nuts.
Like, I always knew I wanted a Kanye West feature and a Jay-Z feature. I knew that starting in the game when it wasn't even realistic to happen. I already knew who I wanted to do records with.
My favorite artist was probably Jay-Z. He's the one who inspired me to start writing music. He's a wordsmith. He's very clever. He uses a lot of similes and metaphors. He's a beast of a rapper.
One of my favorite moments was when me and Jay-Z made a song 'For Rhyme or Reason.' It ended up on 'Reasonable Doubt,' but they switched the beat because we couldn't get clearance from my label.
Jay-Z ain't a manager; he owns a management company. He been through this; he been through the game for a long time, so he knows tactics in taking artists in certain directions we need to go in.
I rarely get starstruck, but I've been a Jay-Z fan since fourth grade and had a huge crush on Beyonce in high school. I respect their artistry, and now I've joined Roc Nation - it's even more crazy.
I learned how to tell stories with Jay-Z on 'City Is Mine.' I learned how to film and choreograph dancing on 'Can I Get A...,' and I got to kind of be a documentary filmmaker with 'Hard Knock Life.'
I remember when I was younger, I read that Jay-Z was 33 and I was just like, 'Damn! This dudes really still goin for it?' It's just so rare that you see any rapper over 30 doing anything interesting.
When you look at a guy like a Jay-Z or look at a guy like a Nas, you don't necessarily qualify them as conscious rap purely, although they are extremely conscious of the social inequities that prevail.
I hope the business sense that artists like Jay-Z and Nelly are showing rubs off on the young players. I want somebody to stand up and say, Look, these kids got it going on. We want to be a part of them.
You think Jay-Z is going broke? LeBron is going broke? These guys have figured it out. They came from poor backgrounds, broken homes, and they figured out how to be businessmen. They become new aspirations.
I have periods where I listen to regular rap, Jay-Z, Eminem and Lil Wayne. The next day I might have some Christian alternative music. The next day I have on some dance music. It all varies what I listen to.
The electro scene is all over the clubs now: groups like Duck Sauce, Empire of the Sun, even MGMT. But I get inspiration from everywhere. I'll go to the gym and put on old albums - Guns N' Roses or old Jay-Z.
I like Jay-Z. I love Luda. I love Ledisi. I like Beyonce, of course. I think she's just brilliant. She's a triple threat. But my favorite - my all-time rapper is Tupac. See, I could have been Tupac's girlfriend.
I'm trying to escape the shackles of a pen and a pad. I've sat in sessions with Jay-Z where he doesn't write anything down. He'll come up with the most incredible triple entendre, all in his head - it's amazing.
When I met Jay-Z and Beyonce I was in awe, stuttering like crazy. This guy grew up in the projects and he and Beyonce are a billionaire couple. The empires they've built, affecting so many lives, is unbelievable.
Dirty martinis and music - that's the big motto in our family. We get the booze going, and the music starts playing. Always old-school hip-hop. Jay-Z. Tribe Called Quest. The Pharcyde. My parents love that stuff.
My pops put me on to Jay-Z and Kanye, and my discoveries would be like Future and Kendrick Lamar. I turned my pops on to Kendrick, Young Thug. I feel my mom made me play the Isley Brothers and real, real old music.
When I'm not in the booth, I'm one of the most laid-back guys. But growing up, I liked DMX, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and T.I. - dudes that went all out on the track. My first songs were energetic because I liked their energy.
Jay-Z is as politically correct as some of the politicians. He's safe. There's points when you're acquiring financing, you make adjustments. He's made those adjustments. It's his choice. For me, it's not a necessity.
In each genre, I've been around the biggest. In pop I toured with Justin Timberlake, with reggae it was Sean Paul; I toured with Jay-Z and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's all an education for me, to see how they do it.
If it's time to party, it's time for hip hop. I love Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye. If I'm chilling at home though, I'm listening to Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation, Radiohead, DJ Shadow. I also listen to a lot of classical.
I like all kinds of music. On my playlist at the minute is Professor Green, Tinie Tempah, Maroon 5, Stereophonics, Jay-Z, Drake, and lots more. I always listen to music when I'm in the gym; it helps me to get pumped up.
Jay-Z called me onstage during my song that I produced for 'Watch the Throne?' That was surreal, man. One of those situations I'll never forget. I'll be able to show my kids the footage of when Jay-Z brought me onstage.
No one controlled Frank Sinatra or told him how to sing. No secret group of managers has been telling someone like Jay-Z what to do or how to look. And no one tells me what to do except me and the people who believe in me.
DMX wasn't checking what his fans were saying to him on Twitter or Facebook. Jay-Z is on a boat in Saint-Tropez. I'm hands-on. Girls write to me like I'm their diary. That's a huge responsibility. I don't take it for granted.
I think it would be different to work with a guy like Kanye West or Jay-Z, those guys are so phenomenal, but just to work with a rapper, I don't think is really my thing. I really like songs, like true songs. Like indie songs.