[gentle music]
Downloaded from YTS.MX
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
[gentle music]
- No, no, don't sweat this. Mic too close.
- One, two, one, two. This is how we do it from Brooklyn.
[Old Dirty Bastard beatboxing]
- Oh yeah. That sound kinda funky.
- Ow.
- Now break it down. And then I start.
- [Narrator] When you hear the name Jay-Z,
you can't help but think of greatness.
From humble beginnings,
growing up in the Brooklyn Projects,
to becoming the world's first hiphop billionaire,
Jay-Z never let his past or surroundings
deter him from reaching his ultimate goal.
Motivated to give himself the life he always wanted,
he turned his pain into passion
and used the suffering he experienced growing up
to influence the words and lyrics in his music.
And when these lyrics struck a chord with the public,
the rollercoaster ride of his life and never slowed down.
For over 30 years,
Jay-Z has become synonymous with the world of hip hop,
and the genre wouldn't be the same without him.
He changed the game and inspired millions
to follow in his footsteps to greatness.
The road to success wasn't easy,
but even with a few bumps along the way,
the boy from Brooklyn came out on top.
[mellow hip hop music]
- [Narrator] New York City, the city that never sleeps.
The Big Apple, the concrete jungle,
where dreams are made up.
Whatever you know it as,
it's one of the world's most important cities.
And as the birthplace of hip hop in America,
it's sacred ground for many.
- [Narrator] From the block parties of the South Bronx
to the stages of Madison Square Garden,
hip hop has always been a reflection of the energy and grit
associated with living in New York.
Emerging in the 1970s,
hip hop was a byproduct of the economic and societal issues
that many experienced growing up in America.
- Well, I'm one.
- I'm two.
- Are you ready to go?
'Cause the human beatbox gonna take the show.
[man beatboxing]
- Yes, y'all, you don't stop.
Yes, yes, I'm the person they call [indistinct] G
guaranteed to rock the mic for you young ladies.
I said we go like this, and we go like that.
Homeboys and girls, we can never beat it back, go huh.
- [Narrator] At street parties and community gatherings,
rapping was the creative outlet for the disenfranchised,
particularly young, Black, Latin, and Caribbean Americans
who wanted to tell their own stories in their own way.
By the end of the 1970s,
the release of Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight,
which reached the top 40 in the US Billboard charts,
propelled hip hop out of the local communities
and entered the spotlight.
["Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight"]
♪ Hip hop hippy
♪ Hippy to the hip hip hop
♪ And you don't stop
♪ Rock it out baby bubba, to the boogity bang bang ♪
♪ The boogie, to the boogie the beat ♪
- [Will] Everybody say, yeah. Here we go.
Here we go.
- [Narrator] As the genre moved from block parties to clubs,
a whole new audience began to experience and enjoy the music
that was once purely associated with the disenfranchised.
- [Will] Hold on. I like to introduce my dancers-
- [Narrator] And by the end of the 1980s,
the once niche world of hip hop
was part of the mainstream culture.
- Is the undisputed greatest DJ alive. DJ Jazzy Jeff.
I wanna let my dancers
do a little something individually first.
Oh, just do little something.
[hip hop beat]
[muffled chanting]
- [Narrator] Many see the period from 1986 to 1993
as the golden age of hip hop in America.
The emergence of artists like Tupac Shakur,
the Notorious B.I.G. and Nas
were just a handful of popular artists
emerging during this time.
Characterized by its diversity, quality, and innovation,
it was a time when every new record
and every emerging artist seemed to reinvent the genre
through the ever-growing technique of sampling.
- We gonna get funky with it in the place
to be a little something like this.
Hey Jeff, are you ready?
You ready? Now you gotta test it up, man.
'Cause we gotta get ready to rip it. You ready?
You got it?
Test it up?
One.
Two.
One, two, DJ Jazzy Jeff and yours truly, the Fresh Prince.
I'm making an attention to all the events.
- [Narrator] It allowed hip hop music to defy generations,
as songs from the past became beats of the present.
- [Will] And different styles music,
never will another group go be able to do this.
By doing this, the present with the past,
I hip hop with the [indistinct].
Let me get everybody waving their hands back and forth,
a little something like this.
Let me hear you say yeah.
- [Audience] Yeah.
- [Narrator] For anyone growing up in the Projects
during the 1980s and 1990s,
the influence of hip hop cannot be understated.
It gave the people who had no voice a real voice,
and over the course of the 1980s and 1990s,
these voices were beginning to be heard more and more.
For Sean Corey Carter, the boy who would become Jay-Z,
being exposed to the early eras of hip hop
became an education that would change his life forever.
Born in Brooklyn In 1969,
Carter was raised in the Marcy Projects,
alongside his three siblings, by a single mother
after his father Adnis Reeves, abandoned his family.
Carter has referred to the 27 six story buildings
that make up the Projects as,
"Huge islands built mostly in the middle of nowhere,
designed to warehouse lives
that keep the struggles of the urban poor
invisible to the larger country."
Carter remembers having to dodge glass shards
that lined the grassy patches
that passed for a park while playing touch football,
and unresponsive heroin addicts collapsed on benches.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s,
the Marcy Projects and the surrounding neighborhood
would also become synonymous with hip hop
as the home of several talented musicians,
including Lil Kim, Mos Def, Aaliyah,
and the Notorious B.I.G.
Unfortunately, hip hop was not the only product of the 1980s
altering the surroundings of the Marcy houses
and the neighboring area.
When the crack epidemic hit the Projects he lived in,
Carter remembers what had been was gone, and in its place,
was a new way of life,
that was suddenly everywhere
and seemed like it had been there forever.
[somber music]
Determined to make something of his life
and escape the drugs, violence and poverty
that surrounded him growing up, Carter turned to music,
something he had been passionate about
throughout his teenage years.
Influenced by his peers and the local hip hop scene,
Carter would write raps in poems in his notebook,
a form of therapy to tell his story
and help him understand himself.
He remembers how for days he filled page after page
of a notebook.
Then he would bang out a beat on the table,
his bedroom window, whatever had a flat surface.
He would practice from the time he woke up
until the time he went to sleep.
As the '80s progressed,
Carter became even more involved in the hip hop scene
that was rapidly transforming youth culture.
Subwoofers and speakers seven feet tall
filled the landscape of the courtyards at the Marcy houses,
the epic battles shaking the Projects to their core.
- [Speaker] Ready? Go on.
- All right. Hova December 26, back at y'all.
Peace and love. [indistinct].
What's happening in here? Gotta [indistinct].
- [Narrator] Another resident of Marcy Houses
was Jonathan Burkes, Jazz-O.
In Carter's early days, he acted as his mentor
and pushed him to explore his musical talents.
Jay-Z's name actually comes from his mentor,
the similar structure acting as a salute to him.
In addition, it's a reference to both his childhood nickname
of Jazzy, and the J-Z subway station near his Brooklyn home.
In 1989, he joined his mentor to record a song
called The Originators,
which won the pair an appearance on an episode
of Yo MTV Raps.
♪ J-A-Y-Z, y'all know me, I wish you co-write ♪
♪ 'Cause you'd pay me all the rhymes you stole from me ♪
♪ Leave you freeze in a minute
♪ You gotta get in it breathing only when it lets, no sweat ♪
♪ I stutter-step with ease,
♪ And stop faking, you're making it, son ♪
♪ I'm breaking and breaking and breaking your tongue ♪
♪ Don't get caught perpetrating the cool ones ♪
- [Narrator] Jazz scored a record deal before Carter,
and invited his protegee to London with him
to record some new music.
[hip hop music]
Jazz's album tanked after a poor decision was made
for his first single.
He went from being courted at the highest level
to not having the people at EMI return his calls.
The executives who had withdrawing their support from Jazz
were then trying to contact Carter for a solo project.
Given the way his mentor had been treated,
Carter temporarily gave up his dreams
of a rap recording contract.
But his first real big break was soon to come.
From the 1990s to 1995, Jay-Z returned to street hustling,
while still attempting to forge a music career.
He would appear on other artists' songs with the odd verses
and collaborations here and there,
but never enough clout for his own project.
After being turned down by several labels in the industry,
Jay-Z, Damon Dame Dash, and Kareem Biggs Burke
started their own record label.
They pooled their resources to form Roc-A-Fella Records.
♪ You got your own 2001 to ride in ♪
♪ And keep your ass tight up in Versace ♪
♪ That's why you gotta watch your friends you ♪
♪ Got to watch me they conniving, shit ♪
♪ The first chance to crack the bank ♪
♪ They try me, all they get is 50 cent franks ♪
♪ And papayas, from the village to the telly ♪
♪ Time to kill it on your belly no question ♪
♪ Have more chicks between my sheets than Essence ♪
♪ They say sex is a weapon, so when I shoot ♪
♪ Meet your death in less than 8 seconds ♪
♪ Still pounding in my after life ♪
♪ Laughing, my shit is tight, who you asking ♪
♪ Ain't no nigga like the one I got ♪
♪ No one can fuck me better
♪ Sleeps around but he gives me a lot ♪
- [Narrator] Initially,
the label acted as an independent outlet
for Jay-Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt, in 1996.
Reasonable Doubt was the first sign
that Jay-Z had something to offer
within the hip hop community.
He had the beats,
the lyrics and the connections to make it happen.
But with so many artists vying for the role of King of Rap
in the 1990s, and the turf wars between the East Side
and West Side of American hip hop reaching a fever pitch,
it was one of the most difficult periods
to try and reach the top.
- Biggie Smalls doing his thing in the rap world.
That's right, baby.
What's up man? From dance tracks to Video Music Box.
I'm back with you, man. What's up?
- I'm just chilling. Trying to stay outta trouble.
- Yeah, well you game man. You got a lot going on.
Are there any movie deals or anything?
- Jamming when she was pregnant with me. Yeah.
- [Interviewer] So, you were right in the middle
of the storm.
- I'm still in the storm. I'm still in the storm.
As a matter of fact, my mother was in a book.
It's a book about my mother
called Look For Me In The Whirlwind.
And I like to think that's my motto.
"Look for me in the whirlwind."
Even now, this is all a whirlwind for me.
[gunshots]
[gun clicks]
- [Narrator] The mysterious deaths of Tupac Shakur
and Biggie Smalls in 1996 and 1997,
sent shockwaves through the world of hip hop.
It was the crescendo of increasing tensions
between the East and West coast,
which had been going toe to toe for the past decade.
Within six months of each other, both artists,
who were arguably the most influential of the decade,
had been killed by unknown assailants
in drive-by shootings.
For Jay-Z, the death of Biggie especially
had a more human impact.
- I see you. I'm saying, you doing a good job, man.
- I try to.
- Yo, this is Biggie Smalls. That's right.
It's the mad celebrity birthday bash JD Ralph McDaniels.
- [Narrator] From attending the same school
and growing up in the same neighborhood,
the two almost lived the same life,
and having spoken to Biggie the day he died,
this was personal for Jay-Z.
- [Jay-Z] 'Cause I spoke to him, like I just spoke to him.
I was like, "Nah."
I immediately dismissed it. Like, "You bugging."
It was like, "Son, it happened. I'm telling you, honestly."
[somber music]
- [Narrator] Biggie paved the way for rap music,
and his legacy can still be heard
in the modern music landscape.
Jay didn't just lose a friend,
but lost his musical inspiration.
The empty space at the top of hip hop
by the deaths of the two biggest names
within the genre was bound to be filled.
And with his own record label
and an impressive debut release,
Jay-Z was in the perfect position to fill those shoes.
The release of In My Lifetime in 1997
was a revelation for Jay-Z.
The emotional state he was in due to the death
of his friend made this album more personal than ever
with references to his difficult upbringing
rife throughout the record.
Where I'm From paints a grim picture of his life
in the Marcy Projects,
giving listeners an insight into what it was like
to grow up in Brooklyn.
♪ Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son ♪
♪ Ain't nothing nice
♪ Been many places but I'm Brooklyn's own ♪
♪ Cough up a lung, where I'm from, Marcy son ♪
♪ Ain't nothing nice
♪ Been many places but I'm Brooklyn's own ♪
- [Narrator] But with references to Biggie
throughout the album,
and title tracks like The City's Mine,
it was obvious Jay-Z was not just reliving the past:
he was embracing the legacy of his lost friend
whilst looking to fill the power vacuum
that had been left behind.
[muffled cheering]
- [Narrator] It wouldn't be until the release
of Jay-Z's third record, Hard Knock Life in 1998,
that it looked more likely that the place at the top of rap
was fully reserved for Jay-Z.
And after its release,
Jay-Z's life was going to change forever.
The title track, which famously sampled his chorus
from the Broadway musical Annie
became Jay-Z's most popular single to date,
and the album would eventually become
Jay-Z's most commercially successful album.
♪ As hell when I come through
♪ The life and times of Sean Carter, volume two ♪
♪ It's the hard knock life for us ♪
♪ Instead of treated, we get tricked ♪
♪ Instead of kisses, we get kicked ♪
♪ It's the hard knock life
♪ I flow for those dro-ed out
- [Narrator] Seemingly a strange inspiration for a rapper,
but there was a connection.
"I wasn't worried about the clash between the hard lyrics
and the image of redhead Annie.
Instead, I found the mirror between the two stories;
that Annie's story was mine, and mine was hers.
And the song was the place where our experiences
weren't contradictions,
just different dimensions of the same reality."
Lyrics like, "Instead of kisses we get kicked,"
resonated with his experiences growing up in the Projects.
And although they were not orphans,
a whole generation raised themselves on the streets.
He scored a Grammy win for the record,
marking the beginning of a fruitful period
in which Jay-Z would become
one of the biggest names in hip hop.
- That's like a cherry on top.
You make music and people accept your music
all around the world.
You sell records or whatever,
but then you're nominated for awards.
So, it's like the cherry on top. It's great.
- [Narrator] By the end of the millennium,
Jay-Z was firmly at the top of the world of hip hop.
And thanks to his collaboration with Mariah Carey
on her song Heartbreaker,
he was for the first time at the top of the charts too.
♪ She wanna shop with Jay, play box with Jay ♪
♪ She wanna pillow fight in the middle of the night ♪
♪ She wanna drive my Benz with five of her friends ♪
♪ She wanna creep past the blocks spying again ♪
♪ She wanna roll with Jay, chase skeeos away ♪
♪ She wanna fight with lame chicks, blow my day ♪
♪ She wanna
- [Narrator] In the same year,
Jay-Z released The Life And Times Of S Carter,
his fourth solo album.
But the release was marred by a feud he had
with another music producer
he believed had leaked the record.
Jay was livid that his work was circulating
a month before its release,
and in his autobiography he says how he,
"Ran into the guy everyone's been telling me
is behind the bootleg.
So, I approached him.
When I told him what I suspected, to my surprise,
he got real loud with me right there
in the middle of the club.
Before I even realized what I was doing,
I headed back over to him.
But this time, I was blacking out with anger.
The next thing I knew, all hell had broken loose
in the club.
That night, the guy went straight to the police
and I was charged with assault."
[sirens wailing]
His arrest and acceptance of the punishment
was a wake up call.
With everything he had ever wanted within his grasp
being nearly taken away,
he headed back to the studio to record The Blueprint.
The record is often cited as not only Jay-Z's best album,
but one of the best albums of all time.
And was the start of his collaboration
with one of hip hop's most exciting emerging talents.
[bright music]
♪ 400 grand
- [Narrator] Whilst Jay-Z had been working his way
to the top of hip hop in America in the late 1990s,
a beat maker named Kanye West
had been slowly but surely working his way up
through the hip hop scene in Chicago.
A college dropout, West turned down the opportunity
for formal education at the age of 20
to pursue a career in music.
His decision soon paid off at the turn of the new millennium
when in 2000, West took the train from Chicago to New York,
and began producing for artists at Roc-A-Fella.
And soon enough,
he was working with Jay-Z on his upcoming album,
The Blueprint,
hoping to pave a way back
after the end of his criminal trial.
When the two worlds collided,
it was obvious to them and the people around them
that the duo were a match made in hip hop heaven.
The duo returned to the studio soon after
to start work on The Blueprint Two,
which was released at the end of 2002.
The release was also the first professional collaboration
between Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles,
one third of Destiny's Child,
who had begun embarking on her own solo projects.
And with that song, titled Bonnie and Clyde,
came rumors that Beyonce and Jay-Z were an item,
but it would be several years before it was ever official.
♪ Like it's supposed to be
♪ The '03 Bonnie and Clyde
♪ Hove and B, holla
♪ All I need in this life of sin ♪
♪ Me and my girlfriend, me and my girlfriend ♪
♪ Down to ride till the very end ♪
♪ It's me and my boyfriend
- [Mica] The reason why the relationship
between Jay-Z and Beyonce was kept a secret is business.
You get it in record companies with artists.
The minute an artist falls in love,
they're frightened that the sales will be affected by it.
So they're always like,
"Don't tell anyone you're having a relationship.
Keep it down."
Because they want you to be accessible to everyone.
They want everyone drooling over you.
They want to have the posters on the wall.
And if you know that the person who's a poster on your wall
is married or conceiving, with child or something,
it's not quite the same, is it?
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] Not long after their first collaboration,
Jay-Z returned the favor to Beyonce
by appearing in her debut smash Hit Crazy In Love.
The single went on to gain global status
and rose to the top of the US and UK music charts,
earning them both a Grammy award,
and in 2018 was ranked the greatest song
of the 21st century.
The song's lyrics fueled the already roaring fire
of their secret relationship.
And the music video, which is still iconic today,
gave fans a closer glimpse at the couple's affection
for each other.
- [Mica] Well, you know what it was?
I first heard it on the radio.
I remember hearing it on the radio and going.
This is just...
Like a James Brown song.
When you hear a James Brown song and you just.
It's so good, your face is contorted
and the beat is so good you can't keep still.
It's like, "Oh, man."
Trying to do the dishes, and it was all going off.
And then when I saw the video, that was it.
The video is the most amazing thing I've ever seen.
It was the way that she walked on the road there.
It was a dirty road with a broken down car.
But the way she did that walk.
And I always thought that Naomi Campbell
was the queen of the catwalk,
'cause she's amazing when she does that catwalk.
Naomi's famous for it, but Beyonce tore it up.
♪ Yes
♪ So crazy right now
♪ Most incredibly
♪ It's your girl, Bey
♪ It's your boy, young
♪ You ready?
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh no no ♪
- I mean, she walked along that little dusty road
with the little jeans on and the cap,
and then she went, ah.
And you were like, "Oh, yeah, seal the deal."
She was amazing.
And then you just saw this big guy, Jay-Z,
come in and do his thing.
Everyone was talking about it,
because no one was quite sure
if they were together at that time.
It was, "Are they, are they?
Is it real? Are they really together?
Is it business or what?"
It was kind of the early stages,
but the chemistry that you saw between Beyonce and Jay-Z
in that video was electrifying.
And they didn't even actually do anything
in terms of kissing or anything like that,
but it was just the intensity.
It was powerful.
She was close to him, and she has that thing
where she breathes and she kind of goes.
And it's like, "Oh my God," it was all going off.
It was great.
So, no, it was a fantastic landmark for her.
I think coming out of this sort of girl thing.
What an amazing debut as a solo artist.
You can't get higher than that.
She just completely destroyed it.
- [Narrator] Not much is known about the first meeting
between Jay-Z and Beyonce,
although many have their own theories.
They continued to keep a low profile
until their big public debut in 2004,
when they both stepped out on the VMA red carpet.
It was a welcome relief for the celebrity rumor mill,
who could finally rest knowing they were right all along.
[upbeat music]
- [Narrator] As a couple,
they continue to successfully separate their working life
in the public eye and their private life together.
Even their marriage in 2008
came with no official confirmation.
A low-key affair with friends and family
may not have been what fans wanted,
but it was exactly what Jay-Z and Beyonce needed.
[gentle music]
- [Speaker] You are asleep.
- [Speaker] Only my eyes.
- [Speaker] And my arm.
- [Narrator] In 2003,
after the success of The Blueprint Two,
Jay-Z announced that his upcoming album, The Black Album,
would be his very last, as he was planning to retire.
And he did it in style too.
With tracks like Encore and Lucifer,
Jay-Z was ending his career on the ultimate high.
His collaboration with renowned producer
and label head of Def Jam Records,
Rick Ruben on the hit 99 Problems,
proved to be one of Jay-Z's most popular songs ever.
- Give me after, "Legit." After, "Legit."
Aren't you sharp as a tack?
You some type of lawyer or something?
Somebody important or something?
I ain't passed the bar but I know a little bit
enough that you won't...
Aren't you sharp as a tack?
You some type of lawyer or something?
Lawyer or something?
- [Narrator] Having given everything to music,
Jay-Z took a backseat.
His goal was to focus on other ventures,
including nurturing more artists under his record label
and start giving back to the community.
For most of his career,
Jay-Z has proved to be more than just a music producer.
Beginning during his first retirement,
Jay-Z started to put his hand
to a number of important causes and business ventures.
Most influentially in 2003, he and his mother Gloria
founded the Sean Carter Foundation
to help individuals facing socioeconomic hardships
further their education,
making higher education possible for millions.
- I'm lucky. I'm a lucky person.
I had a talent to do something that I really loved,
and it took me to places I thought I'd never see.
My situation could have turned out differently,
much differently.
My story is a bit of an anomaly, you know?
So just making sure that people are prepared for the future,
prepared for this world,
and especially people that have drive
and want to go further.
Excuse me, and if the thing that's holding them back
is something financial,
then I don't think that's right, I don't think that's fair.
So just providing an opportunity for people
that want to further their education
and be successful, important to me.
- [Narrator] His retirement for music became a renaissance
and laid the foundations in Jay-Z's legacy,
as someone who was going to impact several lives
across the world.
After three years of working behind the scenes
and diversifying into a number of different careers,
the magnetic pull of the music industry was too much.
And by 2006, Jay was ready to be back producing
and releasing his music again.
Within a few years, Jay-Z had released two albums,
been on multiple tours,
continued charitable work with institutions like the UN,
and set up an educational trust
for the children of Sean Bell,
a Black man who had been shot and killed on his wedding day
by the police.
It was obvious that this new era for Jay-Z
valued music just as highly as helping others
who are less fortunate than him.
[upbeat music]
Jay-Z's return to music was huge,
and his 2008 appearance at Glastonbury
is one of the most iconic performances of all time.
He was the first major hip hop artist
to headline the Pyramid stage,
and this fact has notoriously riled the likes
of Noel Gallagher of Oasis,
who implied it was something that would never have happened
in his heyday.
Jay-Z responded in the only way he could,
and used the performance and music to make his point heard.
["Oasis - Wonderwall"]
♪ Back beat the word is on the street ♪
♪ That the fire in your heart is out ♪
♪ I'm sure you've heard it all before ♪
♪ But you never really had a doubt ♪
♪ I don't believe that anybody
♪ Feels the way I do about you now ♪
- [Narrator] Headlining Glastonbury was a turning point
for the world of hip hop,
and emphasized how far it had come since the 1990s
and entering the mainstream.
With artists like Kendrick Lamar,
Stormzy and Kanye West following in his footsteps,
it's clear that Jay-Z changed the game forever.
One year after headlining Glastonbury,
Jay-Z released The Blueprint Three.
With the release came Jay-Z's biggest hit to date,
Empire State of Mind, featuring Alicia Keys.
The song acts as a homage to New York,
referencing specific places and people from Carter's youth.
♪ I can make it anywhere
♪ Yeah they love me everywhere
♪ I used to cop in Harlem
♪ Hola my Dominicanos
♪ Right there up on Broadway
♪ Brought me back to that McDonald's ♪
♪ Took it to my stash box
♪ 560 State Street
- [Narrator] It's a song
that reveals everything Jay is about,
and what his music has always represented.
He writes candidly about it in his autobiography.
"When I first heard the track for Empire,
I was sure it would be a hit.
It was gorgeous.
My instinct was to dirty it up,
to tell the stories of the city's gritty side,
to use stories about hustling and getting hustled
to add tension to the soaring beauty of the chorus."
♪ New York
♪ Concrete jungle where dreams are made up ♪
♪ There's nothing you can do
♪ Now you're in New York
- [Jay-Z] And you say New York City.
Yeah.
♪ These streets will make you feel brand new ♪
♪ These lights will inspire you ♪
♪ Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York ♪
- Yes, yes, yes.
♪ Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game ♪
♪ Shit, I make the Yankee hat
♪ More famous than a Yankee can ♪
♪ You should know I bleed blue but I ain't a Crip though ♪
- [Narrator] Following his successful return
to the music scene,
it was only a matter of time
before Jay-Z collaborated with Kanye West again,
who himself had been enjoying his career
and was now releasing his own albums.
In 2011, they released a joint album, Watch The Throne.
The project features guest appearances from the Dream,
Frank Ocean and Beyonce,
as well as posthumous vocals from Curtis Mayfield,
and in this clip, Otis Redding.
♪ They ain't see me 'cause I pulled up in my other Benz ♪
♪ Last week I was in my other other Benz ♪
♪ Throw your diamonds up
♪ 'Cause we in this bitch another 'gain ♪
♪ Photoshoot fresh, looking like wealth ♪
♪ I'm boutta call the paparazzi on myself ♪
♪ Live from the Mercer
♪ Run up on Yeezy the wrong way ♪
♪ I might murk ya
♪ Flee in the G450, I might surface ♪
♪ Political refugee, asylum can be purchased ♪
♪ Everything's for sale
♪ Got five passports
- [Narrator] From headlining Glastonbury
to achieving his first number one record,
Jay-Z made a return to the music industry
unlike anyone before him.
He was just, as if not even more important to the scene
than ever before,
and it looked like nothing was going to stop him
from becoming even greater.
For many, the life of Jay-Z and Beyonce
seemed to be perfect.
And even amongst their peers in Hollywood,
they're the source of envy
for their ability to keep matters of their private life
private,
especially in the world where celebrity lives
are constantly put under the microscope.
By 2006,
they were voted the most powerful couple in the world
by Time Magazine.
In 2009, they were ranked as Hollywood's top earning couple.
And throughout the 21st century,
they continued to top the charts
with both their individual and collaborative endeavors.
By 2012, they had started a family of their own too,
with the birth of their first daughter, Blue Ivy.
But behind the scenes, tensions were brewing
between the world's most powerful couple,
tension that was thrust into the public domain
following the release of leaked CCTV from an elevator
at the Met Gala.
What happens at the annual gala,
which is widely regarded
as the world's most prestigious and glamorous fashion event,
is shrouded in as much mystery
as the early relationship between Jay-Z and Beyonce.
However, the world finally got a glimpse
behind the scenes of the most famous secret party
of the world's rich and famous.
But it wasn't the glimpse into the glamorous lifestyle
that anyone expected.
Following rumors of Jay-Z's infidelity,
Beyonce's sister Solange Knowles attacked the hip hop mogul
in a lift.
[tense music]
The pristine image of the relationship
between the world's most famous couple had been shattered,
as videos and photos of the incident spread online.
But the two went on to address the issue
in the only way they knew how: through their music.
[gentle music]
- [Narrator] Following the incident,
Jay-Z and Beyonce went back into the studio
at the same time,
recording and producing their own albums,
both individually and collaboratively.
For the couple,
the process was like a therapy session for them,
and you could hear it in the music.
Beyonce's 2016 album Lemonade was lauded by critics
as not only her best,
but the singer's most personal work to date.
The record addresses her emotional journey
after her husband Jay-Z's infidelity
in a generational and racial context.
The fifth track, Daddy's Lessons,
is a turning point for the album,
with Beyonce linking Jay-Z cheating on her
with the experience of her father Matthew Knowles' adultery.
Tellingly, in an interview with Elle Magazine, Beyonce said,
"I hope I can create art that helps people heal.
Art that makes people feel proud of their struggle.
Everyone experiences pain,
but sometimes you need to be uncomfortable to transform."
♪ You are my sunlight
Beyonce explained the concept of the Lemonade album
to Melinda Matsoukas,
the director of the Formation music video.
She wanted to show the historical impact of slavery
on Black love, and what it has done to the Black family,
and Black men and women,
"How we're almost socialized not to be together."
["Beyonce - Formation"]
♪ With that Creole make a Texas bama ♪
♪ I like my baby heir with baby hair and Afros ♪
♪ I like my Negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils ♪
- This is history.
Thank you so much for being here tonight.
♪ Okay ladies, now let's get in formation, I slay ♪
♪ I slay, I slay, I slay
♪ Slay, or you get eliminated.
♪ Okay ladies, now let's get in formation, I slay ♪
♪ Okay ladies, now let's get in formation ♪
♪ You are my sunlight
- [Narrator] In 2017, Jay-Z released 4:44,
which was his response to the rumors in Lemonade.
The album was Jay's most personal yet,
and much like his wife's album,
garnered universal acclaim from music critics.
Hear how personal he becomes on the titular track.
♪ Apologize
♪ I seen the innocence leave your eyes ♪
♪ I still mourn this death
♪ I apologize for the stillborns ♪
♪ 'Cause I wasn't present, your body wouldn't accept ♪
♪ I apologize to all the women
♪ Whom I toyed with your emotions ♪
♪ 'Cause I was emotionless
♪ And I apologize 'cause at your best ♪
♪ You are love and because
♪ I fall short of what I say I'm all about ♪
♪ Your eyes leave with the soul ♪
♪ That your body once housed
♪ And you stare blankly in the space ♪
♪ Thinking of all the time you wasted ♪
♪ On all this basic shit
- [Narrator] Just as he had used music during the 1990s
to talk about his troubled upbringing,
Jay-Z used 4:44 to get candid about his current life.
The album covers a wide array of topics: his family life,
relationships, ongoing hip hop culture,
stereotypes and racism.
He directly references lines from Lemonade on the album.
On Beyonce's song Sorry, she sings,
"You better call Becky with the good hair."
Jay responds on the track Family Feud by rapping,
"Leave me alone, Becky."
The Story of OJ references racism, stereotypes,
and the experience of being a Black person in America.
Smile discusses his mother being a lesbian,
featuring a poem from her.
Pitchfork reviewer Sheldon Pierce
concluded that, "The most crafty and evasive MC
lays bare his complicated life.
This late career gem is personal and diamond sharp,
confronting the failings and legacy of Sean Carter
and America."
He also called the album an historical artifact.
For the world's most powerful couple,
producing dual albums in response
to their troubled love life
would prove to be incredibly important,
and by the end of 2017,
their life was back on track as they welcomed twins,
a daughter named Rumi and a son named Sir.
Any memory of the Met Gala incident
was quickly washed away in 2022,
and their status as the king and queen of music
was secured, as Beyonce tied Jay-Z
for the most Grammy nominations of all time.
With 88 nominations each,
the couple took their rightful place on the music throne.
From humble beginnings,
Jay-Z was spurred on to become something more,
and to fight the status quo
associated with growing up in the Projects.
He was determined to give himself and the people around him
the best life that he could.
Through genuine talent, self-determination,
and an ability to connect with people through music
and lyrics, Jay-Z became a global superstar,
taking hip hop to an audience
far wider than anyone could have imagined.
And when his reach was global,
and he put his mind to using his platform for good
to promote causes he cared about,
the boy who grew up in the Brooklyn Projects
cemented his legacy as more than a musician,
but as a powerful voice for change.
[mellow music]
[gentle music]