Key Takeaways From First Two Episodes of Jaÿ-Z in 8 Docuseries

Jaÿ-Z is taking a deep dive into his three-decade career in an eight-part documentary series alongside legendary producer Rick Rubin.

The first two episodes premiered on HBO last Friday (Sept. 18), with two new episodes arriving weekly from there. The series revisits more than 25 songs from Hov’s catalog, using each track as a lens to explore his lyrics, personal experiences and evolution as an artist.

Among the biggest revelations is that Hov didn’t initially view becoming a rapper as the dream it eventually became.

“Rappers were pulling up in turtle tops and minivans, and we was coming with 4Runners and Lexuses and Acuras,” he told Rick. “You want to do that? We already doing this? That seems like a step backwards.”

Even after making Reasonable Doubt, Hov says he planned to leave music behind and become a Russell Simmons-type mogul because he “didn’t love being an artist.”

“I didn’t like shooting videos, didn’t like doing interviews. I didn’t like speaking,” he added. Clearly, he ended up sticking around anyway.

Elsewhere, he broke down The Dynasty intro, which he revealed is his favorite of all of his album intros. He also explained that his bar, “only Psalms I read was on the arms of my ni**as,” was a direct reference to Biggie and Junior M.A.F.I.A., as he noted they all had the same scripture tattooed on their arms.

On the topic of Big, Jay shared how they really got close after recording “Brooklyn’s Finest” and going to see The Kings of Comedy after the session. Big even wanted them to move to Atlanta together and get houses nearby, though that obviously didn’t happen.

Jay also revealed he removed a Biggie line referencing Carolina on “Brooklyn’s Finest” because he felt it fanned the flames of the East Coast/West Coast beef that he didn’t want to be caught up in.

View some highlights from the first two episodes below.

Watch Highlights From Jaÿ-Z’s HBO Series ‘Jaÿ-Z in 8’