"Guess who's back?
Since this is a new era, got a fresh new hat
Ten year veteran, I've been set
I've been through with this bullshit game but I never quit."  – “The Prelude”

A little over a decade ago, the youth group I was involved in was propositioned to promote a show in my hometown of Las Vegas featuring a fresh new artist from New York. Not many of my 15-17 year old peers knew much about this guy from Marcy Projects – but I did. I had followed him since his features on “The Originators” with Jaz-O, Big L’s “The Graveyard” and Mic Geronimo’s “Time To Build” thanks to the numerous mixtapes my uncle lugged back with him from his trips to Vegas from New York. When his cassette maxi-single (remember those?) dropped, I was pretty pissed it cost four bucks (that was my damn lunch money for the day) but because it featured “Dead Presidents” b/w “Ain’t No Nigga,” I coughed up the dough and played that bitch until the words disappeared and the little sponge thing where the tape was at broke off. 

We promoted the shit out of that show. Posters, flyers, word of mouth - basically anything to make sure this show would have a decent amount of people to witness this Jay-Z guy. How ironic that we had to work hard to get people to an all ages Jay-Z show that cost roughly $10.

The day he finally rolled up to do an autograph signing prior to the show, his debut album had recently dropped. I recall boasting to one of my boys that I had stumbled upon the “next big thing” and that I thought he may even rival the great Biggie Smalls with his witty lyricism and penchant for a nasty punchline. So there I was, amongst about 11 other people as Shawn Corey Carter stepped out of his stretched limo. I repeat - 11 other people including myself and the gentlemen who worked at the store. The seemingly unmoved Carter kicked it with us for about an hour and took a couple of pictures and signed my maxi-single insert (which my grandmother has since thrown away with her infamous saying “if it wasn’t trash, the shit shouldn’t have been laying on the floor.”)

He was pleasant, yet confident. Not quite cocky, but very assured of himself. But he spoke with such a lingering modesty that couldn’t help but force you to gravitate to his character.

His show at the Huntridge Theater was no different than the autograph signing. An estimate of 18-25 people were scattered about the large theater. How embarrassed I was for the one they call Jay-Z to come 2,000 miles to perform in front of 20 teenagers (half were only there because they had to be). But him?

He performed like it was a building packed from wall to wall. An unfazed Jay rolled through songs like “D’Evils”, “Ain’t No Nigga”, “Can’t Knock The Hustle” and an acapella rendition of “22 Two’s” off of his Reasonable Doubt album. Those of us in attendance who didn’t know who he was, sure did now.

Before he took off,  I stopped by his limo and asked Jay if he was discouraged at the turnout. Jay looked at me, grinned and said, “I’ll be back.” In my mind I thought, “Why the fuck would you want to come back to play this raggedy city again,” but fast forward to December 28th 2007 and here I am, The Gotdamn Editor-In-Chief of HipHopDX sitting in a room at the Venetian Hotel & Casino with probably the most successful Hip Hop artist this world has ever seen - Jay-Z, discussing his grand opening of the 40/40 Club in Las Vegas.

"And that goes for everything from flippin' that raw
Flippin' whores, flippin' vocal chords, don't get it twisted
Get it right, did different, did it better, did it nice
Did the impossible, then did it twice…" - “Hovi Baby”

Who would have thought that after all these years, Jay-Z would be sitting across from me discussing his next huge business venture in those very confines that left him with a lonely stage show over 10 years ago?

“Never!” Jay laughs when asked if he ever thought he’d ever be in a position to open up a nightclub/sports bar on the Las Vegas strip. “All these things that have happened, even that. It’s all surreal to me. I’m not jaded at all. Every day I wake up, well not every single day, but a lot of days I wake up and I’m like, 'What the hell is going on?’”

Although I have aged 10 years and I’m sure Jay doesn’t recall that day in Las Vegas, he doesn’t seem to have aged a bit since the day he crept out of that limo. A little more mature maybe, but his swagger and coolness echo the same presence that graced a scattered crowd back in 1996. But I’m thinking aloud now – “Why Vegas?”

“Vegas because…well…it’s Vegas,” he says, clearly oblivious to the reasons why I ask. “It’s very difficult to explain that. I love Vegas. Every time I come here I can’t stay for long. It’s a great drug. I had to say it, that’s the only way I can explain it.”

"I don't buy out the bar, I bought the nightspot…" – “30 Something”

He wasn’t bullshitting was he?

A 24,000 square foot sports bar. Complete with 84 plasma screens scattered throughout the club and 24 karat gold and platinum flooring lining the plush club, 40/40 is definitely coming from a man with great taste. On its opening night, the likes of Beyonce, Ne-Yo, LeBron James, Al Sharpton, Joe Jackson, Kanye West and others lived it up in this club that’s considered more of a rich boy hangout than your usual nightclub.  

“We did this club as a hangout, it wasn’t really for commercial use. It’s a place where I would have all of these famous friends and we’d have these debates about sports,” he explains about 40/40’s purpose. “We’d sit in places for hours and [argue] ‘Jerry Rice is the best ever? Shut up! You don’t know what you are talking about.’ We needed somewhere to have this conversation with the TVs and the stats and everything. That’s pretty much how this idea was born. So there’s a truth to it. It wasn’t like we want to make tons of money and make a sports bar. It came out of a natural place.”

It was Cleveland Cavaliers star, LeBron James’, 23rd birthday on the club’s grand opening. When the lights dimmed and James’ highlights were spread across the 84 screens, it was apparent what Jay had in mind.

“The vibe is unlike a nightclub. At its foundation it’s really a sports club. It begs for conversation and it’s this thing that you love especially if you are into sports. If you don’t really like sports then you’ll be learning about it. Then there’s music and fashion – it’s a really weird energy that’s unlike a typical night club.”

From the amount of celebrities conversing in the club about various topics from sports to music on its opening gala, Jay’s idea has seemed to come to fruition.

"I came, I saw, I conquered
From record sales, to sold out concerts"…- “Encore”

Check the stats:

Platinum albums? Ten, with American Gangster closing in on yet another plaque for Hov. Grammy Awards? Six of those. #1 singles? A boatload. Part owner of an NBA franchise? Check. President of a record label? You can check that one off as well. Successful clothing line? Roc-A-Wear has certainly made a dent in the fashion industry. With a sports bar in his back pocket and luxury hotels on the horizon this all begs one question…

“What is Jay-Z not good at?”

“Somebody asked me before what I wasn’t good at and I should have said ‘retiring.’” Jay erupts into laughter like a light bulb just went off in his head when asked what has he failed at. You could see his eyes go up in his head as to really look for something – anything - that he hasn’t succeeded at.

"Forget this rap shit I need a new hustle
A little bit of everything, the new, improved Russell
I say that reluctantly 'cause I do struggle
As you see I can't leave, so I do love you." – “The Prelude”

We all semi-thought it was over with The Black Album. Hell, he made a whole movie about walking away from the game. But the game kept calling him and then Kingdom Come arrived. No sooner than Kingdom Come was being debated in rap circles as to its place in Jay’s catalog, American Gangster was announced. Why oh why can’t he stay away?

“Passion,” he says with his eyes deadlocked into mine as to make a significant point. “This is something that I’ve been doing since I was nine years old. Something that I genuinely have a love for and at times its like ‘Why am I here? Why am I doing this?’ and at the root of it. It’s a love of mine. It’s passion.”

As an added treat, DX presents a teaser from our upcoming Part Two with Jay-Z, focused on music:

...Jay knows that the proverbial elephant in the room is his rumored marriage to R&B diva Beyonce. The ice is broken by an older lady who asks the mis-pointed question…

“What’s the worst pick up line you’ve ever used on someone in a club?”

For the first time during this 20 minute or so interview, Jay’s position shifts in his chair and his posture changes as an uneasy grin crosses his face. He’s trying to find the words for what can be perceived as a lame duck question but there has to be something keeping him from answering it straight edge.

“I’m ma-ummm…I’m not going to..ummm…can you…could you ask another question? You’re going to get me in trouble!”

The proverbial elephant in the room has grown a ten foot beard and wreaks of True Star – Beyonce’s perfume. Eyebrows raise as everyone in the room connects the same thought: “Did he just say he was married?” But before anyone attempts to put one and one together, Jay explodes into a nervous laughter to interrupt our inquisitions and answers the initial question...

Click Here for Part 2!