"Now I got black cards, good credit and such, baby boy 'cause I'm all grown up," – “30 Something”

Jay-Z is in a unique position these days. He’s older, wiser and has made a conscious decision to bring his maturity not only to his music, but also to his now public lifestyle. While older artists try to grasp onto the young crowd by any means necessary, Jay created his own lane that can almost be billed as “Adult Contemporary Hip Hop.” No longer are his lyrics about being a young guy trying to come up. He’s brought his tales of success to fruition and can no longer speak on being broke or trying to make it. He’s done with that and it’s time to show the masses that Hip Hop has grown up.

But with artists like Joe Budden begging Jay to quit, the real question is – “Has Jay-Z outgrown Hip Hop?”

“I think that it’s needed to stretch the genre because it is narrow in its approach and if its narrow in its thinking, then it won’t be around for long,” he responds as if amused by my line of questioning, but senses the seriousness of the subject and chooses his words wisely. “The further you expand the genre, the more difficult it is for it to go away. It has to be multiple things. It can’t be just a young man’s point of view. I can’t be told from a perspective of ‘I don’t care about nobody and if I get a lot of money, I’m going to live in the projects.’”

While the vast majority of Hip Hop can be billed as a young man’s game, Jay-Z knows he has to force the game to grow up. “That’s how you feel when you are young,” he continues on the subject of the “project mentality.” “When you mature, you feel that is a very dumb statement. Because the project was set up to control people and put them in a place. Why would you want to stay there right? But that’s a true feeling! And you respect that feeling when you were younger. Not so much now. It’s like ‘You going to live where?’ It’s not true.”

"And no I ain't get shot up a whole bunch of times
Or make up shit in a whole bunch of lines
And I ain't animated like say a Busta Rhymes
But the real shit you get when you bust down my lines," – “What More Can I Say”

Whether you feel Jay-Z ought to bow out or carry the reigns of rap, one has to agree that Jay-Z has never lied on record. And because of his honesty, he’s been able to remain in the game for so long.

“Everything that I do, I try to have a level of truth in it,” he says with his hands folded on the oval mahogany table. “When I’m making clothes, when you walk up to it and feel it, it’s going to stand up, it’s going to be real. When I’m making music, it’s going to be heart and soul.”

"Plead the fifth when it comes to the fam
I'm like a dog - I never speak, but I understand," -“Never Change”

As much spotlight as Jay-Z has commanded over the past 12 years, it may amaze some people how private he is. While the media is consumed with Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and whoever else’s life they can gossip about, it’s always been pretty difficult to figure out exactly what Jay-Z does outside of his various business ventures.

“I grew up a really private person. It’s really difficult for me. But it doesn’t bother me surprisingly. I can’t change who I am. I just have to live my life,” he exhales. “I still go places. I still walk around. I go to games. If it's photographed, that’s just part of it. I weigh the great things that has happened to me versus that, and it’s a blip on the radar. It doesn’t bother me. I can brush that off quick.”

But 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 a really mis-directed 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 a 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. “What’s the worst line I’ve used in the club? ‘Welcome to my club!’”

It’s too late. Although I may have manufactured the words, “I’m married,” in my head, and he may have just stuttered, the fact remains that Jay’s shiftiness has alluded to something. But with Jay, you never know what he really means. Continued on page 2 »