Jay-Z is opening up about the mixed emotions surrounding JAY-Z in 8, the new documentary series in which he revisits his landmark music career alongside celebrated producer Rick Rubin. While the rapper said he is thrilled for audiences to see the project, he also acknowledged feeling slightly uneasy about screening such a personal portrait for his own family.
Jay-Z shared why he felt nervous about sharing ‘JAY-Z in 8’ with his family
The JAY-Z in 8 docuseries follows Jay-Z and Rubin during two days of wide-ranging conversations in Paris, touching on the artist’s life, catalog and approach to creating music. At the premiere, Jay-Z said he was eager—but also understandably nervous—to share the finished series with Beyoncé and their children.
“I’m really excited,” he told E! News. “They know these things. We talk all the time. It’ll be fascinating to see on a big screen and at times, I know it’ll be, like, cringe.”
For Jay-Z, the uneasiness comes with the territory of being so open on camera. The series puts a significant part of his inner life and personal history in view, making the experience feel especially exposed.
“You know, when you put yourself out there like that, you get embarrassed, but it’s honest, and it’s a beautiful piece,” he admitted. “So, I’m very proud of it.”
Jay-Z said this felt like the perfect time to release ‘JAY-Z in 8’
Although he said the process did not necessarily reveal much he did not already know about himself, Jay-Z explained that revisiting his journey gave him a different lens through which to view his life and work.
“You become more resolved in your beliefs and the core of the things that you believe in because looking back,” he said. “I wrote these things in ’96 and you know these things have come to fruition now and so it affirms the things that you believe.”
The arrival of the Jay-Z documentary also happens to coincide with the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt. However, the timing was not designed as an anniversary tribute, according to the rapper.
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“Two or three years ago, we shot this, and it’s just all aligned [with what’s] happening right now,” Jay-Z said. “We didn’t plan on it being part of a 30-year celebration. We were just, you know, creating a piece that we both believed in, and it just so happened it all lined up.”
He liked to see that his old songs still resonated with an audience
In July, Jay-Z celebrated the anniversary of Reasonable Doubt with shows at Yankee Stadium. He said he loved to see the way that these decades-old songs still resonated with the audience.
“It was just phenomenal to have these songs still resonate,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “And they weren’t made for such a big venue. So to see ‘Can I Live’ or ‘D’Evils’ connect in such big stadiums — it’s a testament to the work that was created.”
He also liked to reflect on the way that he predicted his own future success in his early lyrics.
“Just going back through there, there were a lot of things that were said — a lot of manifesting in those songs,” he said. “A lot of those things came true. So to just go back and connect with those things — it’s just a phenomenal feeling, because you believe it at the time and you hope. And now, reflecting, a lot of those things came true.”
Jay-Z in 8 premieres on HBO on Sept. 18.