Rock and Roll Hall of Fame classes are always star-studded, but 2021’s crop is particularly notable for its inclusion of Jay-Z, joining a small cadre of rap stars who’ve earned the recognition. Speaking in Cleveland on October 30, Jay was charming, loquacious, and introspective. Alongside the likes of Tina Turner, Carole King, Gil Scott-Heron and one-time enemy LL Cool J in this year’s class, he pulled back the curtain on one of the most important careers in the last century of American music.
In his 10-minute acceptance speech, Jay spoke about his early love of hip-hop growing up in New York in the 1980s, his first attempts at music-making (“I look back at some of those raps…it was trash.”), and his many early ups and downs (When referencing his second album, he simply said, “Oops”), and later his impact as an A-lister who helped out on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Blue Ivy stole the show in a star-studded tribute package
As one of the most revered figures in hip-hop, Jay has rubbed shoulders with countless A-listers and many of them showed support on Saturday. Dave Chappelle, taking a break from stirring controversy for his trans-related comments, was at the Ohio ceremony to be the one to formally induct Jay, while plenty of other Jay associates shared their best wishes via video.
Barack Obama, Beyoncé, Chris Rock, Diddy, Rihanna, Samuel L. Jackson, Regina King, Usher, John Legend and more all recorded tributes , in part by referencing bits and pieces of his most famous bars. But it was Blue Ivy who got the biggest reaction when she ended the montage with an adorable PG flip of Jay’s classic line “S. Carter, ghostwriter, and for the right price/I can even make yo shit tighter.”
After watching the tribute, an emotional Jay joked that they were “Trying to make me cry in front of all these white people.”
Jay patched things up with LL Cool J
At the beginning of his speech, Jay talked about the roots of his love for hip-hop, while also extending an olive branch to a longtime rival. “We were told that hip-hop was a fad and much like punk rock, they gave us this ‘anti-culture’ and this subgenre, and there were heroes in it. When I was thinking of what I was gonna say tonight, these heroes just came to mind: Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, and Chuck D. And, of course…LL Cool J.”
Those first four names are among the most significant in hip-hop’s early history, but the fifth will certainly stick in the minds of longtime Jay fans, as he and LL have often been on bad terms. The fallout started when Jay took over as president of Def Jam in 2005, the label LL was signed to since 1984, and he took exception to the way his late-career albums were promoted. Things got so bad that 50 Cent claimed he had to serve as a go-between for them as LL completed his final Def Jam album, telling MTV News at the time “He feels that they’re not prioritizing him. He’s been there from the start. I talked to him and I talked to Jay. I’m the liaison between them for that project to keep that functioning.” Things got worse shortly after that when Jay appeared on 50’s “I Get Money” remix and rapped, “I’m already the GOAT, next stop is the billy.” Despite it being a play on words referencing his billionaire aspirations, LL took umbrage, claiming himself as the proprietor of referring to oneself as the GOAT. However when rumors of full-on diss tracks swirled, Jay was quick to shoot them down, telling MTV News “He’s a legend. I’m not doing that.” Jay referenced this in his speech when, after calling himself “the greatest” he jokingly stopped and said “One of—I don’t want any problems, LL.”
The pair either began to patch things up in recent years or time simply healed the wound. In February, LL expressed a desire to battle Jay in a Verzuz. LL also appeared on Fat Joe’s Instagram live and talked about his relationship with Jay, saying “I don’t have a bad vibe with homie,” explaining that they’d also had some bad blood stemming from their younger days when an up-and-coming Jay would make it a point to show up wherever LL was and instigate a rap battle, but that he’d moved past it.
He even joked about running into LL at a Soul Train party after Reasonable Doubt came out and getting a quintessential response to his early music. “LL says ‘bananas’ a lot and he said, ‘Yo ‘Can I Live’ is bananas. That’s just bananas, B. It’s bananas. ‘Can I Live’ I was just listening to it in the car and it’s bananas, B.’”
Jay made sure to shoutout Dame Dash while talking about his origins.
Jay, Dame Dash, and Kareem “Biggs Burke” founded Roc-a-Fella in 1995, which wound up being distributed through Def Jam and giving the world not only his records, but landmark projects by Cam’Ron, Beanie Siegel, and Kanye West. Things went south though, and Dame has been critical of Jay’s actions and business practices in recent years. There’s currently a legal battle going on between the two over the rights surrounding Reasonable Doubt.
“We created this company called Roc-a-Fella Records. Shoutout to Dame, I know we don’t see eye to eye, but I could never erase your accomplishments and I appreciate you,” he said. Dash, for his part, reciprocated the brief olive branch by reposting Jay’s speech (notably sans comment of his own) on his Instagram.
There was one other now estranged but irrefutably crucial figure in Jay’s rise that he forgot to salute, which led to a rare Twitter appearance from Jay to correct the slight: Jaz-O. Jaz is the Brooklyn rapper who took Jay under his wing, giving him some of his first record and music video appearances and letting Jay accompany him to London while he recorded his album. Jaz-O appears on Jay’s first three albums, but as Roc-a-fella’s stock rose and Jaz’s prior recording contract fell apart, he felt the deal Jay offered him was a slap in the face and they’ve had bad blood ever since leading to many disses over the years; from both sides. (A popular rumor is that Jaz secretly supplied Nas with material for “Ether.”)
However, mentor and mentee have since mended fences in recent years: Jaz has appeared backstage during stops on Jay’s last two tours.
Jay connected one of his biggest pop songs “Hard Knock Life” to one of his most Hood Classic career moments.
Even 20-plus years later, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” remains one of Jay’s defining solo hits. At the time, it was his highest-charting single, and went platinum. He said he was inspired to make a song after putting together the 1998 film Streets is Watching with longtime Roc brain trust member Chaka Pilgirm, which helped give him a renewed sense of purpose in staying authentic to his roots, instead of chasing sonic trends like he did on his second album. Honing in on his core audience and themes gave him the mindset to then create the song that would take his career to the next level.
“We were orphans in America. That’s what we was in these ghettos of America. Mother America had abandoned us in the ghetto and we were orphans,” Jay said. “It was like, ‘Oh, I have to speak. This is who I have to speak for. There are ghettos all around the world and I have to speak for them.”
That realization led him and producer The 45 King to sample the musical Annie. “We didn’t have our fathers around, so not only did I have to be the orphan, I had to be Daddy Warbucks, too,” he said. “That set the course for what I would do for the rest of my career.”
He shared insights into a “fourth quarter” campaign request from Obama.
The relationship between Jay and President Obama is long and storied, beginning in 2008 when the latter was still working to become America’s 44th president. Jay, briefly attempting an Obama impression he admitted could use some work, recounted the story of a phone call he received that year.
“He called me and he said, ‘You know, it’s the fourth quarter. We’re down two and I need you to assist me. Give me the ball, I’m Michael Jordan, and I’ll get this done. I need you to go to Miami, you feel me? Atlanta and Ohio,’” Jay recalled. “And I thought, Man, hip-hop is really an agent for change,” before adding that actually the first thing he thought was, “N-gga, I’m Michael Jordan.”
Jay performed at several shows to support the Democratic nominee, and spoke about how he felt Obama was continuing the legacy of important Black activists in America. For his part in the video testimonial, Obama said of Jay “ “I’ve turned to Jay-Z’s words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery,” said Obama, referencing an early viral moment during his first campaign in 2008.” And, in fitting full circle fashion, Obama even referenced Jay’s “My First Song” as he was completing his last State of the Union Address.