Top 80 Jay-Z Quotes

I’ve always loved Jay-Z’s music and loved what he’s done.

To have Run-DMC acknowledge you, something like that, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m that dude.’ To have Jay-Z do a verse, you that dude. To have Jay-Z shout you out in an intro, you’re that dude. Like, it doesn’t get any greater than that. Nobody can take that from you.

Biggie has definitely stood the test of time. He’s the reason Jay-Z and loads of other rappers are who they are. His flow and wordplay is brilliant – the stories he would tell are just nuts.

In each genre, I’ve been around the biggest. In pop I toured with Justin Timberlake, with reggae it was Sean Paul; I toured with Jay-Z and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s all an education for me, to see how they do it.

DMX wasn’t checking what his fans were saying to him on Twitter or Facebook. Jay-Z is on a boat in Saint-Tropez. I’m hands-on. Girls write to me like I’m their diary. That’s a huge responsibility. I don’t take it for granted.

If Beyonce and Jay-Z had been born and raised in Cuba, they would have merely survived, with no opportunity to realize their aspirations. Only in a land that treasures liberty and the pursuit of happiness can such dreams become a reality.

I listen to music – Lady Gaga, Kanye, Jay-Z, the Beatles, Robert Plant – while I’m walking down Fifth Avenue to my office in the Trump Tower early each morning.

Like, I always knew I wanted a Kanye West feature and a Jay-Z feature. I knew that starting in the game when it wasn’t even realistic to happen. I already knew who I wanted to do records with.

You think Jay-Z is going broke? LeBron is going broke? These guys have figured it out. They came from poor backgrounds, broken homes, and they figured out how to be businessmen. They become new aspirations.

You look at the Rolling Stones. It had the lips, the logo and the style. You look at Jay-Z, who I think is probably the smartest brand marketer I’ve ever met. These people understand the core of what their brand is and what their fans want.

Yes, I’m really inspired by people like Jay-Z and 50-Cent to develop more business savvy.

I love Jay-Z.

The best bounce rapper ain’t gonna be able to compete with Jay-Z, not on a major scale.

If I could have anybody I haven’t had, I’d want to interview somebody like Jay-Z or Puff Daddy, pick their minds a little bit.

When you look at a guy like a Jay-Z or look at a guy like a Nas, you don’t necessarily qualify them as conscious rap purely, although they are extremely conscious of the social inequities that prevail.

I’ve hung out with Jay-Z a couple of times, and he was awesome.

My star will probably continue to rise, and I will start hanging out with Beyonce and Jay-Z and take them to a Toby Carvery.

Jay-Z, he knows precisely who he’s going for – 14-year-old white suburban girls.

No rapper in the world from Jay-Z to Tupac to Biggie has 100 percent love on everything they do.

I’d like to collaborate with Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige.

If we got into a time machine and went back to the 1700s, classical and baroque music would have been the equivalent of Beyonce and Jay-Z.

No one controlled Frank Sinatra or told him how to sing. No secret group of managers has been telling someone like Jay-Z what to do or how to look. And no one tells me what to do except me and the people who believe in me.

I have a very eclectic iPod. So I’ve got my cardio people – so it’s anything from Beyonce to some Jay-Z to Janelle Monae, her song ‘Tightrope,’ that’s a good cardio song. And then I’ve got Sting. I’ve got Mary J. Blige. I’ve got The Beatles. I’ve got Michael Jackson. I try to pick the songs that I personally love.

I’m not saying that what the radio plays isn’t good. My issue is with what they don’t play. You can play Jay-Z, but why don’t you play Jurassic 5? You can play Nas and Nelly, but why don’t you play J-Live? I want to open up the door to how it was back in the day.

People compare me to Kendrick. I’ve seen comparisons with Jay-Z, with Nas, with Chance The Rapper. I get a lot of Eminem comparisons.

There’s Jay-Z, who morphs a certain street hustler’s cool and indifference into CEO extravagance. But for all his prominence, Jay-Z hasn’t written a lot of crossover hits.

Jay-Z has kind of shown that you can get to the very top without waiting, without following rules. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. People will admire you more if you break the rules.

If I was stuck on an island with one artist’s discography, it’d probably be Jay-Z’s. It would keep me entertained and it has a lot of stories behind it.

I have respect for the greats, like Jay-Z.

Jay-Z called me onstage during my song that I produced for ‘Watch the Throne?’ That was surreal, man. One of those situations I’ll never forget. I’ll be able to show my kids the footage of when Jay-Z brought me onstage.

Let me put it this way: I don’t feel as settled as I look. I think that’s true of everyone, probably. Except for Beyonce and Jay-Z. I don’t think they wake up and think, ‘Ugh, when’s it going to work out for us? Why can’t we catch a break?’ Aside from them, I’m pretty sure everyone’s life feels a lot less intentional.

Jay-Z, for a lot of reasons, will always be my favorite. But actually, in terms of what I listen to, it bends towards hip-hop, but I like everything. The only thing I don’t really love is country, but everything else I’m a huge fan of.

Nas, Big L, Rakim, Jay-Z, Eminem, those was all my influences, but I didn’t start recording until I was 16.

For one, when has Jay-Z ever taken a knee to come out and tell us that we’re past kneeling? Yes, he’s done a lot of great work, a lot of great social justice work. But for you to get paid to go into an NFL press conference and say that we’re past kneeling? Again, asinine.

It feels like one family – JAY-Z’s one call away for any advice, any questions. He’s a real big homie.

I’m not cool enough to hang out with any rock stars. Jay-Z doesn’t come over to my house. I don’t hang out with Ted Nugent.

I grew up listening to Bob Marley, Jill Scott, Floetry, Nas, Jay-Z, Beyonce.

Jay-Z has always been a huge figure in hip-hop.

With Jay-Z, it’s hard not to be amazing.

Jay-Z is one of the biggest stars in the world and such an icon. He was so down to earth. It was like talking to a friend. I have huge respect for how he handles everything.

I grew up listening to Jay-Z, and I think the first time I really became obsessed with learning and thinking about lyrics was when I started listening to rap; I was 11, 12, and started becoming aware of music beyond the familiar.

You go to any Jay-Z concert, and he plays his hits. Comedians don’t have hits. You have to have a whole brand-new hour. You have no hits to rely on. It’s the hardest thing.

In DC, it’s really edgy to listen to Kanye West or Jay-Z, and it’s a thing to know who Azzedine Alaia is – you know what I mean? But I do care about issues, and I was really political in high school, always marching.

I was in Boots buying contact lens solution, and my mobile went off. It was Jay-Z’s partner at Roc Nation asking me what I was up to. He asked if I’d been to America, and I said, ‘No.’ Then he said, ‘I’m putting you on a flight to New York tomorrow.’

My taste for rappers is very high. I’ve only worked with, like, Pac and Jay-Z and Scarface.

I have periods where I listen to regular rap, Jay-Z, Eminem and Lil Wayne. The next day I might have some Christian alternative music. The next day I have on some dance music. It all varies what I listen to.

To be truthful, Jay-Z wouldn’t have a quarter of the records sold today if it wasn’t for the white people buying his records.

The prison-industrial complex, poverty, and the school system has more effect on a young black male in America than Jay-Z does, by far. And that’s not a diss to Jay-Z. The crime rate in the black community was high before hip hop. Rapping about it is just a reflection of the life a lot of people are living.

In the past, when Jay-Z did ‘Best of Both Worlds’ with R. Kelly, I thought it was a great album, but the campaign went south because of personalities.

Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Big L, Tupac. That was, like, my top five, generally.

I’m cool with Jay-Z. Jay-Z is genuinely my friend.

Nobody from my label called any of their labels to get this done. Most of it happened very naturally. Mary and I have been friends for a long time. Then Jay-Z offered.

I like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Common. But I like the underground stuff like Young Jeezy, Black Rob and Shine. I also love heavy metal like Slipknot and Pantera, It’s very intense stuff.

I learned so much from listening to Jay-Z, M.O.P. and Gang Starr.

Brandy is one of my favorite vocalists. Jay-Z is my favorite emcee outside of Biggie.

I would love to have dinner with Jay-Z and Beyonce. I think we would have a lot to chat about. I like them both so much, and I love them as a couple. I like that they are both at the top of their game – and that they have a mutual respect and admiration for each other.

From Jay-Z to Nas to Kanye to whoever, I’m just not the type to say, ‘Hey, let me get on your album.’ If they want me, they’re going to reach out and say, ‘I need a joint from you.’

I’m the female Jay-Z. I never compared myself to other women artists. I compared myself with the best, and the best is Jay-Z.

I’m trying to escape the shackles of a pen and a pad. I’ve sat in sessions with Jay-Z where he doesn’t write anything down. He’ll come up with the most incredible triple entendre, all in his head – it’s amazing.

I’m a fan of Jay-Z, I’mma always be a fan of Jay-Z.

But it all came, and for me, hip-hop has done more for racial divide and racial sort of bringing together than anything in the last 30 years. Seeing people like Eminem sounding like somebody like Jay-Z and just the racial aspects of it all.

Jay-Z is a hero, Sam Walton is a hero – these are not exactly communitarian champions. These are – in some cases, literally; in others, just figuratively – gangster heroes. That’s who is worshipped: people who get away with it.

Wasn’t nobody wearing diamond necklaces until Jay-Z jumped out there with them.

I’ve seen Jay-Z and Kanye West. I’ve seen actors like Tom Hanks and Nicholas Cage.

Speaking out against rap music is useless, and it’s futile. The reality is there’s criticism for everything, but Jay-Z is one of the most remarkable artists of our time of any genre, and as a hip-hop artist he carries the weight of that art form with such splendor and grace and genius.

Look at Jay-Z and Beyonce. Everybody knew Jay and Beyonce were dating. They were sitting around at award shows together like they weren’t together for a while before they came out and said whatever. But your life doesn’t always have to be exposed. There are a lot of people whose personal lives aren’t exposed.

The electro scene is all over the clubs now: groups like Duck Sauce, Empire of the Sun, even MGMT. But I get inspiration from everywhere. I’ll go to the gym and put on old albums – Guns N’ Roses or old Jay-Z.

In a lot of places Jay-Z is considered God, Philly, our hometown being one of them.

My pops put me on to Jay-Z and Kanye, and my discoveries would be like Future and Kendrick Lamar. I turned my pops on to Kendrick, Young Thug. I feel my mom made me play the Isley Brothers and real, real old music.

I don’t know if I have a ‘Greatest Album Ever.’ I really liked ‘The Blueprint’ by Jay-Z. The production on that album was really great. ‘All I Need’ was the first song I used for walk-on music in 2002 for my second time ever on stage, so that means a lot to me.

I think it would be different to work with a guy like Kanye West or Jay-Z, those guys are so phenomenal, but just to work with a rapper, I don’t think is really my thing. I really like songs, like true songs. Like indie songs.

I’ve always idolized Jay-Z He’s one of my favorite persons, even before I knew him personally.

Eminem is a major star. Em and JAY-Z have achieved things that I have never came close to achieving in my life. They are both major stars in Hip Hop. And to top it off, they are both very lyrical.

The best thing Jay-Z ever taught me was patience.

I like Rick Ross as a person. I like Jay-Z and Kanye West as people. But I hate the companies that they record for.

I would do a documentary about Jay-Z. Yes, I would.

I rarely get starstruck, but I’ve been a Jay-Z fan since fourth grade and had a huge crush on Beyonce in high school. I respect their artistry, and now I’ve joined Roc Nation – it’s even more crazy.

I like Jay-Z. I love Luda. I love Ledisi. I like Beyonce, of course. I think she’s just brilliant. She’s a triple threat. But my favorite – my all-time rapper is Tupac. See, I could have been Tupac’s girlfriend.

I hope the business sense that artists like Jay-Z and Nelly are showing rubs off on the young players. I want somebody to stand up and say, Look, these kids got it going on. We want to be a part of them.

I don’t hate Jay-Z. I think he’s dope.