JAŸ-Z has done it all. He’s released platinum-selling albums, sold out stadiums worldwide this year, and revisited Reasonable Doubt, his 1996 debut that became one of hip-hop’s foundational texts—and still slaps when the beat drops.
He built Roc Nation into an entertainment powerhouse and helped reshape the Super Bowl Halftime Show through the company’s partnership with the NFL. This year’s Bad Bunny production drew an average of 128.2 million viewers and, according to Roc Nation, generated more than 4.1 billion global views across broadcast and digital platforms within its first 24 hours.
He has won Grammys, built businesses, got the girl—hello, Beyoncé!—and is raising three children who are already displaying musical and creative gifts of their own.
Now, the Brooklyn icon is retracing his extraordinary journey in JAŸ-Z IN 8, an eight-part HBO Original documentary series that literally strips down his lyrical genius in candid conversation with director Rick Rubin.
So, after accomplishing all of that, what does JAŸ-Z want to conquer next? His answer may surprise you.
“I don’t have any grand ambitions,” the “Can’t Knock the Hustle” artist told EBONY at the series’ world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
“I’m a storyteller. I just want to tell stories until I’m no longer here.”
That sentiment becomes evident in the docu-series, which screened its first two episodes at the premiere. Sitting across from Rubin in a stripped-down setting in Paris, JAŸ-Z revisits some of his most iconic songs from the past 30 years and examines the lyrics that built his legacy.
As he breaks them down, it becomes clear that the rapper has always used words and rhythm to narrate his life: the hustle years, his family ties, growing pains, mistakes and apologies to the people he loves. For an introvert who disliked shooting music videos, doing interviews, and speaking publicly, these songs were the vehicle to tell his story
After bearing his soul in the doc, it’s easy to see why JAŸ-Z is no longer in conquest mode, but instead is open to true inspiration coming naturally. And that may not arrive as another album, as many have speculated.
“Whatever vehicle that may be—via music, via film, whatever it is—I just want to tell stories,” he continued. And when asked what filmmaking was part of that future, he reiterated that “film is definitely on the agenda.”
Indeed, he and frequent collaborator Jeymes Samuel previously told EBONY that their 2024 film, The Book of Clarence, was part of a larger canon to retell iconic stories through a Black lens.
“These things have been in the works—well, it must have been with Jeymes maybe his whole life. But for me, close to 10 years,” JAŸ-Z shared at the time. “We’ve been talking about the Western [The Harder They Fall] and The Book of Clarence, as well as the next films, since the beginning.”
So no, JAŸ-Z didn’t hard launch a new album at his premiere and doesn’t have another five-year plan in the works. But in true JAŸ-Z fashion, the works are always coming to his mind.
JAŸ-Z in 8 premieres September 18 on HBOMax.