Your bag is empty.
By the time Jay-Z sat down for the Playboy Interview in 2003, he and Beyoncé were almost certainly a few years into dating, though neither of them would confirm it.
“We’re not engaged or anything, by the way. We’re just cool. We’re just friends,” the rap mogul told Playboy. “We don’t really, ah, know each other like that yet.” Of course, Beyoncé is a beautiful woman and anyone would want to date her, he said, adding, “maybe someday.” But at the time, Jay-Z said he wasn’t “the most I-love-you guy.” And, he said, he wouldn’t tell us even if they were together.
Well, it seems Jay-Z might be a bit more loose-lipped with secrets these days. Jay-Z has picked himself as this year’s Super Bowl halftime performer, according to Puck. His company, Roc Nation, has been in charge of the selection since 2019. While we await the official announcement, which reports indicate could come as soon as this weekend, Playboy dipped back into our archives to see what was on Jay-Z’s mind when he sat down with reporter Rob Tannenbaum for the Playboy Interview in 2003.
Jay-Z walked Playboy through his past, talking about growing up in Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects and selling drugs to make money. He recounts being shot at by a friend (they later made amends), which he says on his song “Dead Presidents II” was a near-miss thanks to “divine intervention.” As Playboy wondered, does that mean God protects drug dealers?
“I think God protects anyone with a good heart. People say, ‘That’s a comfort blanket so you can do whatever the fuck you want.’ But my intention was good,” Jay-Z told Playboy. “I was in a place where there’s no hope. It was like, Fuck, man, I ain’t going to continue to live like this. I’ve got to do something. Then I got addicted to that [drug-dealing] life. It was fun. It helped my situation, helped everyone around me.”
Jay-Z earned good money selling drugs, though he declined to say how much, just like he wouldn’t let the magazine in on the details of his overall finances. “I’m trying to get grown up and not talk about figures no more. I’m learning that the big cats don’t talk about money,” he said.
Apparently, there’s a lot Jay-Z won’t talk about, but perhaps the Super Bowl isn’t one of those things.
