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At 47 years old, Shawn Carter has achieved more in his lifetime than most people could achieve in 20. 21 Grammys. 100 million + records sold. Net worth of $810 million. Most number one albums by a solo artist on the US Billboard 200 with 14. Co-creator of clothing line Rocawear. Co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. Founder of the entertainment company Roc Nation. $88 million Bel Air mansion. Certified NBA and MLB sports agent. And, oh yeah, married to one of, if not the, biggest cultural icons on the planet.
I was runner up in my sixth-grade spelling bee. Fuck with me.
In a recent sit down with Dean Baquet of The New York Times, Jay-Z opened up about therapy, marriage, the state of rap, and his mother coming out as gay. If you’re taking a 20-minute dump today, I highly suggest giving it a read.
In the interview, Jay, revealed the circumstances surrounding his alleged infidelity, only inflamed by the infamous elevator incident by Beyonce’s sister, Solange.
“You have to survive. So you go into survival mode, and when you go into survival mode, what happens? You shut down all emotions. So even with women, you gonna shut down emotionally, so you can’t connect,” he told executive editor Dean Baquet. “In my case, like it’s, it’s deep. And then all the things happen from there: infidelity.”
The rapper also admitted to checking himself into therapy, where the most precious thing he learned was that “Every emotion is connected and it comes from somewhere. And just being aware of it.” Jay goes on to say that if someone is disrespectful or racist toward him, he now understands that it’s not about him, it’s because that person is in pain. The benefit of that is not responded with anger, but with empathy.
Jay-Z went on to open up about the pain he’d causes through his cheating.
You know, most people walk away, and like divorce rate is like 50 percent or something ’cause most people can’t see themselves. The hardest thing is seeing pain on someone’s face that you caused, and then have to deal with yourself. . . So, you know, most people don’t want to do that. You don’t want to look inside yourself. . . And so you walk away.
Jay-Z and Beyonce have been together for 15 years, which is forever in celebrity marriage time. I can’t imagine the strains of being two of the biggest stars on the planet has on a marriage. I’ve always suggested that celebrities should not be allowed to get married because it never works out, but Jay and Bey have been resilient. Even if Jay stuck his pecker where it don’t belong.
[h/t The New York Times]