HOV DID: JAY-Z on the Grammys, Beyoncé & More
In an exclusive interview, JAY-Z talks about the Grammy performance of “GOD DID,” hip-hop’s challenging relationship with the awards show, and why Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE deserves Album of the Year. Plus: DJ Khaled reflects on his historic Grammy moment.
by Elliott Wilson
On the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 1, JAY-Z sent a text telling me to take a Covid test and meet him at Crypto.com Arena at 5 p.m. in Downtown Los Angeles. I wasn’t sure what was happening until I bumped into an animated DJ Khaled coming out of a parking garage. Then it all became clear: Hov would take the Grammy stage that week for a performance of DJ Khaled’s “GOD DID” — an epic song that shook the internet when it was released last summer. With features from JAY, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend and a newcomer, Philadelphia songwriter and producer Fridayy, who sings the song’s hauntingly potent chorus, it’s no surprise it was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year.
That night, the crew (minus Legend, who was delayed in Dubai) ran through rehearsals for Sunday’s performance. As the rap superstars began to retire to their separate trailers, Hov held court, surrounded by his stylist June Ambrose and trusted business partners OG Juan Perez and Emory Jones. And Hov was down to talk — on the record, about his complex feelings toward the Grammys as an institution and why he decided to participate in this year’s festivities.
By the wee hours of Monday morning, JAY’s marathon verse — his first Grammy performance in nine years — was already being talked about online as a landmark moment for rap culture. The awards show delivered a historic night for the Carters, as Beyoncé became the all-time record holder for Grammy wins, with 32 trophies.
This conversation was edited for clarity and length.
TIDAL: Going into this year’s awards, you share the record for most Grammy wins by a rapper with Kanye West, at 24. You also share the record for most Grammy nominations of all time with Beyoncé, at 88. And yet you feel like you and hip-hop haven’t gotten your due.
JAY-Z: I remember in ’99 when they wouldn’t even let us get onstage, nothing. I boycotted. It was my year. I sold five million. No. 1 for five weeks, never done before. Hard Knock Life. I didn’t go when they shut out DMX, who released two albums.
The truth is, we grew up wanting to be on the Grammys, and it was our goal. We just want them to get it right. That’s what we want. … Obviously it’s music and it’s all subjective, but you got to be in the ballpark. That’s all we want. We just want them to get it right because we love it so much. We grew up watching Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder won three out of four years in a row. [Ed. note: Wonder earned Album of the Year for Innervisions, in 1974; Fulfillingness’ First Finale, in 1975; and Songs in the Key of Life, in 1977.]
Come on, man. They got that shit right. … It was no politics. It was just like everybody knew when Stevie came out, sit down. That’s what we want. Just get it right, because we love it so much. That’s why there’s so much emotion around it. If we didn’t care, there wouldn’t be any emotion.
On the Carters’ “APESHIT,” you famously rapped: “Tell the Grammys fuck that 0-for-8 shit,” because in 2018, you were nominated for eight awards and went home winless. Does that stay with you, or is it easy to move on?
In that moment, I was like, “They missed the opportunity,” because people emulate success. In that moment, that album, 4:44, was a moment for us to say, “Hip-hop is viewed as a young man’s sport. Now here is this album that could take us into the next sphere.” I feel like they missed the moment. I didn’t feel bad for myself, because I know it’s the Grammys: I probably won some joints I shouldn’t have won and I probably lost some joints I should’ve won. That’s the way it goes, so I actually had a party. I had a great time, staying out until 6 in the morning.
Partied with Kendrick, who won seven Grammys that night, right?
Yeah, I had a fantastic time. It wasn’t about me, it was just like, “Oh, I felt like they missed the moment.” Even with Bey, I felt like they missed the moment. Not just LEMONADE; [also] when Beck won over her [for Album of the Year at the 2015 show]. I was like, “Oh, y’all missed it.”
For the culture, I love this shit so much I want them to get it right. I want to experience those moments when it’s the culmination of when Michael popped off. That moment left an indelible mark on us forever. Or when Lauryn Hill came through and it was Miseducation and she won those joints [five Grammy Awards in 1999]. We knew that was her moment. We wanted to witness that moment and celebrate her. She made something that’s going to stand the test of time.
In a few days, Beyoncé is up once again for Album of the Year, for RENAISSANCE. Do you allow yourself to feel confident that she’s going to get it this time, or do you remove yourself emotionally and just go through the process? [Ed. note: In what is widely being considered a major upset, Album of the Year went to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.]
Yeah, I remove myself from the process and hope they just get it right. It got to the point where I was like, it’s just a marketing thing. You go, you got an album out and it could help the sales go up. It got to that point, but deep down … Again, we grew up idolizing this. It was like one of the pillars for us. It was like, “We want to go Gold.” Yeah, I’ve been in it that long. Haaaaa!
I know you’re biased but not blind. Why, in your humble opinion, does Beyoncé deserve Album of the Year?
Look what it’s done to the culture. Look how the energy of the world moved. They play her whole album in the club. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. The whole entire joint — like, everything?! Every remix is amazing. Everyone’s inspired. It has inspired the world. Every remix is better than the other one. From anybody, we’re just finding these joints out in the street. Somebody just did a joint over Suga Free the other day — you heard this joint? (JAY pulls out his phone and plays Suga’s “I’d Rather Give You My Bitch.”) It’s a West Coast classic. The DJ put Bey’s vocals over this at a party and it went crazy.
It’s inspiring creativity. You know how The Black Album had The Grey Album [Danger Mouse’s 2004 mashup project]? And the one with Radiohead? It was called Jaydiohead [Minty Fresh Beats’ 2009 mashup]. When it just inspires creativity, that’s an album. That has to be Album of the Year. It has to be.
When did you actually decide you were going to perform your full “GOD DID” verse at the Grammys?
Lenny S. [Roc Nation Senior Vice President Lenny Santiago] got to tell you that one. I thought about it, I was in my head and I just broke down and said, “You know, it’s a four-minute verse.” Again, for the culture, for hip-hop, we got to do that.
This ain’t your traditional song. … It’s not your traditional structure of what you think a song that would be nominated for Song of the Year would sound like.
It’s not what you expect. And for the culture and for hip-hop, we got to do that. We owe that. This thing that changed our lives. We got to do that. A four-minute verse performed at the Grammys. We owe it to the culture, and it ain’t even a burden. It’s a blessing. It’s easy and fun.
Much has been said about your verse and the impact it has made. Looking back on it, why do you think your lyrics were so long? What inspired you to keep rapping?
I don’t know. Just the vibe. We caught a vibe, and obviously I ain’t put out music since 4:44, so it felt like a culmination of everything we’ve been through. Which was perfect timing, and that’s what it is for me. Now, it’s all about timing. It ain’t about a fourth-quarter album release, it’s just about timing. If I’m in the right space and I’m free and the beat inspires…
Then, you know, Khaled comes with that energy. The thing about Khaled is he’s underrated in that aspect. He has a child-like energy that makes you gravitate toward working with him, because it’s like that feeling you felt when you just came into the game. He’s been here for a while and he still has that passion. He still loves this shit and it’s infectious.
Guru [engineer Gimel “Young Guru” Keaton] could probably tell you better. I was waiting for the extended beat so I was rapping over what was there. I remember I was rapping over the breaks; it has breaks, hooks and all kinds of things. I was waiting to sit in a session so we could extend it and make the beat to what you hear now. But first I just rapped over the whole thing.
OG Juan has said he was so impressed he started filming you with his phone. In the past, you would never have allowed that, right?
Yeah, we don’t come from that school. We come from the don’t-you-ever-record-us school. What was the line? [JAY quotes lyrics from 2013’s “Oceans”] “See me in shit you never saw/If it wasn’t for these pictures you wouldn’t see me at all.” We come from that school and we had fights over that. N---as trying to record — “Aye yo, don’t record me, champ. I ain’t into that.” We come from a different world.
That’s why The Black Album was so special. It was the first time cameras came into the studios and just lived with us. [Still, man,] we missed magic. When you look back on it, it’s like, fuck. Baseline Studios was a movie. Just Blaze. Kanye. And it started with [hip-hop producer] Bink. First day in that studio, Bink had an artist. What’s the girl’s name? Started with a M. [thinks about it] Mocha.
She’s in an elevator coming upstairs to work with Bink, and he plays me a beat he made for her and I’m like, “That’s mine.” I hear that joint and I’m like, “Pull those reels up. Send it to me.” It became [2000’s] “You, Me, Him & Her.” First record I ever recorded at Baseline. Shout out to Mocha.
The L.A. Live area surrounding Crypto.com Arena has been fenced off and, on this chilly midweek evening in California, Khaled and company will rehearse “GOD DID” five times from beginning to end. The camaraderie between the rap superstars is palpable, as JAY cracks jokes with Rick Ross one minute and pulls Lil Wayne to the side for a private discussion the next. Inspired by JAY’s creative director, Willo Perron, the performance ends with everyone seated at a table filled with food and drink — a grandiose flip of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
Feeling triumphant, Khaled walks me back to his trailer to reflect on this great moment for hip-hop.
TIDAL: How do you feel, Khaled? Can you believe this is happening?
Khaled: Nah, I’ll never forget. I called Hov like three months before I even knew about the date of the Grammys. Like, “Yo, this record, it’s different. We got to perform this, somehow, someway. You know what I’m saying? It’s like we have to.”
When the Grammys announced the date and he had some time, the stars aligned. The song is so special. All of us make a lot of records. But there’s always those special moments, those special records. For this year to be the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, and the record’s called “GOD DID” — and we got JAY rapping for four minutes straight with Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. Come on, stop.
JAY doesn’t even perform for himself. For him to do this for me and to do it for the people and to do it for hip-hop — that’s the biggest blessing. For me, he’s our leader. A leader did what he had to do. It’s called showing up. I’m just grateful.
I just follow his lead. Even when we are not doing a song or show, I will call him for advice. He’s just a genius, man. He’s the coolest, easiest person to work with because he’s only going to do it if it’s dope.
How important is winning Grammys to you?
I’m just gracious, bro, to put out an album called GOD DID and a title song called “GOD DID” and be nominated in every rap category plus Song of the Year. I’m beyond grateful. I’m not kidding. I’m in the garage right now with two turntables and my records and my beat machine and a bunch of posters and records all over the floor like when I was 15 years old. I’m that kid right now in the garage. It’s like, look, what the fuck’s going on? Hip-hop, you know what I’m saying? Changed my life.
