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Jay-Z Opens Up to Oprah About Marriage and Dealing Drugs

Posted Sep 2nd 2009 5:30PM by Nadeska Alexis
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Hearts were all a flutter when Oprah Winfrey and Jay-Z made an unexpected appearance in the Brooklyn rapper's old Marcy Projects neighborhood in August, but it turns out that the pair were on site to conduct some business for the October issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. While Hov took the time to give the famed talk show host a tour of his old haunts, he opened up about his life prior to rap superstardom, detailing his mishaps as a young drug dealer and sharing, for the first time, his escape from a near-death experience.

In response to Oprah's confusion about why he initially chose a path of crime, Jay explained that the lack of role models in his neighborhood didn't make it easy for kids to amount to much. "There wasn't a teacher or a lawyer or a nurse or a doctor or an accountant in the neighborhood?" she asked. "Well, we were living in Marcy by then, so, no," Jay said. "And if anyone did become something like that, they moved out. They never came back to share the wisdom of how they made it. If anyone made it, you never knew it. That's why I've always said that if I become successful, I'd come back here, grab somebody, and show him how it can be done."

Though Jay has alluded to his brushes with violence in songs like "Dead Presidents II," from his 1996 debut album 'Reasonable Doubt,' the interview marked the first time that he opened up about escaping a shoot-out when he was younger. When asked how he lived to tell about it, Jay credited luck and help from a higher power. "Well, no one really practices shooting a TEC-9 machine gun, right? And when you're a kid, with little bony arms -- no wonder nobody could aim," he said. "That was divine intervention. Divine intervention, and nobody knowing how to shoot."

In light of his overwhelming success, Jay acknowledged his blessing of making it out of the projects unscathed. "There's the gift, there's the spirit and there's the work -- all three have to come together," he said. "If one of those things is off, it can stop you from becoming who you were meant to be." After tackling the heavy fare, Jay hesitantly answered some questions about his marriage to Beyonce, admitting that their 2008 wedding was so secretive, that even some close friends were left in the dark. "The sad part is that we offended some," he said. "But people who love you understand. Because at the end of the day, it's your day."

Filed under: Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop News
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September 03 2009 at 9:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

YaacobUriyah

I SEE IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND BLACK YOU NEED "FORMER DRUG DEARLER" IN YOUR RESUME. FURTHERMORE I NEVER HEAR REMORSE FROM THESE GUYS LIKE JAY_Z ,SNOOP, 50 NON-SENSE AND MANY OTHER ABOUT ALL THE FAMILIES THEY DESTROYED IN THEIR DRUGG DEALING GLORY. I LIVED IN THE "HOOD' AND REFUSED TO STOOP THAT LOW TO DESTROY MY COMMUNITY...ROLE MODELS DO NOT REPLACE MORALS,OK JAY-Z. IN MY BOOK THEY ARE ALL SELLOUTS. THAT'S FUNNY HOW THE PITS OF THE GUTTER ARE MADE INTO ROLE MODELS AND PUT ON A PEDDLESTOOL...AND THEY WONDER WHY OUR KIDS ARE SO MESSED UP. IN SOME COUNTRIES THESE GUYS WOULD HAVE MET A GRAELY FAIT INSTEAD OF MADE INTO HEROS AND SOME PSUDO-SUCESS STORY.YOU GUYS WERE PART OF THE PROBLEM THEN AND IS PART OF THE PROBLEM NOW WITH YOUR EXPLOITIVE LYRICS. OH, AND I FIND NO BLESSINGS IN YOUR MEMBER AND GLORIFICATION OF THE ILLUMINATTI WITH IT"S LUCIFERIAN BELIEFS. SO THAT TELLS EVERYONE YOUR DIVINE INTERVENTION HAS HORNS AND A FORK TAIL..... WELL, ONLY IN AMERICA FOLKS...ALL YOU GUYS HAVE SOLD YOUR SOULS AND YOUR COMMUNITIES..SHALOM

September 03 2009 at 2:42 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

YaacobUriyah

With all these successeful guys like Jay-Z , Snoop and many others,do you get the idea that in order to be black and successful you have to have former drug dealer in your resume? I was just wondering in that they all do and these clowns are our hand pick role model. So a kid today may say they sold drugs and look how famous they became ....Furthermore Jay-Z claim it's a blessing to put out garbage that exploit and glamorize druggin and hustling? Where I understand satan reward his own also and being apart of and constant boasting of being in the "Illuminatti"with it's Luciferian beliefs is not what I call a holy blessing. These guys come on TV their tales are full of contridictions. What about all the families these guys destroyed while they were selling their crack in their neighborhoods. What about all the sons ,daughters,brothers, sisters and parent they caused misery and death to? I did not hear too much remorse from these sellout merchants of death. Why do we support these guys? something is very wrong when a society put the very worse and put them on top of the peddlestool.In some countries people like these former merchants of death would have met a gravely faith instead of later being wooed as some role modle or hero....But as I said in the past ,ONLY IN AMERICA ....Shalom

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