Jay-Z, the billionaire musician, has sparked another heated debate after appearing on Kevin Hart’s podcast “Hart to Heart.” The two talked on a variety of topics, including the rapper’s wealth.
He explained why he did not simply provide opportunity to everyone, even his family members. According to Jay-Z, he declined a request from a cousin to lend him $4,800 for a business that could generate a $2 million profit.
He made it plain to his cousin that making a profit in business did not work as he had hoped. He also made it obvious to him that money isn’t given away for free, and no one hands out opportunity on a silver platter. He arrived at the conclusion that his cousin’s business concept was too wonderful to be true.
“You have cousins, you gotta go home for Thanksgiving, and people are talking to you like Kevin Hart, and you’re going home for solace,” Jay-Z explained to Hart.
“You want family, you’re going home for peace of mind, and you got your cousins in your grandma’s living room saying, ‘Yo, man, I got this play. If you just give me $4,800, I could make you $2 million.’ You like, ‘It don’t work like that.’ And you gotta explain to him, ‘Life isn’t like that. Money isn’t free, and no one’s giving out opportunities.’ If it sounds too good to be true, it is.”
Jay-Z was recently at the heart of a hot social media question: Would you rather have $500,000 or lunch with Jay-Z? Various variants of the “lunch with Jay-Z or $500K” meme have gone viral on social media since at least 2017. He told CBS Mornings, “You’ve gotta take the money.”
Gayle King, the interviewer, was taken aback by his remark, noting that people would pay to have lunch with him to learn the insight that made him a billionaire. The “Forever Young” singer stated that purchasing his records is a simpler method to learn from him.
“You’ve got all that in the music for $10.99. That’s a bad deal. I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal,” he insisted. He continued, “It’s all there. If you piece it together and listen to the music for the words, well, what it is, it’s all there. Everything that I said was going to happen happened. Everything I said I wanted to do, I’ve done.”
According to Billboard, Jay-Z’s upcoming two-part interview with King will feature an exclusive visit of the Brooklyn Public Library’s “Book of HOV” exhibit. The exhibition is a massive archival project that spans his entire career, from his long list of Grammy awards to his landmark business transactions in sports, music, alcohol, movies, and public service.
According to the BBC, Jay-Z, actual name Shawn Carter, rose from slinging narcotics on the street when he was 13 to selling over 140 million records. He subsequently parlayed his fortune into a vast economic empire that included holdings in record labels, sports teams, apparel brands, and alcohol. It has made him a billionaire.
Forbes estimates that he is currently worth $2.5 billion.