Jay-Z felt “really burned out” before he announced his retirement in 2003.
The 52-year-old rap star retired from the music industry after releasing ‘The Black Album’ – but Jay now realizes that he “just needed a break” before he returned with a new record, ‘Kingdom Come’, in 2006.
The award-winning rapper – who even threw a star-studded retirement party – told comedian Kevin Hart on ‘Hart to Heart’: “I tried that [retirement]. I’m terrible at that. I just needed a break. But I really thought that I was really burned out at the time.
“I was releasing an album every year – ’97, ’98 – and then in between that, soundtracks, other people’s album, ROC-A-FELLA, touring back to back … and I had just looked up one day and I was like … ‘I’m tired.'”
Meanwhile, Jay previously revealed that he doesn’t try to follow trends.
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The rap legend insisted he wants his music to last the test of time, even if that means it’s not appreciated in the short term.
Jay – who released his critically-acclaimed debut album, ‘Reasonable Doubt’, in 1996 – explained: “Would you rather be a trend, or you rather be Ralph Lauren? You know what I mean; like, you rather be a trend, or you rather be forever?
“I’m the person that looked at the Mona Lisa and be like, Man, that’s gonna be cool in 40 years. I play forever. And so my whole thing is to identify with the truth. Not to be the youngest, hottest, new, trendy thing.”
Despite this, Jay accepts that age is a more relevant issue in rap than other genres of music.
He said: “I think that rap in particular is a young man’s sport.”
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