Jay-Z Sits Down for Career-Spanning Interview With Gayle King

Extended portions of Jay-Z’s recent interview with Gayle King air tonight on CBS News and Paramount+ as part of the primetime special “Jay-Z and Gayle King: Brooklyn’s Own.” The one-hour special, drawn from a three-hour interview, covers the rapper and mogul’s childhood, his business career, the Knowles-Carter family, and the stories behind his lyrics. You can watch the special through CBS or a local affiliate from 9 p.m. local time. Paramount+ Essential subscribers can’t stream live, but can watch on-demand after the show airs.

In a passage excerpted for a press release, Jay-Z spoke about his expansion from music into social justice issues. “I think what matters most is, today, is, being a beacon and helping out… my culture. People of color,” he said. “I think I pull the most satisfaction from that. Like making music earlier was, like—my first love. I could sit there for hours. It consumed me. Just finding words and figuring out words and how to say this and different ways to say that and different pockets and melodies and how to write this song. That consumed me. That’s why my pace was so fast. I had so much material… And I think now, you know, the idea of, of taking that platform and, you know, reproducing it for others or doing something like Reform… I think I derive the most joy from that.”

The interview took place at the Brooklyn Public Library, which has hosted the Jay-Z exhibition The Book of Hov since July.

Read Pitchfork’s Sunday Reviews of Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.

The Story of JAY-Z’s Ascent to Billionaire Status, as Told by JAY-Z Lyrics