nterview: Jay Z Dishes on Relationship with Kanye West, Fatherhood and the Making of “Tom Ford”

Interview: Jay Z Dishes on Relationship with Kanye West, Fatherhood and the Making of “Tom Ford”

by Andres Vasquez

In the final installment of this four-part interview, Jay-Z spoke about fatherhood, his relationship with Kanye West and his work with Timbaland on “Tom Ford.” Jay explained how the Timbo collab came about and how “easy” it was to work with Yeezy.

“I’m a writer. So, literally, I’m saying, ‘the birth of my child gave me this new energy and focus’ so ‘Blue told me to remind you’ but just the energy and focus. She obviously can’t say, ‘Fuck the shit y’all talkin’ ’bout. My dad’s the one.’ She’s 17 months. I mean, [laughing], she’s amazing but come on. So, I’m using a metaphor to say that her energy and presence gave me the focus again to remind you exactly who I am.’”

After speaking on fatherhood, Jay took on “Tom Ford.”

“This one came midway through,” he shared of track. “This was about halfway through and it had a different hook… I loved the beat but that [hook] was so typical to me. It was like, ‘Aw, that’s just too…’ So once I got rid of that – it took me awhile to get it out of my mind and then once I got it out of my mind – it was like, ‘This is Tom Ford.’ … Almost like saying something is dope, not just a suit.”

He then revealed a bit about his time with Kanye West in the making of Watch the Throne.

When told that witnessing the two perform was “an amazing experience,” Jay-Z replied ”For you!” with a chuckle.

“I’m just playing,” he clarified. “It actually was really easy because of the relationship. It’s always been a big brother thing and a respect thing. It’s always a good experience but he’s gonna challenge everything because he’s really trying to test it and poke holes to make sure that it stands up to the test, which is good. I admire that. It kind of works for me.”