T Mag Men’s Issue: Jay-Z Cover Story

In a cover story, British author Zadie Smith sits down to eat with Jay-Z and interviews him for T magazine’s men’s issue for autumn. We learn he’s a fan of “chicken parm,” and also that he realizes that for four-month-old daughter, Blue Ivy, growing up in TriBeCa rather than Bed Stuy will create a very different set of demands. According to the article:

At the last minute, I remembered to ask after his family, “Oh, my family’s amazing.” And the baby? “She’s four months.” Marcy raised me, and whether right or wrong/Streets gave me all I write in the song. But what will TriBeCa give Blue? “I actually thought about that more before she was born. Once she got here I’ve been in shock until maybe last week?” Her childhood won’t be like his, and this fact he takes in his stride. “We would fight each other. My brother would beat me up,” he says, but it was all in preparation for the outside. “I was going to have to fight, I was going to have to go through some things, and they were preparing me.” He smiles: “She doesn’t have to be tough. She has to love herself, she has to know who she is, she has to be respectful, and be a moral person.” It’s a new day.

Read the entire article here.