Jay-Z Photos & Pics Archive

Jay-Z already did an interview with Oprah in O Magazine, and now the music mogul has sat down with the talk show queen for an upcoming episode of her show. Beyonce's hubby reveals all sorts of details about his troubled childhood, and how making amends with his father helped him find his way to the love of his life.

Jay-Z's father left home when he was just 11 years old, and the rapper told Oprah:

"I just felt anger at the whole situation. Because when you're growing up, your dad is your superhero. Once you've let yourself fall that in love with someone, once you put him on such a high pedestal and he lets you down, you never want to experience that pain again. So I remember just being really quiet and really cold. Never wanting to let myself get close to someone like that again. I carried that feeling throughout my life, until my father and I met up before he died."

Jay-Z later found it his father lived only 10 minutes down the road from him, and it wasn't until his mother Gloria stepped in that the two were able to reconnect. On their reunion, Jay said:

"When my mom set up this meeting, I told her he wouldn't come - and the first time, he didn't. At that point, I was really done, but mum pushed for another meeting because she's just a beautiful soul. The second time, he showed up. And I gave him the real conversation. I told him how I felt the day he left. He was saying stuff like 'Man, you knew where I was.' I'm like, 'I was a kid! Do you realize how wrong you were? It was your responsibility to see me.' He finally accepted that."

Several months after their meeting, Jay-Z's father passed away, but he tells Oprah that their final meeting has helped him free himself and true love with his lady Beyonce.

Uhhh, somehow we have a feeling that if someone had interrupted Beyonce's acceptance speech, her hubby Jay-Z would be singing rapping a different tune!

BBC Radio 1 interviewed Beyonce's main man today, and the music mogul totally defended Kanye West for interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs last Sunday, saying, "Of course it was rude, because it was her moment, but that's the way he really felt. I think it was rude, but the way they're treating him…He's on the cover of every paper. He didn't kill anybody. No one got harmed."

Jay added, "He's just a superpassionate person...at the end of the day, we're gonna celebrate him for his passion more than vilify him. As he grows and matures, he has to balance that." Uhh, what if Kanye had stepped on stage and pulled the same stunt with Beyonce, insisting that Lady GaGa should have won Video of the Year? Jay probably would have had Kanye knocked off the stage faster than you could say, "I don't think you're ready for this jelly"!

Jay -Z continued, "I don't think he should lay low. I think he should move on and have a brilliant career." UGH. We love Kanye's music (well, 80% of the time) and he definitely has a great sense of style, but we wish he came with a mute button, and he definitely needs a serious ego check. Do you think he'll be able to move forward with his career like Jay-Z says?

image courtesy of Aaron J from RedCarpetImages.net

After all the drama ended at the VMAs last night, the stars hit The Big Apple for even more entertainment!

While some celebs flocked to 1Oak to get their drink and dance on, Jay Z and Asics threw an afterparty at the 40/40 Club, and naturally Beyonce's music mogul hubby rolled in with Rihanna and Justin Timberlake! Sources inside the club tell us that the trio stayed for about a hour, chatted in a private room and did a few shots of tequila. Sounds like a good time to us!

Wow, that's plenty to talk about!

In an exclusive interview with O Magazine, Jay-Z took Oprah back to the Marcy Projects where it all started, and he candidly discussed how he sold crack at the age of 13. On being a teenage hustler, Jay describes his life as going "from grams to Grammys'' - this really gives a whole new meaning to the word "Roc"!

Oh yeah, Jay-Z finally confirmed he wed our girl Beyonce! Aw come B, did it take Oprah asking the question to make it official?

The complete interview will be available in the October 2009 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, on newsstands September 15th.

image courtesy of O Magazine / Rob Howard

Jay-Z may have been paying his respects to Michael Jackson yesterday, spending time in the studio to work on an MJ remix, but his bodyguards were anything but respectful when they harassed a pap on public property!

Jay kept tight lipped when the photogs asked him about Michael outside of the Ivy in Santa Monica, but when he was leaving Live Nation in Beverly Hills, his bodyguard gave the photogs some lip about being too close. Luckily, the situation was quickly diffused when they got in the car and drove off.

Considering both Jay-Z and P. Diddy were (or are) in the fashion game, we're a bit surprised neither of them we're at the Costume Institute Gala, but we're more surprised to see them out having dinner with each other at Katsuya in Hollywood!

Not that these two ever feuded much, but we didn't think one place could contain all that ego!

Check it out! Here, in the middle of a recession, it's always a spirit-booster to find out how rich celebrities are, right?!

Parade mag is giving us this list of random stars' incomes for 2008:

Jay-Z - $82 million
Beyonce - $80 million
Will Ferrell - $31 million (WHAT???!!!)
Jennifer Aniston - $27 million
Kelly Ripa - $8 million
Taylor Swift - $5.5 million
Tina Fey - $4.6
Britney Spears - $2.25 million (Dayum! Tina Fey made more!)

This list is damned surprising!

Is it bad that I like Beyonce's outfit? Nothing about it really works - the hair, the plaid, the *gasp* suspenders - but she sorta kinda pulls it off! That says something.

Here's the singing sensation looking fab after lunching at Pastis in NYC (with Jay-Z, obvs) on Sunday...

I must confess, I never really thought of Jay-Z as a hunky dude - but then I saw these shots from the Grammy afterparty at Katsuya last night and did a total 180!

It's amazing what a pair of stunna shades and a suit will do!

Personally, I don't really care, but that's just me! These stars - including Mel B. and her hubby, Jay-Z, Diddy (or whatever his name is these days) and Kate Hudson's ex Chris Robinson - all showed up at MSG last night to support their team and that's just great.

Knicks rule all!

Jay-Z was honored by the United Nations for his work to bring clean water to drought ridden areas of the world.

Jay-Z's "Water for Life" program, run in partnership with MTV, was given the award at a gala celebration at New York posh Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Congratulations Jay-Z. It's a truly well deserved honor, for a very important cause.

Jay Z at the UN (archive photo courtesy UN)

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT VIDEO OF THE EVENT

Jay-Z's marriage to Beyonce Knowles may be the worst-kept secret in the world - but the Jiggaman's still not willing to talk about it!

"I just think it's really a part of your life that you gotta keep to yourself," Jay told Vibe Magazine in an interview for their big 15th anniversary issue. "You have to have something sacred to you and the people around you."

"I shared so much of my life," the rapper added. "I should have something to hold on to."

Wow - sounds like Jay's come an awfully long way since the days of "Money, Cash, Hoes"!

Beyonce kept her head down as she slunk out of NYC club The Spotted Pig Thursday night...what's she got to be ashamed of?

At least we know she wasn't slinking around on Jay-Z, he walked out just ahead of her!

Jay-Z took to the stage in Dublin on Thursday. I would LOVE to hear a crowd with thick Irish accents rapping along to Izzo!

As one of the richest figures in hip-hop, we've been waiting eagerly to see the terms of Jay-Z's pre-nup - after all, Hov's one of the few guys on the planet who has cause to worry about a girl as well-off as Beyonce Knowles taking him to the cleaners!

Fortunately, it appears that that won't be the case - the Enquirer has gotten their hands on a few details from the arrangement, and it appears both parties' interests have been looked after. The basic terms direct Jay to pay Beyonce $10 million if their marriage ends after two years, with an additional million being added for every year she remains in the marriage. The payout is limited to fifteen years' worth of marriage, but still - that means a potential $25 million dollar payday for B!

If the couple has children, however, the sum grows even higher! The agreement calls for Jay to pay Beyonce $5 million per child - "for her loss of income during pregnancy and child-rearing years", the mag states.

Jay also made sure to write in a provision guaranteeing that his bride would always have access to the luxurious life, guaranteeing her access to the couple's private jet and giving her a whole fleet of cars - including a 1959 Rolls Royce convertible worth a million bucks!

Of course, considering the extent to which Jay and Beyonce love each other, these terms are just precautionary. And hey, it's not like Jay can't afford it - after all, he's only worth about three hundred million bucks!

From Paris to Benji to Jay-Z, oh my!

All came out to party at Goa after Kanye performed at the Nokia Theatre in LA last night - just how excited are you for West's Glow in the Dark tour?

We hear it's AMAZING!

Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z filed a signed wedding license in New York on Friday (according to People) after holding a small ceremony at Jay-Z's Tribeca apartment earlier this month.

Now that there's definitive proof, are they finally gonna come out and admit it?