Jay Z Explains Showcasing Marriage In Music
Shawn "Jay Z" Carter, the 43-year-old rap mogul, is opening up about why he shares his love for wife and singer Beyonce Knowles in his music.
The pair of musicians have been married for five years and collaborated on a number of records to document their love for the world. Jay Z recently spoke to Rap Radar's Elliott Wilson about why he feels the need to showcase his love for Beyonce on record.
"There are very few relationships in Hip Hop music," the rapper told Wilson. "It's a lot of 'I took your girl, and I'm gonna take it again,' and 'I'm with your girl and never gave it out.'"
Jay Z spoke about breaking boundaries by speaking about marriage in his music.
"I don't know if people are properly absorbing what I'm doing here," the rapper told Wilson. "I don't know in the context, just being honest about [marriage] and just putting those subject matters in Hip Hop records, that's not normal."
Beyonce has been more open about her marriage off record in recent months and let it be known that the union is not as glamorous as everybody believes.
"People just think, 'Oh how glamorous, two celebrities are together,'" Knowles told Britain's More! magazine last May. "No, first of all, a relationship takes a lot of work, but you have to work on yourself ... you have to make yourself happy."
Still Knowles, 31, has made it clear just how much her 43-year-old husband has changed her life.
"I would not be the woman I am if I did not go home to that man," Knowles told Winfrey on "Oprah's Next Chapter" earlier this year. "And, it just gives me such a foundation. That foundation is so important in a relationship and just to have someone that you just like, you know, is so important and someone that is honest."