JAY-Z is one of the greatest influencers of an entire generation of rappers, but JAZ-O influenced the legendary lyricist. Raised in the same Marcy Houses project, JAZ-O took the burgeoning rapper under his wing and featured him on the 1990 track “The Originators”. In a new VladTV interview, JAZ-O dished about the time JAY-Z shot his older brother, Eric Carter.
JAY-Z was 12 years old when he shot his drug-addicted older brother for allegedly stealing his ring. “Yeah, I can’t remember, but it was a shot to not fatally wound but just you know…to be honest, I don’t think he was aiming to really hit him, in his defense,” JAZ-O explained. He continued, “And it was my gun. He didn’t have the gun so he could go and shoot his brother. It was a thing back then. You got some arms, you got guns or got a gun, that was a sign of brotherhood with the street,” he added.
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“I had no idea for what reason and I don’t think that was the purpose, I’m sure that wasn’t the purpose he wanted the gun, but that’s just how it turned out,” JAZ-O told Vlad.
Back in 2010, during an interview with The Guardian, Hov admitted that the shooting has haunted him since childhood. His 1997 track “You Must Love Me” featuring Kelly Price, painted a picture of how the shooting transpired. “Got intense, real intense as we got older/Never believed it would lead to me poppin’ one in your shoulder/Where my rings? Knew you had it ‘cause you took too long,” he rapped. The In My Life, Vol. 1 song also described his immediate panic and running over to JAZ-O’s house after shooting his brother.
“In the song, ‘You Must Love Me’, he talked about how he ran to my crib. He ran to my crib because you bust a gun, I don’t care who you are, you get nervous. You get nervous and you need somewhere to run to, so I guess he was like, ‘Let me run over to this n*gga’s house and drop this sh*t off for worst-case scenario’. So he came up there and dropped it off and everything,” JAZ-O said.
JAY-Z has yet to comment on his mentor’s latest interview.
[Via]