In the later stages of his career, music mogul JAY-Z has been mostly a private person. Every once in a while, a new picture of his family or a fresh interview will appear from out of nowhere online. During his latest interview with The Times UK, the 51-year-old legend spoke about his experience during the pandemic, his family, and more. As his fans gravitate toward that in-depth piece, others are being caught by misleading headlines suggesting that another interview, in which he discussed how he “regretted” writing his “Big Pimpin” lyrics, was also published recently. His statements about the song have gone viral on social media with thousands of people discussing the claims, wondering whether he’ll ever perform the song again. However, that interview was actually done over eleven years ago and isn’t current at all.
Considering the fact that JAY-Z almost never does press, it isn’t so surprising that some of his words are being misconstrued from decade-old interviews. People are clearly hungry for more JAY-Z content after his standout appearance on DJ Khaled’s new album. Don’t be fooled by his comments on “Big Pimpin” though.
Several media outlets, including The Source, fell for the viral post, reporting it as though the statements were new. At the time, Hov spoke with the Wall Street Journal about how profound most of his lyrics are before explaining that he regretted writing some of the bars in “Big Pimpin.” “That’s the exception. It was like… I can’t believe I said that,” he said in 2010. “And kept saying it? What type of animal would say this sort of thing. Reading it is really harsh.”
The smash-hit remains one of the biggest rap songs of all time. Since the interview was published, JAY-Z has performed the song more times than we can remember, so despite his regret, he’s seemingly still onboard with rapping it live for his fans worldwide.
Check out what people are saying about the old interview below.