INTERVIEW: OPRAH TALKS TO JIGGA

The Exclusive O Interview
At 13 he was selling crack. By 30 he was a hip-hop legend—having gone, in his words, "from grams to Grammys." Now Jay-Z charts his escape from the hard-knock life, describes the reunion that healed the wounds of his childhood—and even reveals the standing Sunday date he has with what's her name... Oh yeah Beyonce! Read More

The Interview....

Oprah: We all carry memories that are triggered when we return to a childhood home. What are your fondest memories from here?

Jay-Z: Outside in front is where I learned to ride a bike. I learned to ride a ten-speed when I was 4 or 5. My uncle gave me the bike, hand-me-down, and everyone used to stare at me riding up and down this block.

Oprah: You could ride a ten-speed when you were 5?

Jay-Z: I was too short to reach the pedals, so I put my legs through the V of the frame. I was famous. The little kid who could ride the ten-speed.

Oprah: Wow. That's one great memory. Any others?

Jay-Z: The boat. For some reason there was an abandoned boat on this block. We used to play on it all the time, every day.

Oprah: You know, I also grew up poor, but rural poor is different. Did you feel poor?

Jay-Z: Not at all. Probably the first time was in school when I couldn't get the newest sneakers. We didn't have elaborate meals, but we didn't go without. We ate a lot of chicken. You know, 'cause chicken's cheap. We had so much chicken—chicken backs, chicken everything. To this day, I can only eat small pieces or else I feel funny.

Oprah: That's too much chicken in a lifetime. So when you were 5, your family moved to the Marcy projects—and then your father left when you were 11. When you look back at that, what did your 11-year-old self feel?

Jay-Z: 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. READ MORE