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In the documentary series JAY-Z in 8, Jay-Z and legendary producer Rick Rubin sit down to look back on the rapper’s music career. Jay-Z said he feels excited about the docuseries’ release and feels that it was the perfect time to put it out. Still, he admitted he felt some level of embarrassment about showing it to his family. He shared why he had nerves about this.

Jay-Z shared why he felt nervous about sharing ‘JAY-Z in 8’ with his family

In JAY-Z in 8, Jay-Z and Rubin discuss the former’s life, music, and creative process over the course of two days in Paris. At the premiere, Jay-Z said he felt both excited and nervous to show the series to Beyoncé and their children.

“I’m really excited,” he told E! News. “They know these things. We talk all the time. It’ll be fascinating to see on a big screen and at times, I know it’ll be, like, cringe.” 

He felt that he put much of himself on display in the series, which always feels vulnerable. 

“You know, when you put yourself out there like that, you get embarrassed, but it’s honest, and it’s a beautiful piece,” he admitted. “So, I’m very proud of it.”

Jay-Z said this felt like the perfect time to release ‘JAY-Z in 8’

While making the series, Jay-Z said that he “didn’t learn much” about himself. Still, he was able to look at his life from a new perspective.

“You become more resolved in your beliefs and the core of the things that you believe in because looking back,” he said. “I wrote these things in ’96 and you know these things have come to fruition now and so it affirms the things that you believe.”

The series’ release comes just in time for the 30th anniversary of his debut album Reasonable Doubt. They didn’t make it in celebration of the anniversary; it just worked out that way.

“Two or three years ago, we shot this, and it’s just all aligned [with what’s] happening right now,” Jay-Z said. “We didn’t plan on it being part of a 30-year celebration. We were just, you know, creating a piece that we both believed in, and it just so happened it all lined up.”

He liked to see that his old songs still resonated with an audience

In July, Jay-Z celebrated the anniversary of Reasonable Doubt with shows at Yankee Stadium. He said he loved to see the way that these decades-old songs still resonated with the audience.

“It was just phenomenal to have these songs still resonate,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “And they weren’t made for such a big venue. So to see ‘Can I Live’ or ‘D’Evils’ connect in such big stadiums — it’s a testament to the work that was created.”

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He also liked to reflect on the way that he predicted his own future success in his early lyrics.

“Just going back through there, there were a lot of things that were said — a lot of manifesting in those songs,” he said. “A lot of those things came true. So to just go back and connect with those things — it’s just a phenomenal feeling, because you believe it at the time and you hope. And now, reflecting, a lot of those things came true.”

Jay-Z in 8 premieres on HBO on Sept. 18.

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