UB Spotlight Preview: ‘JAY-Z and Gayle King: Brooklyn’s Own’ | Tomorrow on BET

“CBS News presents JAY-Z and Gayle King: Brooklyn’s Own” premieres on BET tomorrow Wednesday, November 22nd at 8 PM ET/PT.

CBS News’ Gayle King sits down with musician and mogul JAY-Z for a wide-ranging interview that touches on everything from owning his own master recordings to all the lyrics he’s forgotten before he had the chance to write them down to his pride for his family. In this hour-long special, you’ll learn that JAY-Z is so much more than a “hustler, baby.”

Shawn Corey Carter, known worldwide as the hip-hop artist JAY-Z, is one of the biggest multihyphenate superstars and business executives of our time.

Now, in a primetime special, JAY-Z talks his life, his music, his work in criminal justice, his business acumen and his family.

JAY-Z has earned 24 Grammy Awards, a Peabody Award and inspired countless others to follow in his footsteps. Indeed, today, he can influence style and businesses around the globe, has investments worth millions of dollars and is a major proponent of criminal justice reform.

In this rare, interview, JAY-Z talks with Gayle about his childhood, growing up in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn and how he got his name. Plus he speaks on facing some difficult issues and how music was his path out. He opens up about his business career, how he makes music and the stories behind some of his famous lyrics.

The special also features footage from a 2002 60 Minutes II interview, where viewers will see a younger JAY-Z on the cusp of being the mogul he is today.

“The fact that people go there and, like, take pictures in front of this is just amazing to me ‘cause this, you know, the Marcy Houses that I grew up, it was not a tourist attraction,” JAY-Z states, recalling seeing someone shot when he was just 9.

JAY-Z shares how those experiences shaped his early life and how he broke into the music industry. He also discusses how his focus has changed from making music to helping others improve their futures.

“I think what matters most is, today, is, being a beacon and helping out … my culture. People of color. I think I pull the most satisfaction from that. Like making music earlier was, like – my first love. I could sit there for hours. It consumed me. Just finding words and figuring out words and how to say this and different ways to say that and different pockets and melodies and how to write this song,” JAY-Z states. “That consumed me. That’s why my pace was so fast. I had so much material … And I think now, you know, the idea of, of taking that platform and, you know, reproducing it for others or doing something like Reform … I think I derive the most joy from that.”

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