The second season of Kevin Hart‘s Peacock talk series Hart To Heart is set to premiere this week. In a preview clip posted by Access Hollywood, Jay-Z discusses with the comedian the status of his latest semi-retirement. Although Jay notoriously “retired” once in 2003 with the release of The Black Album, he returned in relatively short order just three years later with Kingdom Come. This time, though, he has no plans on making any grand pronouncements of the same nature, even joking about his previous retirement with Hart.
“Nah, I tried that,” he admits. “I’m terrible at that! I just needed a break … I was really burnt out at that time. I was releasing an album every year … I just looked up one day and I was like, ‘I’m tired.’ I’d never been on vacation until, say, 2000, my whole life.” This time, he says he has no intentions of walking away — “for good” or otherwise — despite not currently having any projects in the works.
“I don’t know what happens next,” he acknowledges. “I’m not actively making music or making an album or have plans to make an album, but I never want to say that I’m retired. It’s a gift, and who am I to shut it off? It’s open to whatever. And it may have a different form or interpretation. Maybe it’s not an album, maybe it is. I have no idea, but I’m just going to leave it open.”
While Jay isn’t making music on his own yet, he did recently make an appearance on Pusha T’s album It’s Almost Dry, contributing his voice to the single “Neck And Wrist.” He also cleared seven samples for The Game’s upcoming album Drillmatic.
Watch Peacock’s Hart To Heart clip above and watch the whole series streaming on Peacock.