The first part of Jay-Z’s CBS Mornings interview officially arrived this morning, October 26. The nearly 13-minute clip captured Jay-Z giving Gayle King a tour of his Book Of HOV exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library. He reflected on his past albums, including Reasonable Doubt, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, and Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life. It’s already been six-plus years since Jay’s most recent album, 4:44, arrived and became his 14th consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200, so King had to ask if Jay-Z has plans for a new album anytime soon — or at all.
“We can’t use the word ‘retirement’ for you,” King said in a separate clip posed to CBS Mornings‘ Instagram account, to which Jay-Z joked, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, nah, I already did that. I can’t do that ever again.”
Then, he answered the question: “I’ll say, I want to make music again, but it has to be something important. I don’t want to just make a bunch of tunes. That’s not gonna serve me. It won’t feed me, first of all.” King asked what Jay-Z does feel feeds him, and he responded, “I have to be saying something important. It has to mean something. It has to mean something to a larger society. Like, 4:44, for example. It was a personal story, but the amount of vulnerability in there allowed for a lot of people to explore the space.”
Watch Part 1 of Jay-Z’s CBS Mornings special above, and watch the clip about new music below.