UPDATED 10/23, 11:50 p.m. ET: Rick Ross has weighed in with some thoughts based on his personal experience with Hov.
Ross said that a lunch meeting with Hov in 2008 in New York City changed the trajectory of his career forever thanks to some simple advice. “[Jay-Z] said, ‘Rozay, versus writing to every beat you like, write to every record you could make work.’”
The 47-year-old continued, “So I went from writing one record to every 80 beats I liked, to writing 40 records out of every 80 beats I could make work. It took me to another level as a writer, another level as a artist. The amount of work I was putting out was next level. So you gotta ask yourself: are you ready to digest the knowledge or you just wanna look at this watch at the table?”
The results speak for themselves. After their meeting, Ross turned in his second album Trilla which spawned hit singles “Speedin’,” “The Boss,” and “Here I Am.” The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Album 200 chart and sold 198,000 copies in its first week, according to the chart’s archive. Rozay and Hov have collaborated on a litany of tracks since then.
But Ross understands why Jay-Z answered the question the way he did this week, when Hov recommended taking the $500K. “He thinking of the motherfucker who ain’t got nothin’ and only gonna ask him about, ‘Yo, Hov. What it was like when 2Pac did ‘Hit ‘Em Up’?’ N***a, nobody don’t wanna hear that shit, so I would tell you get the money too. But if you ready to digest the knowledge that he gon’ give you … I’m talkin’ ‘bout from topic to topic, topic to topic—It’s priceless.”
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Not everyone cares about having dinner with Jay-Z.
When a fan saw Hov at the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers game on Monday night, the fan took it upon himself to tell the mogul that he’d rather take the money over a business dinner.
“Hey Hov, I’m taking that $500,000,” Instagram user @ruthlessrich said in a clip. “I ain’t taking that dinner, I’m taking that $500,000. You feel me? Aye, it’s love though,” he added, laughing. The pair seem to dap up during the exchange, with Jay responding, “Be good, man.”
The fan’s comments are connected to the infamous meme, “Dinner With Jay-Z or $500K?” The question has been widely debated on social media, with many opting for an inspiring dinner with the rapper-turned-businessman, instead of half a million dollars.
Jay-Z’s presence at the Cowboys game was also acknowledged by Troy Aikman, who mentioned a different meme—one that links the two as doppelgängers.
“Yeah, there’s a meme that’s going around, people think that’s my doppelgänger, you know?” he said with a laugh. “Me and Jay-Z, how ‘bout that?” Aikman said to his colleagues during the broadcast.
This meme is from 2017 when NFL fans took a screenshot of Aikman and placed it next to a photo of Jay. “White Jay-Z, there was a meme, it still pops on my feed from time to time,” Aikman remarked earlier this week on a recent episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out.
