From Marcy to Movie Mogul: How Jay Z Took on Hollywood

A quick guide to Jay Z's work in the world of Hollywood.

Jay Z at 'Time: The Kalief Browder Story' Premiere   2017 Sundance Film Festival
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Jay Z at 'Time: The Kalief Browder Story' Premiere   2017 Sundance Film Festival

For many artists, the dream is hardly ever just to "hit it big" then stay in the same spot. You always have to elevate your game from triumphing in one field and tackling another. It's a model Jay Z has executed all of his life, from working in the dope game to bodying the rap game to becoming a larger-than-life figure, owning his own record label and getting his hands into everything from music streaming to managing athletes motion pictures.

For Jay, it was never really about acting. He told us a while ago that he wasn't a businessman, but a business, man. But instead of becoming the face on the billboard, he's steadily carved out a niche within the world of producing feature-length projects, in his own way. His arc may have started out in the world of music, but over the last 15 years, Jay's found himself taking on projects that not only elevate his game, but allow him to put stories in the world that may not have been told—or at the very least not told properly—without his stamp of approval.

It took Jay a while to turn himself into the business, and now that he's learned the movie world, he's now using that to speak to the people; recent word of the Trayvon Martin projects he will be producing is proof positive of that. Let's take a look at how Hov started from the bottom of Hollywood and crafted himself to being one of the more important movie producers in Hollywood, for the culture.

'State Property'

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Role: Actor

When: 2002

Where to watchAmazon Video

While State Property is mostly known as that movie where Beanie Sigel takes his slice of the American Dream, this Roc-A-Fella Films hood classic features a quick scene with Jay as "Unstoppable J," hitting Amil with some coded language on the sly. His time in the movie is short, but he lived up to his boss persona with ease.

'Paid In Full'

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Role: Producer

When: 2002

Where to watch: iTunes

While Jay Z and Dame Dash's Roc-A-Fella Films production company already put Kevin Hart on to the movie game via Paper SoldiersPaid In Full was arguably the first movie from their filmography that felt like something more than a hood classic or something that'd get BET spins ad infinitum. With names like Mekhi Phifer and Wood Harris stepping up for key starring roles in this '80s-based drug tale, Paid In Full feels like Jay (and Dame) really trying to be about something as movie makers.

'Fade To Black'

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Role: Executive Producer

When: 2004

Where to watch: Doesn't appear to be streaming, but you can cop the DVD on Amazon

As he was working on his (then) last solo release The Black Album, Jay Z wisely had the cameras rolling, not only documenting the process of creating what he felt would be his last official release, but also the conversations with some of the hip-hop game's elite were like. It was a behind-the-scenes look at hip-hop album making like few had seen before, and highlighted the usually-guarded artist's thought process in the moment.

'Free Angela and All Political Prisoners'

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Role: Executive producer

When: 2012

Where to watch: Amazon Video

After years of only having producer credits on music videos, Jay Z linked up with Will Smith to executive produce Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, a documentary about Angela Davis' life and social activism that the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival called "a fascinating chronicle of justice and strength."

At the time, Jay said that Free Angela writer/director "Shola Lynch has crafted an intricate and compelling film about Angela Davis. Roc Nation is honored to be a part of a creative collective that can present such a riveting story.”

'The Great Gatsby'

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Role: Executive producing the film and the soundtrack album

When: 2013

Where to watch: iTunes

Baz Luhrmann's glamorous take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's magnum opus, the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby about a mysterious millionaire and his obsession with a former fling, feels like it was Jay's most involved project at the time.

While Jay had already made his American Gangster album as a concept piece tied to 2007's American Gangster, Jay actually worked much closer with Luhrmann on the film's soundtrack. Luhrmann says he was looking for a way to "to elicit from our audience the same level of excitement and pop cultural immediacy toward the world that Fitzgerald did for his audience? And in our age, the energy of jazz is caught in the energy of hip-hop."

It looks like overseeing this specific soundtrack album (including his lone contribution to the project, "$100 Bill," which was written from Gatsby's perspective and featured in the television rollout) was a role made for Jay.

'Top Five'

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Role: Co-producer

When: 2014

Where to watch: Hulu

While seemingly not as hands on as he was with his other projects, Jay did have a co-producer credit on Top Five, which marked Chris Rock's third time in the director's chair, and a critical win for the actor/comedian. The film, which was a semi-autobiographical look at a comedian coming to terms with his past while being interviewed about the more serious shift he wants to embark on, creatively, was a great look for Rock, and a smart choice for Jay at this stage of his career. Similar to The Great Gatsby, it's one of those projects that wears its love for hip-hop on its sleeve without being a "hip-hop movie." AKA exactly how Jay's killing the game.

'Annie'

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Role: Producer

When: 2014

Where to watch: Amazon Video

There was talk about Jay Z and Will Smith connecting once again to bring the tale of little orphan Annie and how she teaches a stern rich man a thing or two about life back to theaters (after a 1982 film and a 1999 Disney TV movie) for a while, and it looks like Jay had a deeper connection to the source material than just sampling it on 1998's "Hard Knock Life." 

During the red carpet premiere for Annie, Jay said the movie "feels like New York City. It feels like magic, anything can happen. There’s a consistent theme there. That story of hope."

Kudos to Will and Jay for sticking with the project after Willow Smith dropped out, and being able to score Oscar winner Quvenzhané Wallis to take on the lead role.

'TIME: The Kalief Browder Story'

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Role: Producer

When: 2016

Where to watch: Spike (with a cable log-in)

In September 2016, it was announced that Jay Z had inked a two-year deal with the Weinstein Company to work on a number of scripted and unscripted projects. Soon after this was announced, they broke the news that Spike would be airing the six-part docuseries TIME: The Kalief Browder Story from Jay and the Weinsteins. The docuseries, which began airing on March 1, 2017, looks at the three years Browder spent on Rikers Island, and how the system lead to Browder taking his own life in 2015.

Jay and the Weinsteins are also producing The Reaper, a six-part miniseries that's set to air on NBC about Nicholas Irving, the Army's first African American sniper.

'In The Heights'

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Role: Producer

When: 2017

Where to watch: Nowhere (yet)

Before Hamilton shook the world of pop culture, Lin-Manuel Miranda was winning Tonys for his 2008 Broadway musical Tonys for his 2008 Broadway musical In The Heights, which unravels a tale about three days living with the largely Dominican-American area known as Washington Heights. It was announced in February that Jay would be producing a film adaptation of In The Heights. Like so many of Jay's projects, it feels like something in this musical truly moved Jay's decision to pick it up: "I’m excited to tell stories from real-life prophets, whom through their struggles have changed the world for the better, and others whose stories are filled with fantasy and delight."

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