JAY-Z is set to guest star in the season four premiere of the LeBron James executive produced HBO show The Shop: Uninterrupted this Friday. In a promo for the episode, Jay talks about forgetting his lyrics.
LeBron James asked Jay if he’d ever been “so zoned out” during a performance that he didn’t even notice the audience, Jay responded, saying, “In the beginning, I used to get on the stage and just forget all my lyrics.”
Although he says it used to happen early in his career, Jay has forgotten lyrics later in his career, which is to be expected considering his vast discography spanning decades. During a 2013 show, he appeared to forget his lyrics to “No Church In The Wild.”
In 2010, during an interview with NPR, Jay-Z broke down some of the psychology behind performing on stage as a new rapper. Jay explained how rappers are often nervous, which leads to them grabbing their crotch on stage.
“In hip-hop, the music leads first. So usually, you have a hit record and then [the record executives] throw this person on stage who has never been on stage before,” said Jay to NPR. “So they don’t have any experience on how to perform in front of people, hold the mic—all these different things you need to know as a performer. So you get up there, you feel naked. So when you feel naked, what’s the first thing you do? You cover yourself. So that bravado is an act of, ‘I am so nervous right now. I am scared to death. I’m going to act so tough that I am going to hide it, and I have to grab my crotch.’ That’s just what happens.”
The full episode of The Shop with LeBron James and Maverick Carter joined by Jay-Z, Bad Bunny, Nneka Ogwumike, and Paul Rivera drops this Friday on HBO and HBO Max.
