Jay-Z in “Jaÿ-Z in 8 | Official Teaser | HBO Max” (HBO/YouTube) Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story A Jay-Z documentary series is coming to HBO in the fall. Jaÿ-Z in 8 follows a simple premise: eight episodes of conversation between the rapper and Rick Rubin , who also directed the series. “Without the pain you wouldn’t have done the work,” Rubin says in the new teaser trailer, to which Jay-Z responds: “So the pain—you don’t say it’s necessary, you don’t say you need it—but if it’s there, you use it.” Watch the trailer below.
Rubin helmed a similar project in 2021, a Hulu docuseries about Paul McCartney called McCarntey 3,2,1 . Across his long career, Rubin has actually only worked on a single Jay-Z track, “99 Problems” from 2003’s The Black Album .
Jay has spent the year ringing in the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt . He gave his first solo headlining performance in over five years at Philadelphia’s Roots Picnic in May, and will play back-to-back-to-back hometown shows at Yankee Stadium next month. The July 10 set will be themed around Reasonable Doubt , while July 11 is dedicated to 2001’s The Blueprint and July 12 is billed as an “Extra Innings” performance. You can also buy an anniversary box set of Jay-Z’s discography—it’ll just run you $1,500.
Read Alex Suskind’s new interview with Al Shux, “Empire State of Mind” Producer on Soundtracking the Knicks’ Win.