Image
Image Credit
Courtesy of Roc Nation
Image Alt
A photo of a young JAY-Z with Jaz-O is shown on screen in London
Image Size
landscape-medium
Image Position
center

Key Takeaways

JAY-Z’s latest trip to London brought back memories of one of his earliest visits to the United Kingdom, long before Reasonable Doubt, Roc-A-Fella Records, or his ascent into Hip Hop history.

While closing out his two-night run at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 5), Hov reflected on traveling overseas with longtime mentor and collaborator Jaz-O during the earliest days of his career.

“He brought me out to London,” JAY-Z told the crowd. After recalling spending roughly two months there, he said, “my whole life changed,” adding that the experience showed him there was “a bigger world” beyond what he knew at home.

The trip dates back to 1989, when JAY-Z traveled to London alongside Jaz-O and Irv Gotti as Jaz-O worked on his debut album, Word to the Jaz. At the time, Hov was years away from releasing his own debut, and was largely there to observe his mentor’s recording process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBTNMKxZyw8

Jaz-O’s album ultimately featured JAY-Z on “Hawaiian Sophie,” one of Hov’s earliest commercially released appearances.

JAY-Z previously detailed his 1989 London trip in "Decoded"

REVOLT revisited the journey after Hov referenced “‘89 in London” during his verse on Pusha T’s “Drug Dealers Anonymous.” It all pointed back to JAY-Z’s 2010 book, "Decoded," where he described the trip as his first time outside of the United States and recalled how limited his geographic world was beforehand. “Up until that point, my life could be mapped with a triangle: Brooklyn, Washington Heights, Trenton,” Jay wrote before continuing, “It was a surreal, disorienting experience: Two n**gas from Marcy in a flat in Notting Hill."

Image
Image Credit
Astrid Stawiarz/Contributor via Getty Images
Image Alt
A copy of JAY-Z's "Decoded" on display in New York
Image Size
portrait-small
Image Position
center

JAY-Z further wrote that Jaz-O’s experience with his label at that time eventually discouraged his own early rap ambitions after the label stopped supporting his mentor. “After the way EMI handled Jaz, I buried my little rap dreams," he recalled. "If I had any pent-up resentment or anger, I took it out on the block.”