Author Topic: Jay-Z Gunned Down...... (Read 256 times)

Darksider · « **on:** April 23, 2004, 08:17:10 PM »

Jay-Z is dead. He was dramatically and symbolically gunned down at the end of his new video for "99 Problems," which he premiered yesterday to the New York press in an exclusive screening.

"Jay-Z is finished, that's what the video is all about," said Jay's spokeswoman Jana Fleishman. "He is now Shawn Carter."

Wearing a gray suit with a pastel tie, the Jiggaman dropped in at the Tribeca Screening Room in New York City Thursday night to introduce the video to the public. The crowd was limited to about 100 journalists, publicists and other industry insiders. The guest of honor gave a short introduction before rolling the video, and he would have stuck around to answer questions, but he had other places he had to be.

"I want to be here, but I've got a team in the playoffs," he joked, dismissing rumors that his absence at a recent party celebrating the Nets move to Brooklyn indicated a split from the team.

The black-and-white video, which co-stars long-time hip-hop producer Rick Rubin draped in a fur trench coat, donning a cowboy hat and hiding behind his trademark dark sunglasses, is the most stylistic Jay-Z video ever seen. Jay said he wanted the scenes in the video for ninth track on his retirement CD, The Black Album, to be representative of the streets and how life really is in the city.

"I want to take a picture, something dynamic," he said about planning the video. "I want to shoot art."

Ironically, now that he's accomplished just that, the general public probably won't get to see the uncut video, which in addition to Jay's own graphic slaughter, features full frontal nudity in a prison scene. Jay said his artistic opus is being met with resistance from television executives because of its controversial content.

"Now I'm having trouble with BET and MTV," he said. "I feel like Madonna."

Retirement should give Carter plenty of time for Knicks games and other pleasant diversions, like his girlfriend Beyonce Knowles. British tabloids reported that the couple was married last weekend, but Fleishman denied it.

"The British tabloids always get it wrong," she said. "She was on tour on the west coast and he was watching basketball last weekend."

Jay-Z's 99 Problems video will hopefully begin to hit airwaves in the coming weeks.

www.sohh.com