The rapper has definitely flirted with the idea of retirement, famously declaring he was hanging up the mic in 2003 with a blowout party at Madison Square Garden. But he couldn’t stay away from the recording booth, continuing to collaborate with various artists, including Linkin Park, until his official return to the stage in 2006, with the albumJAY-Z, born Shawn Carter, told Hart that he was “terrible” at retirement, but “just needed a break” when he decided to call it quits in 2003.
“I was really burnt out that time. I was releasing an album every year — ’96, ’97, ’98. And then in between that, soundtracks, other people’s albums, Roc-A-Fella, touring back-to-back,” he recalled. “And you know, I just looked up one day and I was like, ‘I’m tired.’ I had never been on a vacation until, like, I want to say 2000. Like, my whole life. And I was just really burnt out at that moment.”, was released in 2017.
“Time is all you have. That’s the only thing we control, is how you spend your time,” he told Hart. “You’re reckless with your time before. You’re just all over the place and then you have to… What are you leaving your house for? Every second that you spend, you’re spending away from the development of these people that you brought here, that you love more than anything in the world. So what are you going to spend that time on? That changed a lot. That changed practically everything.