JAY-Z Recalls How "One-Take Hov" Nickname Started

JAY-Z recalled the origin of his "one-take Hov" nickname while speaking with Gayle King at his Book of HOV exhibit in Brooklyn for CBS Mornings. The legendary rapper's Brooklyn Library exhibit covers the entirety of his career in both music, but also his deals in sports, music, alcohol, film, and public service.

“This was when you were recording to actual tape. So, you can’t mess up, ‘cause then you got to go all the way back and cut the tape,” Jay explained to King as they walked past a display of his master tapes. “That’s where the whole ‘One-Take HOV’ came from. Because if you wanted a fly chorus on this thing, you had to go to dinner. It took an engineer hours to cut the tape… fly it over here… So I start learning my lyrics really good so I could do them one time—you understand—straight down, and I didn’t waste time.”

JAY-Z & Beyonce During Paris Fashion Week

PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 20: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY - For Non-Editorial use please seek approval from Fashion House) Jay Z and Beyoncé attend the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 20, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Elsewhere in the interview, JAY-Z discussed the long-standing hypothetical debate as to whether a dinner with him or $500,000 is more valuable. He suggested fans should take the money in the scenario. “You gotta take the money,” JAY-Z said. “You got all that in the music for $10.99 — that’s a bad deal. I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal. Take the $500,000, go buy some albums, and listen to the albums. It’s all there. If you piece it together and really listen to the music for the words, for what it is, it’s all there. Everything I said was going to happen happened, everything I said I wanted to do I’ve done. There’s the blueprint — literally, the blueprint to me and my life and my journey is there already.”

JAY-Z Sits Down With Gayle King

In an exclusive interview and tour of @BKLYNlibrary’s Book of HOV exhibit with JAY-Z, the rapper told @GayleKing how he earned the nickname “One-take HOV,” while looking at a display of his masters.

Watch the interview Thursday and Friday on CBS Mornings. pic.twitter.com/XHI7ALhOuK

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 24, 2023

JAY-Z's full interview with Gayle King will be airing on CBS on Thursday and Friday. Check out a preview of the conversation above and be on the lookout for further updates on what Hov has to say on HotNewHipHop.

[Via]