Jay-Z to Oprah: Drug Dealing Was 'Natural'

Becoming a teen drug dealer was “natural” for Jay-Z, and it didn’t scare him a bit, given his environment in the projects, he tells Oprah in her O Magazine. “At some point, you become addicted to the feeling. The uncertainty and adrenaline and danger of that lifestyle,” the rapper says. He was shot at once, but made it through: “When you're a kid, with little bony arms—no wonder nobody could aim.”

As for his lyrics, Oprah asks: Is using the N-word necessary? “My generation hasn't had the same experience with that word that generations of people before us had. We weren't so close to the pain. So in our way, we disarmed the word.” How did he keep his wedding with Beyonce so secret? “Late planning!” The couple won’t discuss each other—but, Jay-Z reveals, they have a weekly date at a candlelit pizza place in Brooklyn.
(More O, the Oprah Magazine stories.)