Jay-Z has been everywhere lately. It’s been 30 years since his acclaimed debut <em>Reasonable Doubt</em>, and he celebrated with a series of concerts at Yankee Stadium. And now there’s the HBO docuseries, <em>JAŸ-Z In 8</em>, in which Jay-Z dissects his catalog with producer Rick Rubin. The series hopes to further cement his legacy as one of the most revered lyricists of our time. But Jay-Z (or JAŸ-Z, as he’s styled it lately.) has always been a polarizing figure, both in his personal life and as a business mogul. So what does this series accomplish?<br/><br/><strong>Looking for more episodes about music? Check out these:</strong><br><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/08/05/nx-s1-5920274/ariana-grande-stares-down-the-public-eye-in-petal"target="_blank" >Ariana Grande stares down the public eye in 'Petal'</a><br><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/07/21/nx-s1-5900859/its-time-to-talk-about-how-yall-act-at-music-festivals"target="_blank" >It's time to talk about how y'all act at music festivals</a><br><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/09/nx-s1-5566097/most-overused-songs-in-movies"target="_blank" >Most overused songs in movies</a><br/><br/>Connect with Pop Culture Happy Hour:<br><a href="https://letterboxd.com/nprpopculture/"target="_blank" >Letterboxd</a> / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pchh"target="_blank" >Facebook</a><br><a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/pop-culture"target="_blank" >Our weekly newsletter</a><br>Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>.<br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>
