Jay-Z on Blue Ivy Carter’s Perfect Pitch and Musical Ambitions

“That was amazing,” he said of her work on the Cowboy Carter Tour. “On the first tour [the Renaissance World Tour, where Blue also appeared as backup dancer] there was a lot of conversation around her first performance, and she worked really hard to get to that point, but she still wasn’t going for it. She still was going through the motions. And then she just started fighting back. I saw her fight maybe for the first time in her life—like, not everything is just given to her and everything is easy. She fought for it. She’s almost on every number. I had to take her off some, like, ‘Man, you can’t be on that stage when she’s singing “Six-inch heels…,” are you crazy?’”

He added that Blue is particular about how she approaches music. “Blue is a crazy pianist, but she won’t let us get her a teacher,” he said. “She doesn’t want it to be a job. But she has perfect pitch. If she hears a song, she’ll be like ‘Play it again’ and then she’ll teach herself. That’s just talent, she doesn’t work at that. She worked at this, and it makes me proud that she fought for something that she really wanted to do. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get her off that stage now.”

The rapper also spoke more broadly about fatherhood and his life raising Blue and her 8-year-old twin siblings, Rumi and Sir. “It gives everything meaning, everything,” he said. “I’ll go cross-country, do what I have to do, and I’m back on the plane that night. I love taking them to school. I love picking them up. Everything means so much more.”

He briefly addressed his songwriting work with Beyoncé on her music as well, saying, “I know what she’s trying to accomplish and anything that I can contribute—I mean, that’s my family, first of all—I thought it was super important. And a fun challenge.”