Jay-Z doesn’t hold grudges. But during a phone interview with HOT 97’s Angie Martinez yesterday (September 23), the most powerful man in hip-hop provided his take on Lil' Mama’s stage-crashing episode at the 2009 VMAs.
Is Jay-Z still mad at Lil Mama for crashing his VMA performance? Shortly after the incident (for which Lil Mama has apologized profusely), Jay explained to Angie that he could never replicate her actions, especially during a performance of that magnitude.
“Me, personally, I would never do that; I would never have the nerve to do that. To interrupt that moment for us, I don’t think that was the right thing to do,” Jay-Z explained via telephone while visiting the U.K. to promote his newest project, “Blueprint 3.” He added, “I thought it was the equivalent to what Kanye did to Taylor Swift, but no one really talks about that because I’m not a sweet little girl from the middle of America.”
Jay said he understood Lil' Mama’s move because of the mood the performance set, but he also stressed the detailed work that went into the four-minute performance. “I’m cool with her being excited and all that, but you also have to understand that people put in work to make that performance happen. That took weeks,” said Mr. Carter.
Jay continued, “The planning of it – if you look at those screens, we had to go to Yankee Stadium, we shot that live. There was a lot of planning that went into that.”
As for his feelings at that exact moment, the Brooklyn mogul said he had to suppress his emotions. “Yeah I was a little angry, but what am I going to do, fight Lil' Mama? What, I’m going to tussle with her [laughs]?”
