Jay-Z is February’s cover man for eclectic magazine, Interview. In the cover story entitled: “Jay-Z: Made In the U.S.A.“, Mr. Carter speaks about movies that influence him, dining with politicians, and the success of Eminem and Kanye West. Below are some excerpts from the interview:

On being in the company of Clinton and Obama:
“For me, being with [President Barack] Obama or having dinner with Bill Clinton … it’s just crazy. It’s mind-blowing, because where I come from is just another world. We were just ignored by politicians — by America in general,” Jay explained.

On which movie he compares his career to:
The rapper spoke with Mitchell about his enduring run as a top MC. Through a film analogy, he discussed the Robert De Niro film “Once Upon a Time in America” — when Jay was younger, the actor’s character was a favorite of his, but in watching it as an adult he was unsettled by the portrayal. “Rap, for me, is like making movies, telling stories and getting the emotions of the song through in just as deep a way,” he explained.

On Eminem’s fame reaching extreme heights:
“I never even told him this, but I remember that Eminem came into the studio when we made ‘Moment of Clarity,’ which he produced, on The Black Album,” Jay said. “So here’s Eminem. It’s 2003, I think The Eminem Show had come out, and he was, like, the biggest rapper in the world — he sold, like, 20 million records worldwide or some ridiculous number. But when he came to the studio, I remember I hugged him and I could feel that he had on a bulletproof vest. I couldn’t imagine being that successful. I mean, he’s a guy who loves rap and wanted to be successful his whole career. Then he finally gets it, and there’s this dark cloud over him.”

On Kanye West’s VMA incident… again:
“I just think the timing of what he did was wrong and that, of course, overshadowed everything. He believed that [Beyoncé's] ‘Single Ladies’ was a better video. I believed that. I think a lot of people believed that. You can’t give someone Video of the Year if they don’t win Best Female Video. I thought Best Female Video was something you won on the way to Video of the Year.” [SOURCE]

Before The Blueprint³ was properly released there was already chatter that Jay-Z was preparing his next studio album; an album that would explore new worldly sounds. Jay-Z explained that this forthcoming album would not be a #1 chart topper but it would be 100% experimental. Swizz Beatz who produced “On To the Next One” spoke to MTV’s Mixtape Daily to eveal details on Hov’s new album:

“Crazy,” Swizz told us about Jay’s new work. “It’s crazy. I’m working on the intro right now, matter of fact. It’s stupid.”

Swizz hinted that the beat he gave Hov had an innovative, trailblazing sound.

“We been talking about that international vibe since the last album,” Swizz said. “But the sound changes. You got too many people trying to do too many things. They throw it off. I’m actually going out there doing the legwork, sitting there with the master composers, and we gonna pull this thing together.”

Swizz is literally on to the next one with his new LP — the Bronx native will be traveling the globe to research new sounds and work with international collaborators.

“I see myself taking it on a worldly level,” he said. Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are just a few of his planned destinations.

“I said, ‘If I’m gonna do a new album, it needs to be about something.’ The music industry is suffering so much from a lack of creativity,” he offered. “I can’t do it by myself. I wanna be a major contributor to the change of the sound for the new decade. … With this album, I’m giving a large percentage, almost half [the profits from] the album to schools in need of art and music. We teaming up, we got 44,000 students. We’re doing major, major stuff that’s still making sense but still keeping the freshness. I’m not watering anything down. We’re just adding different dimensions to the house you’re already living in.” [SOURCE]

Say what you want about Jay but you cannot deny his drive, his hunger to evolve. Releasing a new album so soon is an instant stamp of overexposure for an artist of Jay-Z’s caliber but he keeps it about the music and not his celebrity so no complaints here.