Jay-Z rides the subway and talks to old people, just like a normal person who has jillions of dollars

By Austin Bernhardt | December 5, 2012 | 11:00pm

Aux Features Music

Jay-Z rides the subway and talks to old people, just like a normal person who has jillions of dollars

Rapper/producer/Beyonce-wedder/basketball-team-owner Jay-Z has released a 24-minute documentary on YouTube entitled Where I’m From, which details the lead-up to a series of concerts he performed at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in September. And while most of the film is standard concert-doc fare (in addition to serving as a not-so-subtle PR push for a stadium that caused significant controversy among nearby residents during its planning and construction), the real piece de resistance occurs at around 19:30, when Jay takes the subway to the venue for the final show.

Enter local artist Ellen Grossman who, despite being alive, is completely ignorant of her traveling companion’s identity when he sits down next to her on the train. (Wait for it.) She asks him what he does. (Wait for it.) “Uh,” he says—as his personal biopic from drug dealer to major-label president undoubtedly unfolds in his mind—“I make music.”