JAŸ-Z IN 8

JAŸ-Z in 8 Goes Inside the Music With Rick Rubin

Thirty years after Reasonable Doubt, JAŸ-Z is looking back at the words, experiences and creative process behind one of hip-hop's most influential careers.

JAŸ-Z in 8 is an eight-part HBO documentary series built around an intimate, career-spanning conversation between JAŸ-Z and longtime friend and producer Rick Rubin, who also makes his documentary directorial debut with the project.

Rather than approaching JAŸ-Z's story as a traditional music documentary, the series keeps things simple:

Two artists. A room. The music. And a conversation.

Together, JAŸ-Z and Rubin revisit songs from throughout his career as he breaks down his writing process, examines the meaning behind his lyrics and reflects on how his childhood and life experiences eventually found their way into his music.

The conversations move through tracks including “Brooklyn's Finest,” “99 Problems,” “Dead Presidents II,” “The Story of O.J.,” “Family Feud” and “4:44,” connecting different stages of his career to the person he was when he wrote them.

But JAŸ-Z in 8 isn't simply about how the songs were made.

The series explores the relationship between art and life, including how pain, ambition, family, success and personal growth influenced both the music and the man creating it.

Three decades after introducing himself with Reasonable Doubt, JAŸ-Z isn't simply revisiting the records.

He's explaining the life behind them.

JAŸ-Z in 8 premieres with two episodes Friday, September 18 on HBO and HBO Max, followed by two new episodes each Friday through October 9.