Jay-Z is the cover boy for the new issue of Rolling Stone, and they declare him “The King of America”. Can I just say something? He’s not King of America. I like Jay and everything, probably more than most – I find him funny, charming and full of the right kind of ‘tude. But he’s not The King of America. Not even the Fake America that the conservatives allude to. But still, the interview excerpts are interesting. Jay sends some love to indie rock, which he says “has this rebellion thing that hip-hop is missing now.” Also, he can’t spell “faux pas” which I found endearing.

He’s had more Number One albums than Elvis Presley. He hangs with Barack Obama at the White House. And he’s riding high after leaving his longtime label Def Jam to work a $150 million deal with Live Nation, delivering some of his best live performances ever. At the age of 40, Jay-Z qualifies as an elder statesman of hip-hop, a fact that’s more remarkable considering other rap peers have hung up the mike to pursue careers in Hollywood. So how does he run the game?

In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, contributing editor Mark Binelli goes one-on-one with the New York legend, watching Jay-Z try on a new suit in his sprawling Manhattan office and tagging along to the Four Seasons, where the rapper goofs by mispronouncing actor Kelsey Grammer’s name at a watch auction (after calling the Frasier star “Chelsea,” he asks Binelli how to spell “faux pas”).

It seems the man who made his name rhyming about hustling and hos in Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects is actually more comfortable around an unlikely new crowd: indie rockers. “I love the energy coming out indie rock right now,” he says, name-checking Grizzly Bear. “It has this rebellion thing that hip-hop is missing now, the thing that made hip-hop hip-hop.”

While Jay is notoriously private about his life with wife Beyoncé, Binelli gets the rapper to let down his guard, and Jay reveals his superstar better half vetoed a piece of artwork he’d bought for their 8,000-square-foot Tribeca penthouse. The black-and-white Laurie Simmons photograph in question depicted “a noirishly lit pistol with a pair of women’s legs emerging from the handle… Beyoncé sent it back and had it replaced with a similar Simmons piece, only depicting a perfume bottle instead of a gun.” Binelli also encourages Jay to open up about his biggest challenges as president of Def Jam (the most frustrating meeting? “Honestly? All of them”) and his one and only experience in therapy, when as Binelli writes, “The psychiatrist gave him tea that made him sleepy and asked him questions like, ‘Who are your best friends?’ ”

Find out why Jay isn’t trying to lure pal LeBron James to the Nets and why he thinks many rappers have failed to age gracefully in our new issue, on sale at newsstands now.

[From Rolling Stone]

Jay might want to give therapy another try. I’m not saying he sounds crazy or anything, but he does sound a little neurotic, right? Not to stereotype, but neurosis is in the air in New York, maybe that’s it. Still, Jay might benefit from therapy if he found someone he really liked. I also loved the story about Beyonce and the art work. I love them together so much. He even took Bey to watch the French Open:

Rolling stone cover courtesy of CoverAwards.