Jay-Z In 8 (Official Teaser) [Video]

Jay-Z and Rick Rubin sit down for Jay-Z In 8, an eight-part HBO documentary series focused on lyrics, memory, pain, and creative process.

Hov has never treated interviews like routine promotion, which makes Jay-Z In 8 feel bigger than a standard documentary rollout. HBO’s newly released teaser keeps the setup stripped down: Jay-Z and Rick Rubin in conversation, framed in black and white, with the focus placed squarely on memory, craft and the weight behind the work.

The eight-part HBO Original documentary series is directed by Rubin and built around discussions of Jay-Z’s music, lyrics, life experiences, and creative process. Instead of selling the project through a loud greatest-hits montage, the teaser leans into one idea: pain as material. Rubin brings up the role that pain can play in pushing the work forward, and Jay-Z answers with a line that cuts to the center of the clip: you do not need to romanticize pain, but when it is there, you use it.

That approach fits the moment around Jay-Z right now. The series arrives during the wider 30th anniversary year of Reasonable Doubt, with Jay also back on stage for major celebratory shows. Rubin’s presence adds another layer, not just because of his history with Jay-Z around “99 Problems,” but because his recent documentary work has often favored slow, direct conversations about process over conventional biography.

Jay-Z In 8 debuts this fall on HBO and will stream on HBO Max in the U.S.