"I didn't really start yet. I got a couple of scraps and I got a couple of ideas. I didn't really go into the studio yet. I've been toying with ideas and direction and things like that. I got one crazy. To be honest with you, it's crazy. I got one and we'll build from there. Whether it comes out this year or next year, it depends on the music and how it's coming out. I don't really have any dates."
-Rap superstar and NBA fan Jay-Z, teasing MTV News (and fans) about new music that may or may not come out some time in 2010. Jay spoke to MTV News' Shaheem Reid on the red carpet at the "Two Kings Dinner and Afterparty" over NBA All-Star Weekend (an event he co-hosted with LeBron James).
Even if we don't hear new music from Jay, there will be plenty of opportunities to bask in the energy of the architect of The Blueprint. He's headed back out on another leg of his tour, and he'll be headlining the annual Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. And, of course, he'll be dropping in on other people's songs, and there's still "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)," his charity collaboration with Rihanna and Bono and the Edge of U2.
Despite his ubiquity, he is still amazed at everything that has happened to him. "The world is inspiring me," he said. "I get out and see the world and more of the world is accepting of our music and what we do. I'm just inspired by the whole thing and how big hip-hop can be and how much of a phenomenon it is. You couldn't imagine hip-hop being at the World Series. I touched the championship trophy before A-Rod and the Vince Lombardi trophy before the Saints. You couldn't imagine that happening 10 years ago."