Jay Z's First TV Appearance Freestyle 1990

Jay Z is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His reach has gone from the Empire State to the world as he’s become a global icon and a symbol of the American Dream. He’s transitioned from talented emcee to a business, man.

While many people focus on Jigga’s accolades, those achievements were only dreams when Jay made his first television appearance. Thanks to this clip unearthed by MMMVintageVideos, we get to see Jay in action during an early TV freestyle next to the legendary Big Daddy Kane, one of Hov’s early mentors in the game.

As you can see from the video below, Hov’s name wasn’t even mentioned during the interview. Despite that, he was comfortable in front of the camera early on. He even starts off his freestyle by letting us know what we would eventually find out for sure. “Here I am, the man,” he said in the intro to his rap.

The interview was reportedly filmed by BET in 1990.

25 years later, Jay Z has proven he truly is the man.