“In the beginning it was time for everyone to sit down and really connect, and really focus on family and being together, and take this time to learn more about each other,” he says. “And then, as it wore on, it’s like, ‘OK, all right, what is the new normal?’ ” Carter is broadly an optimist, but he is still cautious about how life will change post-Covid. It’s not clear when he will perform live again (“I’m not planning it, but I’m definitely missing it”). But family, he repeats, “is your foundation”. In fact, he goes on, “feeling loved is the most important thing a child needs, you know? Not ‘Here’s this business that I’m going to hand over to you, that I’m creating for you.’ What if my child doesn’t want to be in music or sports? I have no idea, right? But as long as your child feels supported, and feels loved, I think anything is possible.”

It’s funny he mentions that, because the Carter children’s destiny does seem somehow set: after all, Blue Ivy last month became the second-youngest person to bag a Grammy, for her mother’s Brown Skin Girl video (she had a writing credit). Surely, however much he may want his kids to have normal lives, it’s essentially impossible — they have such a huge legacy to live up to. How do they negotiate that? “Yeah,” he acknowledges. “Just make sure we provide a loving environment, be very attentive to who they want to be. It’s easy for us, as human beings, to want our children to do certain things, but we have no idea. We’re just guides.” He mostly goes to the gym, he chuckles, “just to be able to catch my children on the lawn. Those are my goals.” Is that still easy? “Now it is, but Blue is nine — she’s not a baby any more.”

“If anything came from this,” he says of Covid, “it’s that we have to recognise that we’re all connected. It’s a metaphor for how connected we are.” But what feels even more pertinent is the Black Lives Matter movement, and this is something where the Puma connection comes into play. The brand has a long and illustrious history of sponsoring Black sports talent, which Carter flags up. He mentions Tommie Smith, who caused a furore at the 1968 Olympics by making the Black Power salute as he stood on the podium with his gold. In the famous photo he’s got his Puma trainers with him. Gulden reveals proudly that he set up meetings between Smith and Carter. Smith’s gesture was particularly strong, says Carter, “because he did it at a time when it was not popular. Today you can see the support — back then you’re risking your life, risking everything, you know?”

I nod, but at the same time that gesture was more than 50 years ago now. Considering what we have seen recently — considering, as Carter points out, that the trial of Derek Chauvin for George Floyd’s murder is “happening today, right now” — is it not frustrating that there is still a long way to go? “Yes,” he replies. “As a human race we’re still on basic things,” he sighs, meaning people’s appearances. “We’re still on Stop Asian Hate. We can’t sit and cry over spilt milk, but we do have to acknowledge that there’s milk, right?” A rueful laugh. “But yes, to answer your question, it’s very frustrating.” Still, he refuses to be negative. “Are we here today? No. Are we further than 50 years ago? Yes.”

You're talking to a bot, man

The other pertinent thing about the Puma connection is that it emphasises just how much sportswear, and hip-hop culture, have infiltrated every level of pop culture and high fashion. According to both Gulden and Carter, the dominance of athleisure is not ending anytime soon. Gulden tells me that the proposed swing back to sharp tailoring in fashion, which was being forecast before Covid, had zero effect on his sales. Carter, meanwhile, states that “there’s no such thing as athleticwear going out of style. It’s just impossible. We won’t see that in our lifetime.”

Sometimes Carter can be refreshingly direct. When I ask whether, if he were 20 years younger and starting out in the game, he would be all over social media, his response is immediate: “No.” (He isn’t on Instagram and barely uses his Twitter account.) Likewise, when I ask if cancel culture might end anytime soon, the response is immediate. “Er, no!” he laughs. “You can’t give someone a microphone for 24 hours a day and have them not think they have to use it!” He seems to feel a bit sorry for the younger stars coming up today. “These kids, it’s unbelievable,” he goes on. “Imagine having a microphone and you’re asked about social justice questions at 18 years old? It’s like, ‘What? I’m meant to know the answer, and if I don’t answer the correct way, if I don’t say everything right, even if my intentions are right, and I don’t say the same right thing, it’s going to be everywhere.’”

Other times he is more oblique and even tries to be modest. When I ask him how he thinks he will be remembered, he pushes it away. “I have no idea,” he insists, but then says: “I’m not beyond ego, right? Hopefully they speak of me with the names of Bob Marley and all the greats. But that’s not for me to say.” OK, fine. But what are you most proud of? “I’m most proud of overcoming my circumstances and providing opportunity for people who look like me and who came from the same situation that I’ve come from.”

Perhaps the best example is when he talks to me about blackjack. “There are certain things you do in blackjack,” he starts, promptly explaining his approach to the game to me, which broadly boils down to the idea that whether you’re “$1 down or $100 million down, you’ve still got to do what’s right — you’ve still got to go for it. You can’t base it on the money. You have to base it on the love or passion of what you’re doing.” That’s what matters, he insists. “You’re not gonna be right all the time, and you’re gonna fail — and you’re gonna fail big, you know? But you’re also going to win big, and when you’re right, you’re gonna be really right.”

Yeah wtf my high ass knows better tbh

"The Times" are broke?

How do I do that without paying

Safe saved the day

they just like me

pics:

@safe is a king of kings & got it

Album he’s couple rumored to have weeks an coming in a 👀

@FIFTY950 new avy?

U guys hear the rumor?

He's rumored to have an album coming in a couple weeks 👀

"we are asked that JAY-Z be written in caps"
This JAY-Z

From Euro Hov to Jean-Michel Basquiet 2.0.

he likes blackjack, he really is just like me

Rumored to drop new album in couple weeks?

Family man

Oh oh

Jay z needs to get rid of that ugly hair

He's couple an to weeks have in album coming rumored a 👀

?

“You ever seen my legs?” (Carter is 6ft 2in.) “They’re horrible. So of course!””

yall the worst man I actually thought the article said an album was rumored to be coming