Blue Ivy Inspired Jay-Z to Learn How to Swim

Jay-Z shared that he learned how to swim for his firstborn, Blue Ivy because he was worried about her safety. During an appearance on the LeBron James HBO Max series The Shop: Uninterrupted, Jay-Z said that Blue Ivy was his inspiration to learn how to swim.

I love that Jay-Z learned to swim for his children. It didn’t matter how old you are. I need to do the same for myself.

— Ms. Payne (@anasarocheile) May 31, 2021

On the HBO special, the rapper shared that he learned how to swim at 42 years old, immediately after Blue Ivy was born in 2012.

Fatherhood flipped the script 💙 @sc #TheShopHBO pic.twitter.com/jg8Og7anDd

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) May 29, 2021

“It’s amazing. It’s a very grounding thing,” Jay-Z stated on The Shop: Uninterrupted. “This is a metaphor for our relationship. If she ever fell in the water and I couldn’t get her, I couldn’t even fathom that thought. I gotta learn how to swim. That’s it. That was the beginning of our relationship.”

Imagine being the swim instructor for Jay-Z 😂😂I would be asking so many questions, no swimming would get done lol https://t.co/hVJ8rKU8dU

— 🔥 Lightskin Scott 🌵 (@AstroBeanX) May 31, 2021

Apart from this, in the talk with James, Jay-Z also joked about Blue Ivy’s lack of interest in his nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in February. “I got the announcement. I was taking Blue to school. I was like, “This ain’t no celebration. She walked away. I was like, ‘Yo, give me a kiss. I’m in the Hall of Fame!’ She’s like, ‘Bye, Dad.'”

Jay-z: Blue, I’m in the Hall of Fame!!

Blue Ivy: Bye Dad.

Iconic. We love an unimpressed Capricorn queen!

— DiorCherie88 (@DiorCherie88) May 29, 2021

Jay-Z and Beyonce now have three children, Blue Ivy Carter and twins Rumi and Sir Carter, and he often shares his pride for his family. For example, he was a guest on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. Jay-Z talked about how grateful he is to have the opportunity to provide a good life for his kids. “I am grateful. I wake up. I look around, and I look at my kids. They are healthy,” stated on the Netflix special.

The David Letterman interview of Jay-Z on My Next Guest is absolutely phenomenal. Brilliant work by both.

— Joe Morrison, Jr. (@JRMjunior1) July 6, 2019

In the same interview with Letterman, the family man shared how he is in a good place, and his fears and traumas are in the past. “This music I’m making now is a result of things that have happened already. Like you, I like to believe that we’re in a better place today, but still working and still communicating and growing. I’m proud of the father and the husband I am today because of all the work that was done.”

Watch Jay-Z’s full interview for The Shop: Uninterrupted on HBO Max.