LIFE + TIMES: NYC + Book of HOV

“All Love in the Heart of the City…”

In July of this year in shock drop fashion it was announced that ‘The Book of Hov: A Celebration of the Life + Work of Sean ‘Jay-Z’ Carter” exhibit would be showing at Brooklyn Public Library for a limited time. Immediately it became a focal point of my summer to get to the legendary NYC to experience firsthand the life + work of Sean Carter. By late summer, I was headed out Brooklyn, NY to take a bite out of the Big Apple with a visit to the Book of Hov exhibit as the main attraction.

My admiration for Carter runs extremely deep. Early memories of ‘Volume 2…Hard Knock Life’ blasting through my oldest brothers Chris’ speaker as I approach his bedroom door to tell him dinner is ready. By the time I was in junior high my brother and I adopted the limewire lifestyle and downloaded as much music our family computer could handle. Nothing sold better than the bootleg copy of ‘The Black Album’ (sorry Hov). A lifelong fan, I could’ve honestly spend hours in the exhibit just basking in the experience.

A recurring thought often visits me; there is a rather frightening possibility that one can potentially go through life without seeing an audacious thought or idea come to fruition in an unimaginable way.

My biggest takeaway from the HOVA showcase was the inspiration and how moving it is to be able to experience the linear journey of seeing an idea; one that many didn’t believe in initially, turn into the empire that we see impacting so many lives today.

An extremely moving and spiritual journey for reasons beyond just being able to celebrate my all time favorite emcee. I recommend as many that can possibly make the trek to check out the exhibit while it remains open. (Book of Hov officially closes Dec. 4th 2023.)