Jay-Z's New HBO Docuseries Traces His Career Through Eight Conversations With Rick Rubin

Thirty years after his debut album Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z is opening up his catalog for a new HBO docuseries called Jaÿ-Z in 8. The eight episode project pairs him with longtime friend and producer Rick Rubin for an intimate, conversational look back at his career, built around shared listening sessions that unpack both the music and the life behind it.

What the series covers

Across the episodes, Jay-Z and Rubin revisit tracks including Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Public Service Announcement, Hard Knock Life, 99 Problems, Brooklyn's Finest and cuts from 4:44, using each song as a way into the influences and experiences that shaped both the artist and the man. The series is framed less as a straightforward retrospective and more as a genuine dialogue between two people who have known each other for decades.

When to watch

The first two episodes premiered on HBO on September 18 at 8 and 8:45 p.m. Eastern and are now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes arrive in pairs every Friday, with episodes three and four landing September 25, five and six on October 2, and the final two episodes closing out the series on October 9.