Jay-Z Reveals How Blue Ivy Inspired Him to Learn How to Swim Written by Kecia Gayle May 31, 2021

During a recent appearance on “The Shop: Uninterrupted,” Jay-Z opened up about how the birth of his first child, Blue Ivy Carter, changed everything. The “Empire State of Mind” rapper shared on the HBO Max’s series that he made the choice to learn a new skill after his wife Beyoncé gave birth to Blue in 2012.

“It’s amazing. It’s a very grounding thing,” he said of becoming a dad. “I didn’t learn how to swim until Blue was born. There goes everything you need to know. 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.”