Exclusive: Jay-Z at the United Nations

Today at work, my coworker came in and told me, “Jay-Z is having a press conference at 11 today!” She also told me that she had been talking to one of her security guard friends and he said he would try to get her in. I told her of course that meant that I was coming along as well.

At 10:45, we ran upstairs to the press room where a crowd of UN staffers was already gathering. We quickly ran into a couple of friends. We were soon disappointed to find out that the room was getting too full and they would be closing the doors. Just as the doors closed, a security guard popped her head out and asked everyone who was there first, as she had a few more spots left. A coworker quickly noticed us, and said, “These 3 were here first, and I came right after them.” We were then ushered into the inner sanctum of the United Nations press room.

I must admit, it felt kind of cool being in a real press conference with a real celebrity. I listened, snapped some pictures, and recorded some video. I did feel a little dorkish holding my little Canon digital camera while all the journalists had their giant, professional cameras. But, what the hell, all in the name of “journalism” right? I write for We Don’t Smell!

An excerpt from the press release and some of my short videos (my camera can only take 30 second clips at a time) after the jump. Here’s my flickr photoset of the press conference. A lot of the pictures didn’t come out amazing since they banned flash from the press room, so I only posted the best ones.

Tagged: Jay-Z, United Nations, MTV, Water Crisis

At a press conference held this morning at the United Nations with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, MTV President Christina Norman and President and CEO Of Def Jam Records Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, a multi-faceted partnership and collaboration was announced. While on his international tour, Jay-Z will travel to several regions around the globe affected by the world water crisis. These visits will be documented by MTV for a special, Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life. This special program will document his personal learning journey as he meets children and families who suffer daily and count amont the more than one billion people worldwide who do not have access to safe drinking water. MTV’s cameras will also follow Jay-Z visiting locations where sustainable, environmentally-friendly solutions are in place or being developed to bring fresh water to devastated communities.

The Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life will premiere on MTV on Friday, November 24, 2006 and will be offered to MTV’S worldwide network of 50 locally programmed channels in 179 countries. MTV will also offer complementary comprehensive educational outreach and Internet resources, all designed to help educate and inspire a new generation of young people to save lives and their planet.

The conclusion of Jay-Z’s statement:

Q&A: Jay not a bureaucrat:

Q&A: Will you make a song about the crisis? Like Kanye West’s Diamonds from Sierra Leone?

Awesome soundbite:
Jay was asked “At a recent concert, you rapped, ‘I’m the UN of the rap world.’ Did you plan to have this relationship with the UN?” Jay-Z replied, “I wish I was that smart, or that prophetic, but actually….”