"I know who I am. I don't have to pretend. That, to me is the problem with Hip-Hop – people are pretending. I don't have to put up a front or act a certian way all the time. I can smile, and I can have fun. I'm not gonna wear Nike Airs on a 200- foot yacht and it's 400 degrees outside. I'm not gonna do it. I don't care," he said in defense.
"I'm not walking around the city, muthafucka. I'm not walking around in the city in jeans and flip-flops. I'm not doing that either. But I'm not gonna be in St.-Tropez … I had on the fuckin' white linen with the Purple Label pinstripe pants. I'm gonna dress according to the weather. I'm not gonna wear a long T-shirt down to my knees and walk around the beach. I'm not doing that. And if that means that I'm not Hip-Hop, then I'm not Hip-Hop. fuck it. I'm secure with who I am. I don't have nothing to prove. I'm a man first," he added.
Jay-Z's next project Kingdome Come will be released later this month.
