Nahziah Carter made headlines while in L.A. earlier this week, and not just because the 328th ranked high school player dunked over the nation's top prospect, in Marvin Begley III, during a Nike Elite Youth Basketball circuit game. Rather, the spotlight at the event was on Jay Z and Nahziah, who coupled together make the story of an uncle and nephew who rarely see one another, but got a chance to get up and share the building for a magical moment. Despite their loose relationship with one another, there is a lot of history between Jay Z, Nahziah, and the whole Carter family that music lovers have access to through Jay's catalog.
As one might have imagined it would, Nahziah's performance and relationship with the rap great has since lead to publications reaching out to interview the Bishop Kearney senior. One such outlet is Bleacher Report, which just did a feature with Nahziah who spoke on his grades in the classroom, post graduate commitments, and knowledge of his uncle. And in opening up, he confirmed for the reporter that he is indeed aware of the time Jay shot his dad when they were just teens trying to survive the stresses of poverty in Brooklyn's Marcy Projects.
"My father tells me some great stories from when they were growing up, and so does my grandma, but they don’t really talk about that one too much. My dad did something and they fought, but we don’t talk about it. My brothers and my sisters all know," Nahziah said. "Honestly, we usually laugh about it. I don’t know why, but we find it kind of funny. I mean, Jay Z shot our dad. That’s pretty crazy."
While Nahziah didn't go into detail about the incident, the only reason the reporter knew to ask about it in the first place is because Jay Z himself vividly recounted the shooting on the track "You Must Love Me," off of 1997's In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. One listen to the verse pretty much places the listener at the place in time it occurred. Jay recollects the incident as follows:
"Got intense real intense as we got older/ Never believed it would lead to me poppin' one in your shoulder/ Where my rings? Knew you had it cause you took too long/ As Mickey, Annie and the girl that bought it looked on/ Huffin' and puffin' gun in my hand told you step outside/ Hoping you said no but you hurt my pride/ Made our way down the steps, maybe you thought it was just a threat/ Or maybe ya life was just that crazy and you was beggin' for death/ Try to justify this in my young mind/ But the adrenaline and my ego hurt combined/ Drove me berzerk, saw the devil in your eyes, high off more than weed/ Confused I just closed my young eyes and squeezed"
Nahz lauce
