Jay-Z Joins Instagram, Only Follows His Wife Beyoncé
For years, Jay-Z has flirted with the idea of being online.
He had a short stint on Twitter, but now, after his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it seems that the hip-hop icon is ready to embrace his own social media presence.
The 51-year-old rapper and entrepreneur has officially joined Instagram. As of press time, the Brooklyn legend has already been verified and currently sits at 2.1 million followers, though he is only following one person — his wife, Beyoncé.
Making his debut on the platform on Tuesday, Jay-Z was in his bag and shared a photo of the now-released-to-Netflix movie, The Harder They Fall, an all-Black western which he co-produced alongside James Lassiter, G. Mac Brown, Lawrence Bender, and Jeymes Samuel.
“I love to be a part of projects that widen the lens,” Jay-Z told Entertainment Tonight last month during a special screening of the film in Los Angeles. “Once it’s widened for us, it’s widened for Asians. For Mexicans. For everyone.”
The New Blueprint — For Film
In , The Harder They Fall Jay-Z continues a current wave of Black storytellers mining historical material for their work, joining titles like Hell on the Border and the upcoming Outlaw Posse, Mario Van Peebles’s follow-up to his 1993 western, Posse. Six of the characters, including ones played by Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, and Jonathan Majors, are based on real people.
Jay-Z has been an advocate for Black representation throughout his career, and his first post being pegged to The Harder They Fall looks promising for his upcoming slate of content (Women of the Movement, Race With Jay-Z).
“[For years], one of the only things on public television was Westerns, every week, and we weren’t represented in those at all,” Jay shared at the time. “In fact, our characters were taken from us. ‘The Lone Ranger’ was based on one of the characters from this film.”
The Harder They Fall also marks the directorial debut for The Bullitts founder, Jeymes Samuel, who also co-wrote the film with Boaz Yakin. Samuel previously collaborated with Jay-Z on The Great Gatsby, with the duo teaming back up again to write and produce original music for the film.
The film also stars LaKeith Stanfield, Regina King, Edi Gathegi, R.J. Cyler, Delroy Lindo, Danielle Deadwyler, Deon Cole, and Damon Wayans Jr.
The Harder They Fall is streaming now on Netflix.