Jay-Z wants to make sure his children learn to be "compassionate".
The 47-year-old rapper has five-year-old daughter Blue Ivy and five-month-old twins Rumi and Sir with his wife Beyoncé, and whilst he knows his brood will grow up in a "different environment" than he did thanks to their parents’ success, he still wants to make sure they are mindful of those less fortunate.
When asked how he will make sure his children understand the world he grew up in, the ‘Empire State of Mind’ hitmaker said: "There’s a delicate balance to that, right? Because you have to educate your children on the world as it exists today and how it got to that space, but my child doesn’t need the same tools that I needed growing up. I needed certain tools to survive my area that my child doesn’t need. They’re growing up in a different environment.
"But also they have to know their history. Have a sense of what it took to get to this place. And have compassion for others. The most important thing I think out of all this is to teach compassion and to identify with everyone’s struggle and to know these people made these sacrifices for us to be where we are and to push that forward – for us. I believe that’s the most important thing to show them, because they don’t have to know things that I knew growing up. Like being tough."
Jay-Z hopes his brood will have "loving hearts", and is keen on making sure they understand that love cannot be bought.
Speaking to the New York Times’ T magazine, he added: "Like, they’ll be who they are, right? And it’s just certain tools that you would hope for your child to have. You know, like, again, fairness and compassion and empathy and a loving heart. And those things translate in any environment. Those are the main base things that you want – well, for me, I would want my child to have. You know? Treat people as they are, no matter who they are, no matter where they sit in the world, not to, like, be super nice to someone at a high position or mean to someone who they’ve deemed to be below them.
"I can’t buy you love, I can’t show it to you. I can show you affection and I can, you know, I can express love, but I can’t put it in your hand. I can’t put compassion in your hand. I can’t show you that. So the most beautiful things are things that are invisible. That’s where the important things lie."
Jay-Z to teach kids compassion
