Jay-Z recently sat down for an interview with Kevin Hart, where he addressed questions about retiring from music.

This led to Jay addressing prematurely retiring in 2003:

“Nah, I tried that. I am terrible at that. I just needed a break. I was really burnt out at that time. I was releasing an album every year… I just looked up one day and was like, ‘I’m tired.’ I had never been on a vacation until I wanna say 2000 — my whole life. I was really burnt out in that moment.” 

Jay then explained that while he isn’t actively recording music or planning an album, he doesn’t want to walk away from music. He stated, “I’m not actively making music or making an album or have plans to make an album, but I never want to say that I’m retired. It’s a gift, so who am I to shut it off? And it may have a different form or interpretation. Maybe it’s not an album, maybe it is. I have no idea, but I’m just going to leave it open.”