Jay-Z, 1988

"I actually was hired to shoot another artist named Jazz-O for EMI records. This was 1988 and hip hop was happening and I was shooting for every major record company. I had Jazz-O on the roof of my building in NY and had rented a black panther (don't know why I would have chosen that prop!) for Jazz to hold while we did pictures with the NY skyline behind him. It was a bit precarious because this was a wild and dangerous animal despite having its trainer with him. I had Jazz hold the panther with a thick chain wrapped around his wrist and the animal's neck. All of sudden the door to the roof opened and this young kid dressed in red and wearing a truck load of gold chains around his neck walked onto the roof. Apparently he and Jazz-O knew each other, were working together on what would become Jay-Z's first single, and he had decided to come by the shoot and check it out. I had heard that Jazz-O had actually given Jay-Z his name. They were friends and collaborators but no one had heard o