Why JAY-Z Thinks Blue Ivy Saying He Hurt Her Feeling Was “The Most Beautiful” Thing

Blue Ivy Carter has a strong female role model in her mother Beyoncé, but her father also encourages the 6-year-old to have a strong sense of self. In a preview of his interview with David Letterman on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, JAY-Z says that Blue Ivy stating her hurt feelings is the "most beautiful thing" his oldest daughter has ever said to him. The story not only provides insight into the regular day-to-day of the outrageously famous Knowles-Carter family, but it also proves in a low-key way that JAY-Z always wants Blue Ivy to feel empowered enough to express herself. And this glimpse into his role as a father will make you even more ready for his whole interview when it premieres on Netflix on April 6.

To follow people like President Barack Obama and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai is pretty intimidating. But JAY-Z has his own incredible path to share in the fourth part of Letterman's in-depth interview series. As he'll discuss with the former talk show host, JAY-Z's childhood wasn't easy and he was dealing crack cocaine as a teenager. This juxtaposition between his own upbringing and his children's is what leads JAY-Z to tell a story where Blue Ivy shared her feelings with him as a way of "painting a picture of how healthy my children are."

"I told her to get in the car the other day because she was asking a thousand questions and we had to leave for school," JAY-Z said. "So we're driving, and then I just hear a little voice. 'Dad?' I turn around and she said, 'I didn't like when you told me to get in the car the way you told me ... it hurt my feelings.'"

Any parent can relate to unintentionally dismissing a child while rushing around. But JAY-Z not only seemed impressed with his daughter for articulating her hurt feelings at the young age of six, but he told her so. "That's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me," JAY-Z told Letterman he said to her. And while this story elicited plenty of laughs and "aww"s from the audience, it also highlights that JAY-Z encourages his daughter to feel comfortable and confident enough to defend herself.

It's clearly important to JAY-Z that Blue Ivy grows up feeling empowered. After all, the music video for "Family Feud" shows an adult Blue Ivy (played by Susan Kelechi Watson) leading a group of Founding Mothers who revised the Constitution. In the video, Watson as Blue Ivy says, "America is a family and the whole family should be free. It's like I remember my father saying when I was a little girl, 'Nobody wins when the family feuds.'"

JAY-Z's belief in raising girls to believe in themselves extends beyond his own family, too. At a concert in November 2017, Billboard reported that JAY-Z told a 9-year-old girl in the crowd that she could be president one day. "You can be anything that you want to be in the world," JAY-Z said. "At this very moment, America is way more sexist than they are racist. But you, young lady, you got the potential to be the next president of the United States. You believe that."

While JAY-Z has had plenty of lyrics in the past that could be considered misogynistic, he recognized his change in viewpoint on the title track of his 4:44 album. "Look, I apologize, often womanize / Took for my child to be born, see through a woman's eyes," JAY-Z rapped. And even though it shouldn't take having a daughter for a man to recognize gender equality, it's heartening to know that the rapper has recognized his past shortcomings and wants equality for his daughters, Blue Ivy and Rumi.

With a mom like Beyoncé, there was never really any doubt that Blue Ivy would be raised as a feminist. But this preview of JAY-Z on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction shows again that her father is also supportive of his daughter growing up to believe she can do anything. Because JAY-Z thinks it's beautiful when his child expresses herself — even if it means standing up to him.