Jay-Z has spoken out against critics who think his daughter Blue Ivy didn't work hard to become a backup dancer on his wife Beyonce's recent world tours.

The 56-year-old rapper sat down for a rare interview with GQ magazine, during which he defended 14-year-old Blue's work ethic.

The teenager joined mom Beyonce, 44, on stage for her back-to-back Renaissance and Cowboy Carter tours in 2023 and 2025. 

Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, explained that his daughter blossomed between the first and second tours.

'On the first tour there was a lot of conversation around her first performance, and she worked really hard to get to that point, but she still wasn’t going for it. She still was going through the motions,' he recalled.

'And then she just started fighting back. I saw her fight maybe for the first time in her life – like, not everything is just given to her and everything is easy. She fought for it.'

The proud dad also noted that he was protective over which songs he felt comfortable with her dancing to.

'She's almost on every number. I had to take her off some, like, “Man, you can’t be on that stage when [Beyonce's] singing "Six-inch heels…"; are you crazy?”' he added.

In addition to Blue, Jay-Z and Beyonce share fraternal twins Rumi and Sir, eight.

The father-of-three said witnessing Blue's growth as a performer was 'amazing.'

He went on to share elsewhere in the interview that his oldest child 'is a crazy pianist,' but won't let her parents 'get her a teacher' because 'she doesn’t want it to be a job.'

'But she has perfect pitch. If she hears a song, she’ll be like, “Play it again,” and then she’ll teach herself. That’s just talent, she doesn’t work at that,' he gushed.

Referencing her effort as a dancer, the rapper clarified: 'She worked at this, and it makes me proud that she fought for something that she really wanted to do. 

'I don’t think we’re going to be able to get her off that stage now.'

Elsewhere in the magazine profile, Jay-Z spoke about the value of parenthood and family: 'It gives everything meaning, everything. I’ll go cross-country, do what I have to do, and I’m back on the plane that night.'

He added about being a dad, 'I love taking them to school. I love picking them up.'

A source told Daily Mail in May 2025 that in preparation for tour Blue spent hours a day rehearsing for nearly six months with choreographer to the stars, Amari Marshall, all while juggling school.

'She’s been around Bey’s choreographers since she was a baby which is where she picked up her love of dance,' the source said.

'She has been training with Amari, and they started rehearsing just before Christmas. She rehearsed for six hours a day in between school work and has been watching her mom’s videos on YouTube.

'Blue even had a hand in some of the creative direction of this tour,' the insider said about Cowboy Carter.