--- title: Jay Z Riding on a Jet Ski Becomes Hilarious Meme description: A photo of Jay Z wearing a helmet and prosaically riding a jet ski has tickled the fancy of the Internet, leading to a slew of memes. canonical: https://time.com/5333754/jay-z-jet-ski-memes/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-09T20:35:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:44.950Z og:title: Jay Z on a Jet Ski Is the Meme We All Deserve This Summer og:description: Living his best life og:url: https://time.com/5333754/jay-z-jet-ski-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2686f8183afcbfeb/698934ec7cdbac614ad5d5d0/jay-z-jet-ski-memes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Shawn "Jay Z" Carter Makes Announcement On the Steps Of City Hall Downtown Los Angeles og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jay Z on a Jet Ski Is the Meme We All Deserve This Summer twitter:description: Living his best life twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2686f8183afcbfeb/698934ec7cdbac614ad5d5d0/jay-z-jet-ski-memes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jay Z on a Jet Ski Is the Meme We All Deserve This Summer  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 9, 2018 8:35 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 16: Recording artist Shawn "Jay Z" Carter makes an announcement on the Steps of City Hall Downtown Los Angeles for a Labor Day Music Festival at Los Angeles City Hall on April 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 16: Recording artist Shawn "Jay Z" Carter makes an announcement on the Steps of City Hall Downtown Los Angeles for a Labor Day Music Festival at Los Angeles City Hall on April 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)Frederick M. Brown—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 9, 2018 8:35 PM UTC Consider the jet ski, the [humble water sport accessory favored by Oscars hosts and pop stars alike](http://time.com/5185611/oscars-jet-ski/), the ultimate summer accessory. At least, that’s the case that Rihanna has made in the past, with an instantly [iconic photo of her riding a jet ski side-saddle](http://time.com/4852121/rihanna-jet-ski/), her facial expression non-plussed. Rihanna’s not the only public figure whose jet ski escapades have captured the fancy of the Internet, however; Jay Z has become a summer legend in his own right with a photo of him riding a jet ski, equally unimpressed, while sporting a helmet and a pair of sunglasses. Like Rihanna, the photos of Jay are relative throwbacks ([_High Snobiety_, has speculated they’ve been taken in 2016), but have gotten a new lease on life, thanks to a fresh batch of memes that the Internet has cooked up using the photos. See the best of them below.](https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/jay-z-jet-ski-meme/) One Twitter user identified with the general demeanor of Hov. > [](https://twitter.com/tweettsp/status/1014645453135101953) > [](https://twitter.com/lisamountain/status/1014885004088827905) While another pointed out that this isn’t the first time that Jay has looked awkward while trying to be sporty. > [](https://twitter.com/kidnoble/status/1014204723442970624) Some reimagined Jay and his jet ski in new scenarios. > [](https://twitter.com/JPsportsguy/status/1014573452366352386) > [](https://twitter.com/Pat7Ewing/status/1014966832229478400) While others imagined what could have motivated him to take a jet ski ride. > [](https://twitter.com/Lizzie8133/status/1014322160909856769) > [](https://twitter.com/KingFavre/status/1014559792466194433) One user even used [Jay’s own lyrics](https://www.spin.com/2018/06/drake-jay-z-xxxtentacion-talk-up/) to caption his meme. > [](https://twitter.com/yc/status/1014275906960068609) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5333754/jay-z-jet-ski-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5333754/jay-z-jet-ski-memes/"},"headline":"Jay Z on a Jet Ski Is the Meme We All Deserve This Summer","datePublished":"2018-07-09T20:35:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:44.950Z","description":"Living his best life","url":"https://time.com/5333754/jay-z-jet-ski-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2686f8183afcbfeb/698934ec7cdbac614ad5d5d0/jay-z-jet-ski-memes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2686f8183afcbfeb/698934ec7cdbac614ad5d5d0/jay-z-jet-ski-memes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Shawn \"Jay Z\" Carter Makes Announcement On the Steps Of City Hall Downtown Los Angeles","caption":"Shawn \"Jay Z\" Carter Makes Announcement On the Steps Of City Hall Downtown Los Angeles","creditText":"Frederick M. 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