--- 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: 2026-10-12T09:33:38.330Z 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jay Z on a Jet Ski Is the Meme We All Deserve This Summer > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=794c5248-456c-4c38-8763-99f4718b724b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here’s How Much Jay-Z Is Worth—and How He Makes Money [Watch (HLS stream): Here’s How Much Jay-Z Is Worth—and How He Makes Money](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NtnmnXNd.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2018-01-22. With a series of massive business contracts, lofty real estate purchases and a successful album release and tour, 2018 may be the year Jay-Z's net worth makes him the king of hip-hop._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 9, 2018 8:35 PM UTC  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) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```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":"2026-10-12T09:33:38.330Z","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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