--- 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=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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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  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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