Jay Z Joins, Quits Instagram After Michael Jackson Tribute
While Beyoncé ranks second on Instagram with 44.4 million followers, her husband Jay Z doesn’t even have an account on the photo-sharing network. That is, until Saturday, when the rapper joined Instagram to post a photo remembering Michael Jackson on what would have been the King of Pop’s 57th birthday. “Happy Birthday to the King!” the rapper wrote. “This may be my first and last post.” That turned out to be prophetic: After quickly climbing to 100,000 followers, the @Hovsince96 account was deactivated Sunday morning, the New York Daily News reports.
Jay Z posted a split photo of himself and Michael Jackson at the 2001 Hot 97 Summer Jam, where the rapper brought out the Thriller singer as his surprise guest. Music executive Michael Kyser, a close friend of Jay Z, then posted a photo of the rapper on his phone crafting his Instagram debut. “Follow my brother @Hovsince96 ASAP,” Kyser wrote, corroborating that the account belonged to Jay Z. Beyoncé also shared her own tribute to Jackson on her account. (After years atop Instagram’s Most Followed list, the singer was finally bypassed by Kim Kardashian West in August.)
However, 12 hours and 100,000 followers later, @Hovsince96 was gone. Jay Z didn’t just stop using the account; he deactivated completely. The quick Instagram cameo continues Jay Z’s sporadic use of social media. Despite having a verified Twitter account, the rapper rarely used the service, although his tweet activity did spike in the months following the arrival of Tidal. Jay Z even went on a Twitter tirade defending his all-star music streaming service.
Jay Z’s brief Instagram tenure is reminiscent of fellow Tidal co-owner Prince‘s love/hate relationship with social media. In November 2014, after launching an official Facebook and Twitter, the Purple Rain rocker unceremoniously deleted both accounts.