Jay-Z tells Gotham that baby-making is his top priority

Here's Jay-Z on the cover of the December issue of Gotham. Unfortunately for all of us, he's not talking about Miley Cyrus and how hurt he is that Miley doesn't listen to his pop music'. No, Jay is talking babies. Specifically, how he and wife Beyonce are starting to feel the baby itch.

Jay goes off in kind of a Zen way about his perspective on life: Making music is art... It doesn't change who you are as a person. It doesn't mean you're entitled or you're above the law. You still treat people as human beings. It doesn't change the laws of the universe. Life has a balance and for every action there is a reaction. So if you put negative energy in, negative energy comes back to you. You have to live your life within the laws of the universe and I haven't lost sight of that. You have to be close with your foundation and the people who know you best because they've known you for so long that they can see the changes in you,...Fame is such a deadly drug that you can't see the changes because you are so consumed by it. You need a close-knit group of friends and family to make sure you stay grounded.' Here's more from Jay:

Her song 'Single Ladies' is an Internet hit among dancing babies and now, Beyonce's working on a tot of her own. That's according to get this Jay-Z, B's notoriously tight-lipped hubby, who spilled the baby beans himself.

While chatting up Gotham mag editor in chief Cristina Greeven Cuomo, the rapper let it slip that procreating is high on the duo's priority list right now.

That's big news from hip hop's sneakiest couple, who wed secretly on a Tribeca rooftop and rarely even wear their own wedding rings in public.

It's also a change in attitude for Beyonce, who admitted on 'The View' in April that while she was interested in motherhood, she was in no hurry to hit the birthing room after seeing the process upclose when her sister Solange did it.

'I definitely want one, but I'm not ready for all of that,' she said then. 'I don't think a person should see that before her time. It was a little much. But I'm so in love with my nephew, and every time I see him I'm like, God, he's just amazing.'

But the kid-friendly 28-year-old, who's made more than 40 Make-A-Wish Foundation fulfillments, is ready to summon her inner Sasha Fierce and go for it. And all that, um, practice must be lighting a fire for the couple, married since April 2008. Backstage Thursday at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin, where both got awards, the husky rapper held his beaming wife in a big bear hug, When she got up to the podium, Beyonce (photo l.) said, 'There is only one person I want to thank, and that is Jay for putting a ring on it.' And did she ever thank him with a big red lipstick smack on the neck for all to see as the two left a nearby nightclub in the wee morning hours.

All this action must be doing wonders for Brooklyn-born Jay-Z's already healthy self-esteem.

'I don't dislike anything about myself,' he told Gotham. 'I know this sounds a little arrogant, but I really accept what God has given me. I've got a short temper, but I work on controlling it. I can say inappropriate things because I believe them to be true and sometimes that can be hurtful to others. But I think in the long run it is more helpful.'

And while Beyonce is more than happy to collaborate with her man, even Jay gets rejected sometimes when it comes to musical partnerships.

'[Two-man band] MGMT turned me down,' he admits.

[From The New York Daily News]

I suppose I should mention all of those rumors that Jay-Z is already father to a son around the age of... something like three years old? Something like that. I can't keep up with all of the rumors about Jay (most of which I tend to think are false), but the whole he has a secret son' is one that might be true. Allegedly, the baby-mama is a video model/performer named Shanelle (no last name, I guess), and just as allegedly, Jay paid her $1 million to keep his name off the birth certificate. I suppose the scandal here is that Jay supposedly fathered this child when he and Beyonce were dating, so the kid is proof' that all is not well between Jay and Beyonce. I don't really know. Even if it is true, I do hope Jay and Beyonce start having babies - just because I think that's what they really want.

Thanks to Cover Awards for the Jay-Z cover. He is also shown performing in Fresno on 11/7/09 and in Berlin with Beyonce on 11/6/09. Credit: WENN.com