Jay-Z And Gwyneth Paltrow Swap Interviews

 Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Grammy-winning rapper Jay-Z come from different worlds, but that didn't stop them from becoming BFFs. The pair have performed together — as have Jay-Z and Gwyneth's husband, Chris Martin — in the past. And on Tuesday (April 12), the two buddies traded questions with each other on their respective websites. Hova interviewed Paltrow on his recently debuted lifestyle site Life + Times (LifeandTimes.com), and Paltrow interviewed Hova for the GOOP.com online newsletter she launched in 2008.

The Q&A on Jay-Z's site is titled "Straight Outta Compton?" It turns out the actress with the singing chops got turned on to N.W.A. in Los Angeles while she was still in high school. "I first was exposed to hip-hop when I was about 16 (1988) by some boys who went to college," Paltrow said. "The Beastie Boys were sort of the way in for us preppie kids. We were into Public Enemy, Run-DMC and LL Cool J. But then I went to L.A. the summer between my junior and senior years of high school and I discovered N.W.A., which became my obsession. I was fascinated by lyrics as rhythm and how Dre had a such different cadence and perspective from say, Eazy-E, who I thought was one of the most ironic and brilliant voices hip-hop has ever had."

While Jay-Z's line of questions aimed to discover the root of Paltrow's musical tastes and affection for hip-hop music (she prefers the Notorious B.I.G. over Tupac Shakur), the actress' inquiries for the rapper focused on his new website and his personal inspirations (Jean-Michel Basquiat, Muhammad Ali and Mario Batali among them). But any sense of journalistic impartiality went out the window with her last question: "You are the coolest man on Earth, how the f did you get like that?"

To this Hov answered, "I'm around great women, starting with my mom. Women keep men cool. The hotter the chick, the cooler the guy ... that sounds like a really bad rap line!"