NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Jay-Z has been a household name since the mid-1990s, and is known around the world for his music.

But as it turns out, not everyone in his hometown even knows who he is – at least at first glance.

Newly-released video showed the rap legend and his entourage taking the subway to the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a performance. Throngs of fans crowded around the star from the street to the platform.

But once on the subway, Jay-Z sat next to a woman named Ellen Grossman, who had no idea who he was.

“Are you famous?” Grossman asked.

“Yes. Not very famous – you don’t know me. But I’ll get there someday,” Jay-Z replied. “My name is Jay. What’s your name?”

“Ellen,” Grossman replied. “What do you do?”

“I make music,” he replied. He later said he had performed eight shows.

Speaking later to the Washington Post, Grossman, 67, said she did, in fact, know who Jay-Z was, but did not realize just how famous he was and did not recognize him when he sat next to her.

Since the encounter, she has found out more about Jay-Z and has described it as “embarrassing” that she did not recognize him, the Washington Post reported.

Grossman said she has been studying Jay-Z’s recording catalogue, but would not name a favorite Jay-Z song to the Washington Post.

Jay-Z, 43, whose given name is Shawn Corey Carter, grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

If Jay-Z sat next to you on the subway, would you know who he was right away? Leave your comments below…