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Given his experience in unethical dumb shit, Rush was a natural fit for Jay and Dame’s clothing line None of the three men knew what to do with the sewing machines they bought, but Rush came through with the hookup and introduced Jay and Dame to some Russian investors who knew about manufacturing clothes Since the Cold War was already over, the Russians presumably didn’t feel conflicted about investing in a hip-hop clothing company owned by Americans They also probably figured that because Jay-Z and Dame are Black, they weren’t exactly Americans in the traditional sense, despite the fact that Jay still loved blue jeans
But within the context of Hip Hop culture itself, this couple represents the possibilities of Hip Hop all grown-up, in love, married, and pushing the “proverbial baby carriage” In fact, based on age alone, they are the blending of the first generation of Hip Hop, heads Jay’s age who came of age in the 80s, and Hip Hop’s 2nd Generation (the middle children I like to call us), folks’ Bey’s age who came of age in the 90s Destiny Child’s first album dropped when I was in high school (Holla, if you hear me), and I got put on to Jay when I headed to Howard for college (It’s a hard knock life) Btw, 1998 was a great year in music
Lauryn, Outkast, Jay, DMX #ButIdigressdream, your work, which I’ve been a fan of for years, helped to create the space for us to do this work So I thank you
Several days ago, I went to Jay-Z’s music-streaming site Tidal to watch his new video Family Feud I read somewhere it dealt with his infidelity to his wife, Beyoncé, and because I am always interested in how artists translate their life experience into their work, I was excited to see how Jay-Z would explore this theme While the subject of infidelity is addressed in his video, it is not romantic but cultural betrayal that defines the piece In Family Feud, Jay-Z desecrates…This was wonderful to read – thank you! “It is the crunk place, the percussive place, the place that makes noise (and music), the place that moves us, the place that offers possibility in the midst of two impossible extremes
” BADASSRob Stiles is the editor of HoobityBlahcom, a site dedicated to rambling commentary on hip-hop music, politics, and the plethora of amazing videos on the Internets A person who hates his job, he spends time at work editing the Medium publication Strictly for the Heads, a collection of hip-hop music criticism, interviews and essays
That’s not to say Jay-Z’s hands are clean He sold off Dame and Kareem’s baby, but in some ways he sold his own baby as well It’s a bit like the eponymous Jewish dude who started Papa John’s Pizza Sometimes on their pizza boxes they print this story about how John sold his 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass or whatever hoopty he owned at the time, so he could get money to start up a pizza joint
At least Papa John eventually bought his car back, and he even put the car and its story on his pizza boxes, he loved it so muchAll this to say that when you’re running a successful business, it’s your prerogative to tell the exploited failures (read: other people) to go fuck themselves Likewise, most people are unaware of the colossal shit-shows that are Jay-Z’s business ventures, in which literally all Jay-Z has ever done is tell people to go fuck themselves Maintaining this veil of blissful ignorance over the public is what some industry leaders would call a masterful use of “public relations
”The New York Times had an article breaking down the accounting of the $150 million deal, but didn’t really offer any in-depth analysis What follows is how the deal breaks down, along with my hard-hitting financial speculation If you want actual facts, I suggest reading Zach O’Malley Greenburg’s book insteadcrunktastic January 21, 2012 at 6:44 PM # dream, your work, which I’ve been a fan of for years, helped to create the space for us to do this work
So I thank yousheridf January 20, 2012 at 12:32 PM # And the crowd goes wild Yaaaaaahhhhhhhyyyyyy for yet another brilliant post by crunktastic Honestly I did not follow the Bey and Jay celebrity pregnancy at all (dissertating), but I love reading your perspective on the politics of dis-respectability/diss-respectability and crunk feminism…
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5,022 Tyler Perry coldly responds when asked how he aided Meghan Markle following MegxitOver at VerySmartBrothas, Champ rightfully called foul against those women who were ready to let Jay off the collective black girl hook and re-brand him as role model, after doing two decades worth of dirt I think that rush to see Jay as an upstanding father and family man is summed up thricelyYou have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that all 'celebrities' are the same I'm not from your world
I'm a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn We don't play these types of games We have very strict codes and honor We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain, Jay-Z added
Iyayi-Osazeme January 19, 2012 at 1:04 PM # this piece is a chock-a-block full of golden quotes i love your respect and use of language and yes, every bit of this needed to be said in this elevated register!I’m just saying, Jay-Z has literally nothing left to prove musically, but he still has the opportunity to fuck more people out of their money and become exceedingly great at it For all the struggling cocaine entrepreneurs that it empowers, rap music still needs at least 1 rapper who’s an actual “business, man,” to the extent that he doesn’t end up living off of dog food after his music career ends
5,022 Tyler Perry coldly responds when asked how he aided Meghan Markle following MegxitOver at VerySmartBrothas, Champ rightfully called foul against those women who were ready to let Jay off the collective black girl hook and re-brand him as role model, after doing two decades worth of dirt. I think that rush to see Jay as an upstanding father and family man is summed up thricely.You have made a terrible error in judgement thinking that all 'celebrities' are the same. I'm not from your world. I'm a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don't play these types of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children, you seem to exploit people for personal gain, Jay-Z added.Iyayi-Osazeme January 19, 2012 at 1:04 PM # this piece is a chock-a-block full of golden quotes. i love your respect and use of language. and yes, every bit of this needed to be said in this elevated register!I’m just saying, Jay-Z has literally nothing left to prove musically, but he still has the opportunity to fuck more people out of their money and become exceedingly great at it. For all the struggling cocaine entrepreneurs that it empowers, rap music still needs at least 1 rapper who’s an actual “business, man,” to the extent that he doesn’t end up living off of dog food after his music career ends. Jay-Z might be that rapper.
