OCCUPY Y’ALL STREET

By James W. Jennings

 

Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, made his bones navigating a treacherous drug trade which all but enslaved all parties involved.  He’s lucky to be alive let alone rich and impossibly happy.  To be surprised or appalled that he’d appropriate a socialist slogan for personal gain is to be dangerously naïve.  Jay-Z sold crack.  To crackheads.  He definitely doesn’t care about the 99%.  Having mastered the harrowing tales of his upbringing, it’s sounds clear he’s still conflicted about his own community.  Don’t get it twisted.  Jay-Z doesn’t care about you or me.  Time to get over that one.

He is, above all, a businessman.  As far as legal goods go, dreams sell very well. Although Jay-Z plays many roles in society, as most entertainers often do, he’s neither politician nor activist.  Capitalizing on a socialist movement for personal gain is well within the realm of possibilities.  Hold that.

Don’t blame Jay-Z.  Business is business.  From selling crack to selling music to selling hope for crack dealers to sell music to selling his brand of hope to appropriating others, Jay-Z’s been the same.  Nobody told you to idolize a drug dealer.