#OWS and Jay-Z: Friend or Foe?

November 12th, 2011 | By

Your single was .99 / Mine was 4 bucks  Jay Z

 

That lyric was my very first introduction to real capitalism.  I couldn’t put my finger on its name or explain the ins and outs of a market but I knew that one phrase carried the power of success.  If you had a product of superior quality, it can be sold at a higher price.

Now I question, What is the price of Jay-Z?  I feel like typing down every conservative principle and money making lyric ever written into the life and times of Sean Carter but that doesn’t provide me with the answers I need.    Instead it breaks my heart to the very core.  I always thought it would be him.  I always felt he would be the one to tell the Black Community, hell, the whole Country how you change a dollar into 15 cents without crying or taking it from someone else. 

I was wrong.

Jay-Z is coming out with new shirts that read #OccupyAllStreets to show his support of the leeches and bloodsuckers he so eloquently points out in his lyrics.  No question if they are #FriendorFoe.  No question if they have actually put in the work to say #thesestreetsaremine.  None of the questions I’ve been asking since the first time I heard “Imaginary Player” and shaped my perspective of spending money around Jay-Z’s philosophy of real and fake.

Will the real Jay-Z please stand up?

Are you the pampered college kid who mommy and daddy gave everything and you still think it’s not enough or are you the man that “tightened my belt before I begged for help”?  Are you a man that lets others provide your needs or are you the man that said “put me anywhere on God’s green earth, I’ll triple my worth”.  Where is the man that said, “It’s nobody’s fault, I made the the decisions I made/ This is the life I chose or rather the life that chose me”?

That man is still alive and well and that’s why #OccupyWallStreet won’t receive any profits from Jay’s new line of shirts.  He knows it takes money to produce and he should expect a profit on the money he’s invested.  Now all I can see is Hank Reardon being told, just don’t tell the world you want to make money.  Tough.  Jay-Z’s entire reputation will be on the line because of this economic maneuver. 

Only two options remain.  Give in and pay #OccupyWallStreet and let them eat cake while he continues to build an empire or keep the money for himself, his company, employees, stock holders, and family and risk the 99% sticking a stake in his capitalist heart.  If he gives in and pays money, he has shitted on every lyric he’s ever written about not backing down and holding true to his principles.  If he sticks to his guns, he’ll see it’s not about color, loving Hip Hop, or the legacy that is Jay-Z.  It’s either you’re with us or against us.

One Response to “#OWS and Jay-Z: Friend or Foe?”

  1. Darren says:

    Jay-Z, like a lot of other celebrities, know there’s money in bashing capitalism.

Leave a reply