9 Clutch Takeaways From Jay-Z’s New York Times Magazine Interview - Page 2

Photo: Cover Painting by Henry Taylor courtesy of T Magazine

While speaking on “The Story of OJ” (not so coincidentally, the song itself is up for a Grammy), Jigga says it’s a testament to life goals, but never forgetting who you are. 

The goal is not to be successful and famous. That’s not the goal. The goal is, if you have a specific God-given ability, is to live your life out through that. One. And two, we have a responsibility to push the conversation forward until we’re all equal. Till we’re all equal in this place. Because until everyone’s free, no one’s free, and that’s just a fact.

Jay-Z swears he wasn’t being anti-Semitic on said song, if you think so, you missed the context. 

BAQUET How did you react when that one line in that song where you referred to Jews and wealth² [“You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This how they did it”] — some people got upset. How did you feel about that?

JAY-Z I felt it was really hypocritical. Only because it’s obvious the song is, like, “Do you want to be rich? Do what people got rich done.” Of course, it’s a general statement, right? It’s obviously a general statement, like the video attached to it was a general statement. And if you didn’t have a problem with the general statement I made about black people, and people eating watermelon and things like that [the animated music video for the song, which references racist cartoons, includes a caricature of a black man eating watermelon] — if that was fine, [but] that line about wealth bothered you, then that’s very hypocritical, and, you know, that’s something within yourself.