1. Tom Penn wrote:

Queen O has had ONE hell of a week !!!

2. Corve DaCosta wrote:

Nice interview. Like how they agree to disagree on the use of the n word

3. Drew wrote:

A very insightful interview. However, progressives and revolutionaries can not be mad at the capitalist class and greedy CEO’s and exempt Jay-Z from this criticism. He has all this $$..what the fuck is he doing for the people! Hip-hop emerged as a music of resistance banging against the status quo. At this point, Jay-Z should be preaching the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King, not Bill Gates! I listened to Blueprint III, it didn’t have one fucking line about this horrid recession and the suffering of the American people.
However the point he made about hip-hop culture helping in the fight against racism is interesting. Same with the Obama election, it makes it much harder for millions of whites to view black people as inferior when they see a brilliant and articulate black president in front of them on the television everyday. Same goes for the black music they listen to.

4. Samuel wrote:

Wow, Drew, Why so serious?

Did you ever think music was a form of entertainment, because that’s all it is. I understand that music, especially hip-hop, can have it’s embarrassing “artists” but why should Jay-Z talk about the recession, and what would preaching about it on his album do to help anyone. Every iconic person in pop culture plays and lives in their roles, and Obama and Jay-Z play two extremely different roles on opposite sides of the fence. Stop hating on Jay-Z and be happy that someone made a good high quality album for a change instead of the crap we’ve heard the last few years.

Instead on hatin’ on Jay-Z, why don’t you get out there and do something with your mouth and money since it’s such a huge concern for you.

5. DCI74 wrote:

Pretty good interview. I wanted to hear Oprah spit a few bars!

@Drew, why should Jay according to you “talk about the recession and be preaching the ideas of Dr. King” and you asked “what is Jay doing for the people” what people and what is he supposed to be doing except what’s he’s been doing since RD and that’s making music?

6. Drew wrote:

He should mention the recession because hip-hop music is meant to reflect the realities of the masses-of everyday working and oppressed people. What do you think Africa Bambaata and Public Enemy and KRS One and 2pac and Lauren Hill were talking about?? If Jay Z talked about some real shit like the fact that the American people are suffering with 6000 foreclosures a day, 1 million black males in jail, homelessness and joblessness skyrocketing through the roof–than he would be raising much needed awareness amongst the millions of youth listening to his album!! This will then foment social change as the public will be pushed to take action. If I can’t hate on Jay-Z, the rich CEO, who has huge public influence, than why am I able to hate on others with huge public influence such as George Bush and those AIG CEO’s. Although George Bush was a criminal president, and Jay Z is rap star, they both still hold huge public influence..we must hold them all accountable. Jay-Z is now a millionaire CEO, just like any other CEO..and what do CEO’s do?? They exploit workers and get rich. You think Roca-wear don’t got sweatshops?

Second of all this was not a dope album. Any true hip-hop fan should be able to recognize that. Compare this to Jay-Z’s first album ‘Reasonable Doubt’ or even “blueprint 1″, and this album was trash.

7. DCI74 wrote:

@ Drew – Hip hop was not created to as you said “reflect the realities of the masses of everyday working and oppressed people” just because some rappers chose to use the art form for that purpose. Afrika created hip hop to lessen gang violence and give kids a positive alternative, just look at the lyrics for Planet Rock, right from the beginning it was clearly a song designed to get people to dance (party people, party people, can yall get funky?) and has as much social commentary as Laffy Taffy. Granted it’s easy to cherry-pick rappers you think had more of a social/political slant but that is not the core reason why this culture was created, for every X-Clan there’s also a Digital Underground, both representing hip hop just in their own way. None of the artists you listed were/are 100% social/political rappers with PE being the only exception.

You said if Jay made music about how the economy is messed up, folks are losing jobs, black men are in prison, people are losing their homes that would “foment social change as the public will be pushed to take action” umm when has that ever happened? Who are all of these clueless millions of youth who would have no idea of these issues unless Jay-Z puts it in a song? Man I have been working with teens for years and they are far from stupid so the assumption that ‘if Jay says it people will pay attention and be moved to action’ is nonsense, that’s a fantasy waiting to never happen. Pac made music about all of that too and even created his Thug Life plan for action which barely made a ripple when he was alive and completely disappeared when he died. No one continued Pac’s Thug Life movement because it wasn’t a real movement with roots, despite Pac’s best intentions it was nothing more than an extension of his persona which is why it didn’t outlast him. Real movements have a beginning but continue long after the architect moves on. KRS-One has been giving his edutainment to the masses for years and while it’s been interesting it hasn’t led to any major or minor social change. Real quick, how many Temple of Hip Hop chapters are in your city/state? I love Kris for always thinking big but thoughts and ideas have to be more than just big to move people to action.

As far as Rocawear and sweatshops, again you’re not talking about anything new. As recently as 2003 there were reports of Rocawear, Sean John and Echo allegedly using sweatshops in Central and Latin America. But this is neither a Jay-Z, fashion or hip hop issue this is about capitalism and cheap labor, again not exclusive to hip hop or even fashion in general. By no means am I excusing it but as long as there is cheap labor people in business are going to use it. You don’t fix a problem by attacking the outcome, you do so by addressing the cause. For every designer that allegedly used sweatshops like Donna Karan, Karl Kani, Timberland and Perry Ellis there are lessor known brands like Panama Goo, No Sweat and Upper Playground who don’t. It boils down to labor costs and profit margin but that applies to just about every business.

8. lovely209 wrote:

Well said DC, in fact you never cease to amaze me… When people like Drew claim that Hip Hop has always been this socially and politically conscious music that is suppose to ignite change, I always think that they have a distorted sense of history. The first commerical hip hop song was Sugar Hill Gang. Engough said.

Hip Hop is music that not only sometimes reflects the realities of oppressed people, it is also music that reflects the life and realities of the artist conveying the music. And as far as I am concerned, Jay-z’s music has always been a reflection of his life and his realities and an extension of himself. Bottom line: Music serves different purposes for different people; thus, one cannot tell Jay-z the purpose of HIS music… Drew if you feel so passionately, why don’t you make a album that will move the masses?