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Some people are praising the four-minute verse Jay-Z dropped on of DJ Khaled’s latest single, “God Did.” Most are surprised he did it in one take. Some have latched onto the lyrics, which are getting both applause and thumbs down.
The single also features Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, JAY-Z, John Legend.
On his “God Did” verse, Jay rhymes about his ascent from poverty to billionaire status. And this is where the pushback is coming in. Jay-Z is now worth an estimated $1.3 billion, having risen from being a one-time drug dealer in Brooklyn to an artist to a label owner to a full-fledged entrepreneur billionaire.
In part, his “God Did” verse reads:
Please Lord, forgive me for what the stove did
Nobody touched the billi’ until Hov did
How many billionaires can come from Hov crib? Huh
I count three, me, Ye and Rih
Bron’s a Roc boy, so four, technically
I left the dope game with my record clean, huh
I turned the cocaina into champagne, huh
I cleaned up la madrina with the same soap, huh
Me and Loro talk ’bout how we slang dope, huh
Now the weed in stores, can you believe this, Ty?
I put my hustle onto Forbes, can you believe this guy? (Nah)
Then we said, “Fuck it, ” and took the dope public
Out the mud, they gotta face you now, you can’t make up this shit
Judge it how you judge it, say we goin’ corporate
Nah, we just corner boys with the corner office
I’m at the cap table, what the splits is?
Not that cap table, boy, we live this
He also rhymes, “Next time we have a discussion who the GOAT, you donkeys know this/Forgive me, that’s my passion talkin’/Sometimes I feel like Farrakhan talkin’ to Mike Wallace/I think y’all should keep quiet/Breaks my heart, God did.”
On Aug. 31, Jay-Z spoke about the controversy on Twitter Spaces. DJ Khaled, Lenny S. and Rob Markman were also present for the conversation, Revolt reported.
Jay Z discusses the lyric on twitter spaces, where he spoke at the millionaires hip hop has born. “Yeah, we’re not gonna stop. You know, hip hop is young, we’re still growing, and we’re not falling for that tricknology whatever, you know, this public puts out there,” said Jay-Z.
He added, “Before was the American dream, ‘Pull yourself by the bootstraps, and you can make yourself…you can make it in America,’ all these lies that America told us our whole life. And then when we started getting in, they tried to lock us out of it. They start inventing words like you know, ‘capitalist,’ you know, things like that. I mean, you know, we’ve been called ‘n–ger’ and ‘monkeys’ and shit. I don’t care; those words y’all come up with. Y’all gotta come up with stronger words.”
Twitter had a lot to discuss about the verse.
Some noted that those who call out Jay-Z for defending capitalism, an examination of Black America’s “activists” would also be called for.
“If y’all are upset at Jay-Z for using Black radical rhetoric to camouflage ruthless capitalistic individualism then I got some bad news to tell you about some of your favorite ‘activists,’ pro-Black wackademics, “non-profits” and anti-racist authors,” tweeted Torraine Walker, founder of the platform Context Media Group.
Others agreed.
“I’m not even mad at Jay-Z for being a capitalist. I just wish he’d own it, stop trying to straddle the fence between that and a “revolutionary,’” tweeted Pfizer Söze.
Still, some remarked that Jay-Z would not be considered a revolutionary.
“Jay-Z not Realizing that the Panthers and Malcolm X, would’ve hated his ass is very funny to me,” munch tweeted.
Yet others said that Jay-Z is explaining his journey to wealth.
“if this is what dinner with Jay-Z is like man give me my $500k asap,” J #TenHagOut tweeted.
“Actually, he’s telling you how to become a billionaire. Hes clearly saying f*ck Black liberation. Join the Empire & you will be a billionaire/capitalist too. You cant have it both ways. You have to choose a side,” Ms. Andrea 3000 replied.
She added, “And what’s particularly sinister is he’s trying to convince the ppl that capitalism is our pathway to freedom. Its NOT. Capitalism drove slavery. They’re antithetical. A few us can get rich but capitalism ensures the masses remain enslaved to the corporations. Pick a side.”
Photo: Jay-Z attends the 40/40 Club’s 18th-anniversary celebration, Aug. 28, 2021, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
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