The OG’s one-take, four-minute verse shook up fans, even leading to an MSNBC news segment where journalist Ari Melber broke it down.
On Aug. 31, Jay-Z co-hosted a Twitter Space to share his own breakdown of what was his way to making the real “ones” feel seen.
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“Nobody touched the billi’ until Hov did”
A standout line in Jay-Z’s verse is about how Jay-Z not only looked out for himself in building his wealth but for those in his circle. In playing a role in the careers of Kanye West, Rihanna, and LeBron James, ultimately three powerful empires were birthed. Rob Markman noted how 10 years ago he talked of making millionaires to now, billionaires.
“And we not gonna stop,” Jay-Z declared. “You know, Hip-Hop is young. We still growing and we are not falling for that tricknology.”
“Now the weed in stores, can you believe this, Ty?”
Jay-Z has never shied away from speaking about his past of selling drugs. What used to be a condemned hustle is now a billion-dollar industry, which he has tapped into himself with his brand Monogram.
In his breakdown chat, he alludes to how the Black community has overcome the harmful systems that have been long-running such as the war on drugs.
“That evolution that you speak of is just real and it’s happening in real-time and I’m talking about it. And we are not gonna stop talking about it. You’re not gonna trick us out of and make us feel ashamed to be successful in the place that set up a system for us to be dead at 21. No sir. Not us.”
“Hov is a real n-gga’s dream”
During the Twitter Space, Jay-Z shared his belief that the American dream was all lies. To him, his journey is an example of what living the dream is.
“Before it was the American dream. Pull yourself out of your bootstraps and you can make it in America. All these lies that America told us our whole life. And then when we start getting it, they try to lock us out of it. They start inventing words like capitalists and things like that. I mean, we’ve been called Nigg-r and monkeys and sh-t. I don’t care. Those words y’all come up with, y’all gotta come up with stronger words.”
What has been taken as him implying that he’s pro-capitalism and that the term was “newly created” has raised eyebrows on social media. On the other end, users agreed with his stance and the word being a way to try to box out wealthy Black people.
