OG Harry Belafonte goes in on Jay-Z. Say he sold out. damn.

[2Quik4UHoes]

He lost for that Bruce Springsteen comment, say what you want about Jay but I'm sure he's done more and provided more jobs to blacks than Bruce has.

Yeah I can't ever co-sign that type of shyt, like when nikkaz used to say Clinton was black and meanwhile he's locking up more young black males than any president before or since under his 2 terms.

I think Harry isn't familiar with camel at all, cuz any true Rap listener would never think of him as a social rights leader. He's been sellin out and shakin his ass for these boardroom cacs for almost 2 decades now.

 

[Jerz-2]

He's right, but he's wrong for singling out Jay and Beyonce when he might as well be talking about scores of Black rappers, actors and athletes alive right now.

you WANT to hear about guns, drugs and bytches come on man...

Yep....this is the REAL problem right here. This is something that entire generations of Black PARENTS have failed to prevent. I'm sorry, but that's a much bigger problem than how our images are represented to others.

 

[protestor]

I don't know how you can disagree with the og. jay z himself has said what that he doesn't care and is a sell out. Harry b didint say much different than what jay said right here.


Silly rappers, because we got a couple Porches
MTV stopped by to film our fortresses
We forget the unfortunate
Sure I ponied up a mill, but I didn't give my time
So in reality I didn't give a dime, or a damn
I just put my monies in the hands of the same people that left my people stranded
Nothin' but a bandit
Left them folks abandoned
Damn, that money that we gave was just a band-aid
Can't say we better off than we was before
In synopsis this is my minority report

 

[Still Benefited]

we all have a social responsibility to an extent but we do not influence trends and ppls perception the way jay does. u and i are what the hip hop community wud call irrelevant in terms of social responsibility compared to him.

if tomorrow jay up and said he only uses scott toilet tissue nikkas wud be burnin their charmin and marcal roll of toilet paper tryna follow dudes trend.

rappers can act like they dont affect their communities all they want and give the movie comparison but these nikkas try to make it seem cool to sell drugs as longn as u get rich. etc. not singling jay out cuz there r ppl who do it worse. but at this point u wud think hed grow up a little with the subject matter. how many normal 45 yr olds spend so much time bragging about million dollar watches n paintings n comparin nikkas lives to his daughters room?

ppl dont understand the impact he wud make on ppls thinking in the hood if he were to drop subject matter like on "Untitled" or distant relatives. instead the man wants to call himself fred hampton reincarnated while contributing to the detrement of our ppl. so YES he does have more social responsibility than we do it comes with the territory. u wud think that after making so much money dude wud start talking about shyt with social relevance and empowering our youth to do more than just get rich as hell. something as simple as that would be HUGE for us "minorities". but i dont think his old white n flabby millionaire homies wud like a bunch of enlightened and angry hip hoppers starting any movements.



and this is with whom u all place ur faith

ps theres a reason why tupac was viewed as such a threat by the whites in power. an intelligent man with the ability and will to uplift a nation of oppressed ppl is no good if u wanna maintain control. but control is easier wen ppl r tryna hustle for 2 mths to buy what jayz is wearing cuz he said his daughters shoes r more expensive than ur whole outfit.

[ame=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AJKdGyggLPs]YouTube - Tupac interview while in jail 1994[/ame]

I like what Pac said at 7:40 mark but what have we done to hold these rappers and entertainers responsible?We still supporting all these nikkas....and really what would give us the right not to support them if we not doing anything?Pac would be the last person to tell nikkas to sit around and wait on rappers to formulate a plan.

Jay not really the nikka I would want speaking on black issues if he's not really in tuned or really cares about that or has a plan....a lot of those black entertainers back in the day were just mouthpieces for activist and organizations in the shadows that put pressure on em to speak out,or manipulated them into speaking up....and clearly grew up in a different time where speaking up on black "issues" and injustices wuz neccesary...that's cool now but that's not what id want Jay doin....it would be phony if he didn't care for real...we can all bombard his twitter everyday and talk about the lack of what we percieve him to be doing...his people would get bac to em and tell em black folks is mad at em....and he could come out with sum fake statements and bring money to the community....if that's what WE want done we should try to put pressure on Jay-Z and everybody else...but only after we have done sumthing ourselves.


People didn't need a rapper to come up with the tea party....or the occupy wallstreet bullshyt...we come out in force to support other shyt with no problem though...I'm not knockin comin out in force for less important shyt if that's sumthin that's important to you....I'm just sayin let's stop fake carin basically

 

[mr. smoke weed]

damn a NY og disses jay z?????????? fukking shocking

 

[rapbeats]

Here's my issue with current entertainers (and not just black musicians, though they are my main focus because they are most relevant to me), it's not that they talk about ignorant shyt, it's that in the past 10 years or so, they've come to glorify it and make ignorance cool. So, while I'm not upset that Jay-Z and Beyonce make music talking about ignorance, it's that they make it cool and talk about it in a way that the youth listen to and want to emulate. For instance, when Beyonce dropped that track "Soldier" I was disgusted. I remember the first time seeing the video in high school, I was like "damn, these girls gonna go out here and start looking for thuggish values in the men they date"...and low and behold, guess what started happening in my community? Exactly that. So while nobody is saying entertainers need to be educators, they should take the responsibility of not contributing to the ills of the community at large.

This goes double for black entertainers seeing as we, due to historically systemic socioeconomic factors, don't always have the familial structure and resources to adequately counter and buffer the shyt that we encounter in the media--so sometimes these kids start living what they see and hear in entertainment, to their detriment.

thank you. as i've stated in the past. YOu are preaching a sermon one way or another. the question is what sermon are you preaching? ignorance, or knowledge, downfall or uplifting? your choice.

 

[No1]

For all of this Jay sold out shyt, explain to me exactly what he sold out? Hip Hop? Define hip hop. Also, explain why the last mainstream rapper that tries to maintain some semblance of lyricism sold out?

Politically? Who did he sell out?

The community? Why does he have a greater responsibility than the everyday man on the street?

Jay-Z was selling out to corporate boardrooms when he said, "I don't mean to boast but damn if I don't brag, these crackas going to act like I aint on they ass. The Martha Stewart that's far from jewish." If you said Brooklyn to an extent given the building project then I'd agree with you.

But here's the stickler, people on here worship artists that are 1000x worse examples than Jay and they also praise artists that endorse Jay, even my nikka Nas. So you have to figure out what they see that you can't.

With that said, as far as the topic, I responded in higher learning already.

 

[Bolzmark]

we all have a social responsibility to an extent but we do not influence trends and ppls perception the way jay does. u and i are what the hip hop community wud call irrelevant in terms of social responsibility compared to him.

if tomorrow jay up and said he only uses scott toilet tissue nikkas wud be burnin their charmin and marcal roll of toilet paper tryna follow dudes trend.

rappers can act like they dont affect their communities all they want and give the movie comparison but these nikkas try to make it seem cool to sell drugs as longn as u get rich. etc. not singling jay out cuz there r ppl who do it worse. but at this point u wud think hed grow up a little with the subject matter. how many normal 45 yr olds spend so much time bragging about million dollar watches n paintings n comparin nikkas lives to his daughters room?


Y ppl dont understand the impact he wud make on ppls thinking in the hood if he were to drop subject matter like on "Untitled" or distant relatives. instead the man wants to call himself fred hampton reincarnated while contributing to the detrement of our ppl. so YES he does have more social responsibility than we do it comes with the territory. u wud think that after making so much money dude wud start talking about shyt with social relevance and empowering our youth to do more than just get rich as hell. something as simple as that would be HUGE for us "minorities". but i dont think his old white n flabby millionaire homies wud like a bunch of enlightened and angry hip hoppers starting any movements.



and this is with whom u all place ur faith

ps theres a reason why tupac was viewed as such a threat by the whites in power. an intelligent man with the ability and will to uplift a nation of oppressed ppl is no good if u wanna maintain control. but control is easier wen ppl r tryna hustle for 2 mths to buy what jayz is wearing cuz he said his daughters shoes r more expensive than ur whole outfit.

But why are you looking to a RAPPER for leadership in social responsibility? Particularly one that since DAY 1 has told us he was a former drug dealer and is about that dough. You are confusing social responsibility with trend setting. You and Belafonte are too caught up in the fact that Jay is FAMOUS. You are putting too much into that. He is famous because he has said a bunch of slick rhymes over hot beats. So that means we should look to him for social responsibility? This society is too caught up in celebrities and stardom. We see them on tv and think they can do ANYTHING.

We should be looking for leadership in social issues from those who have it in their HEART. Whether they're famous, or a nobody. Dr. King is a perfect example. Was he famous when he embarked on his journey? NO. He became famous becuse he did something from his heart. We didnt expect it from him, he just did it.

You give Jay more power than he actually has. Yes he has great influence in RAP-RELATED subject matter. And he can sell clothes, and liquor and tell us whats the hottest car to drive. Thats who he is. I dont expect nothing else from that man, simply because he is famous. Why would we look at people who we really dont know to lad us on social issues? WE DONT KNOW JAY-Z LIKE THAT. We know about thae rap stuff, but is he QUALIFIED to lead us on whatever social issue needs attention? You are saying yes, because he has people buying his music and dressing like him. Thats ridiculous.

You want to tell Jay-Z what to rap about. How that work? Nas touched on the issue of the N word on Untitled, because thats what he wanted to do. And make no mistake, it was also used as an attention grabber to sell records.

This same EXACT discussion came years ago, except instead of Belafonte, it was Jim Brown, and he was talking about Michael Jordan. MJ is famous because he was the best at a game where the object is to put a ball through a hole. SO THAT QUALIFIES HIM TO BE A LEADER OF THE MASSES ON SOCIAL ISSUES???

C'mon son. Look to teachers, religious leaders, politicians and PARENTS for leadership on social issues. Not RAPPERS and BALL PLAYERS.

 

[frush11]

Middle class Black people have been in a place where they can think like this since Reconstruction. Black folks who have made it out the hood or are currently working on it think like this everyday too.

At some point we gotta start addressing the albatross around our collective necks that is personal accountability.

We all know the history. Its one of the only things you learn about us with a public school education. Slavery, Harlem Renaissance (if your lucky), Jim Crow, MLK...

Whats up with some forward thinking?

Nothing wrong with forward, but lets look at the reality, as a collective we have nothing, and no power at all.

 

[up in here]

But why are you looking to a RAPPER for leadership in social responsibility? Particularly one that since DAY 1 has told us he was a former drug dealer and is about that dough. You are confusing social responsibility with trend setting. You and Belafonte are too caught up in the fact that Jay is FAMOUS. You are putting too much into that. He is famous because he has said a bunch of slick rhymes over hot beats. So that means we should look to him for social responsibility? This society is too caught up in celebrities and stardom. We see them on tv and think they can do ANYTHING.

We should be looking for leadership in social issues from those who have it in their HEART. Whether they're famous, or a nobody. Dr. King is a perfect example. Was he famous when he embarked on his journey? NO. He became famous becuse he did something from his heart. We didnt expect it from him, he just did it.

You give Jay more power than he actually has. Yes he has great influence in RAP-RELATED subject matter. And he can sell clothes, and liquor and tell us whats the hottest car to drive. Thats who he is. I dont expect nothing else from that man, simply because he is famous. Why would we look at people who we really dont know to lad us on social issues? WE DONT KNOW JAY-Z LIKE THAT. We know about thae rap stuff, but is he QUALIFIED to lead us on whatever social issue needs attention? You are saying yes, because he has people buying his music and dressing like him. Thats ridiculous.

You want to tell Jay-Z what to rap about. How that work? Nas touched on the issue of the N word on Untitled, because thats what he wanted to do. And make no mistake, it was also used as an attention grabber to sell records.

This same EXACT discussion came years ago, except instead of Belafonte, it was Jim Brown, and he was talking about Michael Jordan. MJ is famous because he was the best at a game where the object is to put a ball through a hole. SO THAT QUALIFIES HIM TO BE A LEADER OF THE MASSES ON SOCIAL ISSUES???

C'mon son. Look to teachers, religious leaders, politicians and PARENTS for leadership on social issues. Not RAPPERS and BALL PLAYERS.

ok so would you argue then that jay-z's music is socially responsible or that is socially irresponsible?

 

[director_of_bands]

Middle class Black people have been in a place where they can think like this since Reconstruction. Black folks who have made it out the hood or are currently working on it think like this everyday too.

At some point we gotta start addressing the albatross around our collective necks that is personal accountability.

We all know the history. Its one of the only things you learn about us with a public school education. Slavery, Harlem Renaissance (if your lucky), Jim Crow, MLK...

Whats up with some forward thinking?

middle class? middle class black people? you know middle class won't exist within the next 10 - 20 years right? most of you nggas probably didn't know that because a rapper hasn't made you aware of it yet...
anyway it's fckd up that Jay nem is using the power that they have to diss religion, cosign homosexuality, and let us knw how much more money they have than us (mainly the middle class), but make no time to address the real sht goin on out here...but they already predicted the future for you "middle class" nggas in the following video with Frank Ocean singin the hook - which they made no appearance in...

 

[No1]

middle class? middle class black people? you know middle class won't exist within the next 10 - 20 years right? most of you nggas probably didn't know that because a rapper hasn't made you aware of it yet...
anyway it's fckd up that Jay nem is using the power that they have to diss religion, cosign homosexuality, and let us knw how much more money they have than us (mainly the middle class), but make no time to address the real sht goin on out here...but they already predicted the future for you "middle class" nggas in the following video with Frank Ocean singin the hook - which they made no appearance in...

No Church In The Wild - YouTube

Stop crying and expecting your music artists to be preachers. That's what's fukked up, you guys are actually looking for your music artists to be your soul advisers. Did you even listen to "Watch the Throne" or the song you just posted? The irony is this, most people who are mad at Jay for supposedly not speaking to the ills of the community are probably not doing shyt themselves or aren't exactly successful. Now go onto any campus and where you see "black excellence" on display or in any office with young professionals and you'll hear Jay-Z playing. When the Blueprint 3 came out, I recall "So Ambitious" (which I was iffy on) being played by everyone from business school cats to the people doing Teach for America. Get over it. Jay-Z is not a negative influence, my dude Nas recognizes that.

But to speak to that song, that shyt has nothing to with the middle class and that whole video is just about revolution and standing up to the status quo. It's a different take on the song which is mainly about defining yourself your own way and that when is true and pure is relative and that there's a darkside to everything. There is no "church" or objective symbol of purity, clarity or protection out here. That's the point of the song.

"Is pious, pious because God loves pious? Socrates asked whose bias do y'all seek?" - Take a philosophy class, that's the euthyphro dilemma.

 

[No1]

ok so would you argue then that jay-z's music is socially responsible or that is socially irresponsible?

The problem is that you're asking that question in the first place and that you believe that rappers should be the leaders of the community in the first place. They are the result of society. They made it out using ingenuity and skills, but they still did not do it conventionally. They weren't ivy-educated. So why are you expecting them to give you that type of perspective when they make it out of the hood in their mid to late twenties? Often their whole growth is stunted in the first place. Notice how emcees mature and change.

Jay-Z's music is a reflection of who he is and Jay-Z the person is regarded as a positive by anyone with common sense. His music cannot be listened to these days without the back drop of the person and what he's achieved. Jay-Z has everyone in the hood wanting to be a business man. "Whether we dribble out this motherfukka, rap, riddle and metaphor out this mothafukka, second floor hospital out this mothafukka; somehow we got to get up out this mothafukka."

"I don't always want to be this drug-dealing mothafukka." If you think people don't understand that then you think people are very stupid.

But Jay's not Nas. I always felt you needed both.

 

[Consigliere]

Nothing wrong with forward, but lets look at the reality, as a collective we have nothing, and no power at all.

You are making my point for me.

 

[userofherb]

But why are you looking to a RAPPER for leadership in social responsibility? Particularly one that since DAY 1 has told us he was a former drug dealer and is about that dough. You are confusing social responsibility with trend setting. You and Belafonte are too caught up in the fact that Jay is FAMOUS. You are putting too much into that. He is famous because he has said a bunch of slick rhymes over hot beats. So that means we should look to him for social responsibility? This society is too caught up in celebrities and stardom. We see them on tv and think they can do ANYTHING.

We should be looking for leadership in social issues from those who have it in their HEART. Whether they're famous, or a nobody. Dr. King is a perfect example. Was he famous when he embarked on his journey? NO. He became famous becuse he did something from his heart. We didnt expect it from him, he just did it.

You give Jay more power than he actually has. Yes he has great influence in RAP-RELATED subject matter. And he can sell clothes, and liquor and tell us whats the hottest car to drive. Thats who he is. I dont expect nothing else from that man, simply because he is famous. Why would we look at people who we really dont know to lad us on social issues? WE DONT KNOW JAY-Z LIKE THAT. We know about thae rap stuff, but is he QUALIFIED to lead us on whatever social issue needs attention? You are saying yes, because he has people buying his music and dressing like him. Thats ridiculous.

You want to tell Jay-Z what to rap about. How that work? Nas touched on the issue of the N word on Untitled, because thats what he wanted to do. And make no mistake, it was also used as an attention grabber to sell records.

This same EXACT discussion came years ago, except instead of Belafonte, it was Jim Brown, and he was talking about Michael Jordan. MJ is famous because he was the best at a game where the object is to put a ball through a hole. SO THAT QUALIFIES HIM TO BE A LEADER OF THE MASSES ON SOCIAL ISSUES???

C'mon son. Look to teachers, religious leaders, politicians and PARENTS for leadership on social issues. Not RAPPERS and BALL PLAYERS.

i c where ur coming from but i am not implying just because hes famous he has a responsibility. and lets be honest while we are at it aint no religious leaders and politicians these kids r honestly lookin up to wen we got hip hop deferring them from all of that. and lets not act like the president isnt one of the only examples that fits. the man feels a social responisibility to speak up on gay rights and talkin bout givin back water and blazay blah. so he put himself in that position, but dont just do it to do it and get some tax deductions at the end of the yr. "black Excellence" blah blah hublot basquiat yeah ok what else u got? even fred hampton jr said it like cmon,



and lets stop quoting jayz lines and paraphrasing them into sentences and counter arguments.im a big fan of his music and hes constantly switching for num 1 and 2 with nas in my top 3 but lets be real. lets step out of this egotistic materialistic shallow way of thinking our culture has poisoned us into thinking in and look at things objectively. just cuz the guy is famous for rapping he doesnt have anything else to do with the hip hop community? so if he cud do things to help better conditions and the minds of the youth but chooses not to there is nothing wrong with that? meanwhile he brings us ross and jeezy to sell more filth and dope peddling rhymes to our young males and rihanna to slut out the minds of these already lost whores. but now he has ivy blue so id bet no more songs degrading women huh? this is the kind of man that will sell crack to millinons of ppl but only think about all he has done to ppl wen he sees his wife strung out. and im done posting in here the spirit of COINTELPRO lives on in hip hop. well done too at this point even the oppressed might deny for themselves to be taken out of this ghetto misery they so enjoy.