openentrance – What's Really Going OnWhat's Really Going On

Jay-Z recently sat down with Time Out Magazine and had some pretty interesting tidbits that he discussed. Some of the more interesting comments and answers are listed below

So what else do you get up to when you’re in town?

‘I’m a pretty big, almost a professional, gambler. I’m not gonna say any names because that’ll mess it all up, but there’re these little private clubs you can go to in the West End where you can hang out and gamble, and it’s pretty cool. And you know, I’m a foodie, so I’m always in search of the next good meal. There are plenty of great restaurants out there.’

You own a share of [basketball team] the New Jersey Nets. What’s this we hear about you potentially investing in Arsenal?
‘I had invested in the Nets, and they [Arsenal] asked me if I was interested in investing. But I get that from time to time. Someone told me yesterday that someone else had a piece of the New York Yankees – “We wanna talk to you, yadda yadda yadda.” I mean, I love the Yankees so I’m in the middle of following that through, but sometimes it comes to be something and sometimes it comes to be nothing. That was one of the times it came to nothing.’

You’ve just released a split single with the other famous rap Carter, Lil Wayne. Did you hear about what happened when he played at Stratford Rex a few months ago?
‘No, what happened?’

The crowd tried to rob him.
‘What do you mean? You mean like “Aaaoow!”, like “Gimme your chain?” No… no… was this from excitement or…? Oh, wow. That’s very shocking. That must be some social commentary – something’s going on round there. I also heard that there’s a lot of killings going on at the moment. Oh, man, that’s horrible. That has to be addressed, because it’s coming from somewhere. No one gets up and just decides, “Okay, knives, this is what’s in now.” It’s not a fad, it’s not cool to do. It’s coming outta frustration. It’s frustration, and ignorance as well. That has to be addressed.’

It’s interesting that you say that – most rappers appear to be very cautious about speaking out about social problems in their interviews.
‘Right. Yeah, that all comes out of fear. You gotta figure where most of these guys are coming from. They’re coming from very poverty-stricken areas, and now here they are and they have a chance to provide for themselves and their generation, and they want to hold on to it. So they’re a little afraid of especially that type of thing – you’re gonna take on the government. They’re afraid of the repercussions of that. They’re gonna absolutely shut them down.’

You were also one of the few people to stick up for Kanye West when he made his post-Hurricane Katrina comments about George Bush…
‘I don’t profess to be a political rapper, like groups such as Dead Prez or Public Enemy, but I think social commentary should make its way into your music. Speaking on your neighbourhood is social commentary – what happens, what’s going on. Like I said, the fear of what could happen stops people: look at what they did to those Dixie Chicks! But then you also see what happened the next year when the Dixie Chicks came back and they got validated at the Grammys, when they won album of the year.’

So it must have been a major compliment to have Barack Obama referencing ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’ (via the much-talked-about ‘shoulder dusting’ move following a bad-tempered debate with Hillary Clinton)?
‘Oh yeah, yeah! Ha ha ha! You see how far hip hop has moved into mainstream culture. Before, the type of presidential candidate we have wouldn’t even have heard a record like ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’. They might hear the one massive record of the year, like Will Smith’s ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It’. But that record – it was a hit, but not a number one.’

So you’ll be waiting for your invitation to the White House then…
‘Ha ha! Yeah, absolutely. If he wanna hear some real talk… ’Cos that’s the only way I know how to talk about it. I’m not savvy with political jargon, I only know how to say, “This is fucked up: of course the crime is up, what you think is happening? People are struggling, they’re broke, they gotta pay the light bill, then pay the rent.” They don’t even know what that means! That’s why people are not so involved with politics. I never voted until two, three years ago. Because as a kid that’s how I was brought up – whoever was in office, nothing changed. ’Cos it never trickled down, right? Because that’s what politicians do – they gotta give to the people that’s right there and it never makes its way down to us. Because first of all, we weren’t voting, so our voice didn’t mean anything. Whether we were upset or happy, they didn’t care. But if our voice meant something, then they would have to deal with us. And that’s what people gotta understand. They’re not gonna deal with you if your voice don’t mean anything. If you can’t affect whether they’re in office or not, politicians are like “Why should I give you any money? Why should I fix parks? Why should I have a police watch out there so there’s not rampant drugs and shootings on Sundays?”’

So you don’t have any plans to move into politics, then?
‘No. Ha ha ha! No, they’ll kill me in 30 seconds. “Shit! This guy’s in!” Bang! Ha ha! I won’t make it past the primaries! Ha ha! They talk about Obama’s priest – imagine what they’d do to me! My friend is locked up! Ha ha ha! That’s funny.’

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