JAY-Z rarely does interviews, but when he does, the Brooklyn native turned entertainment mogul speaks candidly. Hov recently sat down with the New York Times' Executive Editor, Dean Baquet, and covered a number of topics ranging from marriage, masculinity, his mother's sexuality, and racial identity (via O.J. Simpson).
Baquet stated in the synopsis of the interview that he was particularly intrigued by Jay's use of O.J. Simpson to discuss racial identity considering the god-like status Simpson held in Baquet's generation. Hov said "The Story of O.J." is:
a nuanced song, you know. It's like, I'm specifically speaking to us. And about who we are and how do you maintain the sense of self while pushing it forward and holding us to have a responsibility for our actions. Because in America, it is what it is. And there's a solution for us: If we had a power base together, it would be a much different conversation than me having a conversation by myself and trying to change America by myself.
JAY-Z also thoroughly tackled questions regarding his experiences with racism as a wealthy and famous cultural figure stating that he, in fact, continues to deal with racism.
But it mostly comes when you try to challenge the status quo. If I’m being quiet and entertaining, everyone’s cool. Ah man, it’s great. You don’t feel racism. But when you try to challenge the club, it’s like, Oh, nah, we should have a seat at — to use the Solange album title — we should have a seat at this table. And then it gets into a space where it’s like, wait, you guys are mad at me about the same thing you guys are doing. It gets into a weird space.
Check out the full JAY-Z interview with the New York Times in the video above.
Source: YouTube
