Jay Z Says Hip-Hop Has Done More For Race Relations Than “Most Cultural Icons”
Hip-hop has changed and united the world, no doubt. But has it been more influential in race relations than our cultural icons? Jay Z thinks so. The MC who once challenged Harry Belafonte appeared on Oprah’s Master Class to share his self-described “interesting” take on rap music’s global impact. “Hip-hop has done more for racial relations than most cultural icons,” says the 45-year-old rapper. “Save [for] Martin Luther King, because his Dream speech we realize[d] when President Obama got elected. But the impact of the music, you know, this music didn’t only influence kids from urban areas. It influenced people all around the world.”
Hov points out that while bigotry has roots in the home, “it’s very difficult to teach racism when your kid looks up to Snoop Doggy Dogg.” And hip-hop music has united people in nightclubs as well: “Before, people partied in separate clubs. There were hip-hop clubs and there were techno clubs. Now people party together, and once you have people partying, dancing, and singing along to the same music, then conversations naturally happen after that.”
SZA Gets Dragged for Pre-Stardom Shade About Beyoncé, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj
For celebrities, pre-fame tweets can and will be used against you. TDE singer SZA, like so many before her, learned the hard way when her shady 2011 musings about music’s divine trinity—Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé—were dug up and exposed for the Bey Hive, Navy and Barbs to see.
“Beyoncé lookin more and more like Madonna every day! Coulda swore she was Black at one point,” reads one tweet. Another knocks Rihanna and Ciara’s vocal chops: “Neither Rihanna or Ciara can hold a note worth a damn… one’s just worse than the other. So what’s the beef?!?” In a third Ghost of Twitter Past, she declares that Nicki has a “problem,” followed by a link to Iggy Azalea’s early tracks. Sheesh.
SZA, who received a songwriting credit on The Pinkprint’s Bey and Barbie duet “Feelin’ Myself,” released a pseudo apology for her dated tweets after her mentions went south. “Lol Blah so I was a little sh*t head at 19 sue me.”
Beanie Sigel Released from Hospital One Month After Shooting
Beanie Sigel has returned home once again. Yet this time, the 40-year-old MC is back from a hospital bed, not the pen. Rapper Neef Buck, one half of Young Gunz, posted a photo on Instagram showing a man who looks like Beans getting up from a wheelchair and into a van, tagging Sigel in the shot. “Alhamdulillah!!!! Masha allah!!! MY BOY IS HOME!!!!! @beaniesigelsp,” Neef wrote in the caption.
Beanie Sigel was shot in the abdomen on December 5, about four months after his homecoming from a two-year federal sentence for tax evasion and a concurrent sentence for drug possession. The former Roc-a-Fella rapper was said to be an unintended target in the shooting. Here’s to a speedy recovery for Sigel.
