Last week, our Kenneth Hicks detailed the moves of four rappers looking to transition from elite emcee to music mogul. The foursome have all, either formally or informally, taken their business queues from Shawn Carter aka Jay Z, hip-hop’s first billionaire.
Also last week, Jay found himself in hot water after announcing a partnership with the NFL, the very league he had previously condemned for their blackballing of Colin Kaepernick, after the former 49ers quarterback (legally, rightfully and peacefully) protested the social injustices that have consistently befallen Black Americans and other people of color. Side-by-side with embattled NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Jay Z defended the new arrangement against questions from those looking for an explanation as to how such a vocal critic of the league’s stance on Kaepernick could align himself with “The Shield”.
Per The Washington Post, Jay Z and his Roc Nation firm will “help manage entertainment ventures tied to league events and is closely connected to the league’s community activism efforts.” More specifically, Roc Nation will co-produce the Super Bowl halftime performance, and Shawn Corey will help raise the profile of the NFL’s Inspire Change social justice initiative. On paper, the partnership sounds great, only now people are having a difficult time drawing a distinction between Jigga and jigaboo.
The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill raised a point shared by many African-Americans on the matter stating Hov gave the NFL exactly what it wanted—a Black face to hide behind in the aftermath of the mistreatment of Kaepernick. She claimed that although Jay Z isn’t a sellout (his philanthropic record has earned him that much), he’s letting the NFL off the hook for the ingrained acceptance and, in some cases, direct (or indirect) support of racist ideologies by many owners.
But this isn’t a zero sum game. Just because the NFL got what they wanted doesn’t mean Jay Z can’t get all of what he wants, which we can imagine in some order is money, exposure for his company/artists AND creating a conduit for the NFL to increase the impact of the Inspire Change campaign while generating some healing between NFL owners and fans offended by Kaep, and those offended by Kaep’s blackballing. Still, far too many, such as Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid (Kaepernick’s former teammate and present-day friend/supporter) see this as a cover by the NFL and a cop-out by Jay Z.
“Jay-Z knowingly made a money move with the very people who’ve committed an injustice against Colin and is using social justice to smooth it over with the black community.”– Eric Reid, Twitter.com/E_Reid35
While it’s fair to be skeptical of this partnership given Jay Z’s involvement in the Nets move from New Jersey to Brooklyn and the gentrification caused by it, social media’s cry of bloody murder has little to do with that. The outrage stems strictly from A) Kaepernick still not having found employment B) Kaep not giving Jay his blessing ahead of time and most sadly C) that Jay would even work with the NFL at all.
What’s the ultimate goal of protesting? To be loud for the sake of being loud or to effect change?
To listen to the enraged social media mob, you would think that their preference is for prominent Black figures to simply leave the NFL to their own racist devices without ever approaching any semblance of a solution or worthwhile outcome. Ultimately, the objective is reform.
Imagine if instead of the Civil Rights movement resulting in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it resulted in…nothing, because Blacks didn’t want to “sell out” through brokering “a deal with the devil”. While this metaphor may sound extreme and unlike a pure apples-to-apples comparison, the idea here is those protesting sought reform from the governing body in power. And reform is not limited to Colin Kaepernick’s employment. That’s a short-sighted view of this entire matter, and although Colin wants back in the NFL, is far too selfish of a view that a benevolent man like Kaepernick himself would accept alone. At its core, none of this was about Colin not having a job—Jay Z is absolutely correct.
“And I can’t help the poor if I’m one of them/So I got rich and gave back to me, that’s the win-win,” — Jay Z, Moment of Clarity (2003)
Granted he’s far from poor, and no, Jay doesn’t need the NFL to mobilize social change, as Reid stated via Twitter. But as Hill points out, the “Story of OJ” rapper’s charitable stat sheet ranks favorably up against most anyone. So why not give him the benefit of the doubt to see what he can mold with this lump of clay known as the NFL, a multi billion-dollar lump of clay that he has over a barrel?
“I said no to the Super Bowl—You need me, I don’t need you/Every night we in the end zone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too,” Jay Z, Apeshit (2018)
Goodell and the owners heard this message, so they caved to the public pressure Kaepernick and the ensuing controversy created by enlisting the help of a black man who has been the walking definition of hip-hop culture for the better part of the past two decades. Please believe: the NFL didn’t want to do this, they had to do this. And opportunities like this don’t come along every day, so once again, Carter capitalized.
If in time this marriage doesn’t prove at all fruitful for Black football fans, players or members of the marginalize communities for whom Kaepernick knelt, then questioning Hov’s initial motives may be justifiable. For now, he should be praised for shouldering the responsibility of attempting to change the “good ole’ boys” club from the inside out. Even if he can’t change their thinking, Jay Z has positioned himself to positively influence the lives of many Black fans who felt alienated by the treatment of Colin Kaepernick. While we’ve yet to see what these social justice initiatives will look like, the rumors of him becoming an owner down the road should excite even the loudest haters on Facebook. And if we’re being completely honest, Jay doesn’t need Colin’s permission to accept an opportunity to better his community and potentially subvert or eradicate archaic views held by a historically racially-insensitive (at least) institution.
Too many of us are assuming the worst of Jay Z’s partnership with the NFL, despite the fact Carter has proven himself to be one of the best entertainers, businessmen, activists, humanitarians and thinkers we have. We should at least wait until the ball is snapped before we throw a flag on the play.