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F ull disclosure, I've been a big fan of Jay-Z for years. One of the things I've always admired about him, aside from his dope lyrics, is how he always seems capable of making the best decisions
concerning his career.
From him starting his
own record label with part- ners Dame Dash and Ka- reem Biggs, to him leaving that label to become the president of Def Jam, to marrying Beyonce, to open- ing his own 40/40 restau- rants, to buying a music streaming service and a host of other brilliant chess moves, Jay has proven time and time again his knack for placing himself in the perfect positions to win while main- taining his integrity.
This is why, like most people I assume, I was a little confused when he decided to partner up with the NFL. The same NFL who he publicly admonished a year ago for blackballing former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, and who he openly dissed on record when they asked him to perform in their annual Super Bowl Halftime Show.
At first glance it didn't make sense that someone like Jay, a man who has es- tablished a long track record of placing his money where his mouth is through his well documented philanthropy and willingness to get behind social causes, would make a 180-degree flip-flop by join- ing forces with an organiza- tion saddled with a reputation for not giving a damn about anybody... par- ticularly its own athletes.
When you take into ac- count Jay's reputation for engaging in unpopular busi- ness deals with entities such as Barney's, The Brooklyn Nets and The Barclay's Cen-
ter it's not hard to assume that Jay hooking up with the NFL was just another deci- sion based solely on his never-ending paper chase. But, even though this latest maneuvering fits squarely into his usual M.O. (Method of Operation), you still have to wonder if that's what's re- ally going on here?
It would be easy for me to join the chorus of individuals who are now deeming Jay a sellout because of what tran- spired. The thing is, based on what he's done in the past, (his work with Trayvon Martin's family and the Kalief Browder documen- tary are two great examples), I feel compelled to, at least, give him the benefit of the doubt before painting him with the Michael Jordan coon-brush and crowning him the Al Sharpton of hip-hop.
According to Jay, he was open to working with the NFL because, as he put it, "we've moved beyond kneel- ing." To him, it's a choice be- tween continuing to engage in symbolic gestures or working with the people you're upset with to fix the problem?
As much as I get where Jay is coming from, it still irks me that the NFL was able to get Jay onboard while taking on almost zero risk. This is mainly due, in no small part, to Jay's impecca- ble street cred.
I mean, Jay-Z is the man partly responsible for Range Rover removing the 4.0 and 4.6 numbers from the back of their vehicles, the person who declared the Mercedes Benz 500 the car of baby ballers while anointing the 600 as the chariot of true bosses. He's also the individ- ual who made wearing throwback jerseys hot and
then single-handedly killed the trend by telling us it was time to grow up and "Change Clothes" by putting on but- ton-ups. And, of course, we can never forget that he's the reason why Ace Of Spades took Cristal's place as the champagne bottle to pop on special occasions.
Jay was influencing cul- ture before the industry of influence was a thing. A busi- ness would be crazy not to want to align itself with someone who wields this kind of power over con- sumers?
It was a no-brainer for the NFL to attempt to bring Jay into the fold. For them it's a no-lose situation.
If Jay can bring the league back into good graces with the Black community, great. If not, they'll simply go back to the drawing board having not sacrificed anything.
For Jay, though, there's much more at stake. In ac- cepting the NFL's offer he's, essentially, placed his repu- tation as soldier-for-the- cause on the line by teaming up with a bunch of Trump supporters while promising that his presence will make a difference.
And, unfortunately, the move has placed expecta- tions so high that if he does- n't deliver something along the lines of bringing in a few more minority owners, mak- ing the Super Bowl halftime equivalent to a hood block- party or having the Black Na- tional Anthem sung before games, his entire strategy will be considered a huge fail.
Hopefully, Jigga will be able to meet the challenge and prove that the seat he took at the table was actually about change and not an- other opportunity to further stuff his pockets. If he does- n't, his status as G.O.A.T will surely be in jeopardy and he'll have a lot of explaining to do to all of his "former" fans.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can contact Mr. Barr at: cbar- ronice@gmail.com.
What's Up With Jigga Man?
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
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Amendment Two Is Outdated
here is no doubt that America’s founding fathers
never envisioned there would be a rifle that shot more than one bullet at a time when they framed the Con- stitution. Therefore, that many Americans would justify owning military style assault rifles and high capacity mag- azines using Constitutional Amendment Two, written when men carried one-shot muskets is ludicrous.
We have never heard of anyone hunting and shooting herds of deer or gangs, bears with these kinds of guns. We fail to see the need for anyone to possess these weapons, other than the military or law enforcement.
Each year, more than 36,000 people in America die from gun violence and 100,000 individuals are injured. We need to remember that there were nearly 58,000 causalities in the Viet Nam War over a 21 year period, 1954 to 1975.
That more people die from domestic gun violence and terrorism, at the rate of 100 per day each year, should be of great concern to everyone, considering that these sta- tistics are greater than war casualties.
Few of us thought we would be living in an era of fear to attend school, church, the movies, concerts, or night clubs. Certainly, few of us could have imagined that shop- ping at a mall would be a deadly encounter.
We don’t know about you, but we intend to endorse and vote for only political candidates who are willing to support universal background checks, mental health ver- ification, and a ban of sales of military-style weapons.
Our “right to bear arms,” applied only to one-shot muskets.
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