Debate: Is Jay-Z a Legend, god of Hip-Hop?

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter is an American rapper, and entrepreneur. He is one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists in the United States, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010. He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving thirteen Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations. 

According to Wikipedia, he is consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers of all-time (but by who? who gave him such false ranking?). He was also ranked by MTV in their list of The Greatest MCs of All-Time in 2006.

MTV’s list of “Greatest MC’s of All Time” is fake, and also a misrepresentation of the term “Great”. Rather it should be renamed as MTV’s list of Top Hip-Hop Earners. There is nothing great about Jay-Z, he just sells records, that’s about it….destructive music to be exact. During the AMA awards in 2009, Jay-Z gave a speech quoting “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t lie”. Is Jay-Z an inspirational rapper? That is questionable, so No!  Is he a motivational rapper? No!  Has he ever used his fame, money, power, or respect to help the black community in a great way? No! But he will sell us destructive music any day, anytime. Do you agree or disagree?

Below is a long debate between Salone and Naija about Jay-Z, if he is a Hip-Hop legend, god of Hip-Hop, etc…etc. Make sure to contribute your opinion in the comment box below so other Hip-Hop fans can relate to your statement. This post is intended to share our opinion about the entrepreneurial Hip-Hop mogul popularly known as Jay-Z; read on:

SALONE:  Jay-Z is a legend…The Bob Marley of today.

NAIJA: Nah, how can you tag Jay Z as the Bob Marley of today. That’s an insult bro…you can never and shouldn’t compare Jay z with Bob Marley. Understand Bob Marley’s music, and find true wisdom that will forever change the lives of our coming generation for good. Jay z is no legend, and has inspired no one in a good way.

SALONE:  I will argue they have the same message with different settings..Jay-Z is a epitome of modern black struggle.His presentation of these struggles may be different but it serve the same purpose as compare to Bod Marley messages..You have to understand the man,his background and the society in which he grew up to understand his music.

ASIA (passes by): “Sorry Salone, i will have to agree with Naija”

SALONE:  I partly agree with Naija..However,he is wrong to day Jay Z is not a legend and has not inspired no one is a good way.

NAIJA: You know if a survey is conducted among the modern black society you are referring to, whether Jay z is a legend or not. I bet you majority of the people will answer ‘hell no’, meanwhile those that may nod their head in favor of jay z being a legend are not within the modern black struggle category, those ones just hear a nice beat and start jumping in the air sysed without payin attention to the destructive message.

Jay z don’t know what black struggle is, neither does he give a f* or he would’ve helped a lot of black people struggling in this so called modern world. He just sells destructive music to his black people struggling to make it, thats all he do. Only the hip-hop kids of these days will say jay z is a legend…u gotta get with the OG’s and OT’s for some true story.

Try this bro, go to any reggae/caribbean circle and mention ‘Jay z is the Bob Marley of today’ and see their reactions. It ain’t gonna be nice I tell you.

SALONE: Russel Simmons once said “Jay-Z remind us that the true sells” and that true is the destructive nature of the black society(The drugs,teenage pregnancy,murder etc etc).What set Jay-Z apart from other artist is his honesty in describing what he sees,hear and live in the society he grew up.Also, if the life of Jay-Z is being taught in a University,i think you should consider him to be a legend..Jay-Z accomplishments speak for him…Dont skim through his music,understand it bro.

I dont want to respect Bob Marley but at one point Bod Marley songs were consider to be destructive just as Jay-Z songs..Parents would stop their kids from listening to Bod Marley and he was even hated in his country.It was not until his death that he became widely accepted.

NAIJA: Brother, tomorrow you may hear Jay z being preached in churches and mosques (only in this country), hell they can even rename your school to Jay z university, and your favorite shopping place to Jay z plaza, etc, but no matter what this worldly powerful people do to brainwash us, it would never take effect when you believe and worship the only true God. Am not gonna be surprised if tomorrow I hear Jay z is the new black-jesus or prophet mohammed, the dude is even trynna have people call him “jayhova” as in Jehovah. Smart ain’t it? Nah that’s devilishly stupid and insane.

I really don’t know where you got the theory that Bob Marley was hated in his own country, but it makes no sense. People hate, people love. Never expect everyone to love you. Good people are always hated for standing up for their neglected people. Jesus was hated by many of his own people, Fela was also hated by some of his people who want to continue controlling power within his nation.

I’ll be extremely careful listening to Jay z’s music if I were you bro, and I say this to any of my fellow black brothers out here trynna make it. Jay z and Lil wayne’s music (among others) are very destructive and can pull you away from God, take Kanye west for example (from Jesus Walks to monster music, thats what you can expect from relating with Jay z in any way). If you think listening to Jay z’s music is inspirational or motivational in any way, I’ll advise you listen to Gospel/religious music often, there is nothing hip-hop music will do for you, that Gospel music can’t do better. God is good!

SALONE: Smile..haha..I believe God and i know Jay-Z do..it is unfortunate that we Christians are judging others without thorough examination and we are the once becoming the sinners..Jay-Z or Kanye knows exactly what folks like you are thinking and in the name of marketing,they will produce thought provoking materials in order for people to pay more attention to their music.Jay-z called himself “hova” because he consider himself to be the god of hip-hop and that does not mean he is the God of the world or devilish ..I know people would acknowledge Bob Marley as the god of reggae but that does not make devilishness.It is not different from people who called themselves guru.

NAIJA: But you don’t hear Michael Jackson called the god of pop (king of pop), you don’t hear Bob Marley called the god of reggae (king of reggae), so why should Jay z refer himself to be god in any form? And what God or “god” does Jay z know or serve? cuz I sure don’t know. Is there any other God that you know except the one who created this world and gave us life? Unless Jay-z has other gods that he know or serves, then he should open up and let us know too that way we can understand him better and run for our lives!!!….and those gods he know also named Jehovah? C’mon bro…don’t let them deceive you in the name of hip-hop.

However, if a musicians’ name is Jahrule (rapper Jarule is a fool for that name), or Jahbless, or Godson, Godchild, or KingofKings for instance and sings Gospel music…then it makes sense. But you can’t name yourself Jahrule or Jahbless, or Godson, Godchild, or KingofKings and be singing devilish destructive music. Brother, that’s using God’s name in vain. Listen, I do not go to church every sunday but I read and know my bible. But even though I pray to God to always prevent me from doing certain things; for the right cause, I will still get bloods in my hands if forced. I am a sinner, we are all sinners, but its worse when someone is using their fame to destroy the lives of people. While prophets and pastors are out there trying to bring people closer to God, people like Jay z and Lil wayne are out there doing the opposite. People’s mind are too soft these days. Oh, and now am seeing Lady gaga being dubbed as the goddess of pop with a capital letter “G”, what a shame. The world has gone cuckoo lol.

Check this out bro, God as a Creator: If am a hip-hop icon and I call myself the god of hip-hop — if ever questioned about my claim; I will simply tell people it means I created hip-hop. But Jay-z did not create hip-hop did he? He just makes numbers. “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t lie” I think it takes deep wisdom to really understand Jay-Z’s deceptive sayings, hip-hop youths of nowadays can’t interpret sh*t. Am not sure if you really are, but its scary to know you think of or see Jay z as a god in any form.

SALONE: Naija..note the difference between a capitalize “G” God:our creator,the omipotent,the one and living God,the God we worship;and the lower case “g” god..For the correctly,60% of Jay-Z fans are above 30yrs old.

NAIJA: Trust me bro…I probably can tell you more about God than your pastor would, and the difference between a capital G for God, and the other. Am from Africa bro, Nigeria to be exact, I can tell you over 10 different gods you probably ain’t heard of yet, and they ain’t no humans. But anyways, show me the source of your statistics that 60% of Jay z fans are 30yrs old, and elaborate further if the 60% is in the united states only, or u.k, u.s, and canada, or the whole world.

SALONE: Their is no tangible data acknowledged the age group of people who listen to Jay-Z..However,if you ask folks who are involve in the hip-hop community,they will tell you Jay-Z fans are much older young adult.Young people in my age group(age 18 to 28 plus or minus)hardly understand what Jay-Z is saying in his song.They would rather listen to Lil Wayne and the rest because of the nice hook,beats and catchy phrase. They find hard to understand Jay-Z poetic,word play and storytelling abilities in his songs.

And I am from Africa too Naija…Jay-Z never tell people to make him as an idol and worship him and neither did he profess to cast out demon,heal sickness or make you rich.He is just a rapper..I dont understand why cant a black hip-hop artist make it in this world without people attributing negativity in his/her career.These accusations are all created to lower our self-esteem as black living in the U.S.It does not make sense to me.

NAIJA: So what if Jay z has once (whether jokingly or otherwise), mentioned people should worship him or his music? The reason why you don’t understand why a black hip-hop artist can’t make it in this world without people attributing negativity in his/her career is because you fail to question your instinct, like “why black hip-hop artists have to sell destructive/brainwash music to make it in this world”, or why black hip-hop artists have to sell their soul to the devil in other to make it in the music industry”. Now, don’t tell me you not aware of this dumb hip-hop artists selling their souls to the devil?

We all gonna die sooner than we think if people like me don’t attempt to wake people up from their slumber…mehn F* the ice, F* the flashy cars, F* the mansions, etc..etc. This worldly things are what’s destroying our black people. We make small change we run to the mall, make a couple of thousands then we run to the car dealership…all that stupid black mentality gotta stop. But people like Jay z, Lil wayne, Nicki minaj, fake Rick ross, etc will make sure they keep feeding us there crap via the music they sell us. Like the fake rick ross talking about…”Am selling crack, straight out my iphone”, now all the millions of black people “niggaz” to be exact, will start selling crack from their iphone while rick ross sits back with his stupid big belly laughing at the rate at which his own black people are being thrown in jail, dying, etc while they continue to pay him for a job well done…and no thanks to people nicki minaj, lil’ wayne, lady gaga, etc for promoting and increasing homosexuality to an enormous rate in this few years.

If am a hip-hop artist, am not going to make devilish/destructive music in order to be successful. I’ll sell good music that will motivate my young black brothers, its a No No to sell your soul to the devil in exchange for worldly things.

NAIJA: Anyone who thinks Jay z made something out of nothing don’t know a damn thing about Jay then. Dig into his real story: how long he has been in the secret society vs when he started doing big numbers, the whole rocawear/rocafella story and much more. You guys should not be fooled by this popular mainstream media that will never tell you the truth. If possible go to Brooklyn New York, the Bedford-Stuyvesant section where Marcy project at, and ask a few people over there about Jay-z, make sure you ask them OT’S and OG’s though and I bet you’ll find out some true story about the Jay z you didn’t know…real talk.

Like Ming mentioned earlier, the whole Jay-z thing is a one man journey, but there are those cultic people behind his success that you will never hear about. If Jay z actually did made it on his own, without selling his soul to the devil…then his whole story will have been inspirational to the whole world of hip-hop fans and beyond, but most of the story you hear on mainstream medias have been fabricated, and well smoothened to make the world believe.

Anyone who is not aware that mainstream medias fabricate some of their stories, then that person have a long way to go. It is important to never believe anything you hear or see on tv unless you endeavor to seek the truth. Until you seek the truth, do not go around saying Jay z is this or that, or he build an empire, or made something from nothing. Rather, you should say MTV said or claimed Jay z is this or that, or BET said Jay z build an empire, or Jay z said he is this or that…that makes more sense cuz you only know him from tv and what you may have read or heard anywhere.

SALONE: Really Bro..I have been following Jay-Z since I was 15 and I never heard him saying people should worship him or his music..Also,every music genre have his destrutive elements including gospel music.I dont have to watch Tv or go on youtube to know Jay-Z or what he is doing for his community ect..Honestly I don’t think you know Jay-Z,you may be feeding off hearsay or the internet..Try to know him before you destroy his character.

The President of the United States will put his reputation on line and ask for Jay-Z endorsment..The guy deserve the praise and let end all the speculations and rumors.

NAIJA: For the past 16 years or so before Biggie died I have known Jay’s music, when I heard that Brooklyn’s finest track by accident cuz it featured Biggie…matter fact I thought it was Biggie’s song. But anyways, it was afterwards they killed Biggie, and you may not know this…but Jay was a replacement of Biggie, everything was well planned, but am not gonna going into all that right now bro. When there was no more Pac and no more Biggie, I started listening to Jay-z and this is because he was well promoted by those worldly powerful people…you turn on your radio, you can bet to hear Jay z over and over again, getting millions of plays everywhere, your Tv also, the hip-hop music you’d see most is Jay z. After they killed 2pac and Jay-z, they made us believe Jay was the only great rapper out there after we lost our 2 hip-hop icons to those cowards. Jay is not the only musician that is involved in the underworld though, many others…both dead and living are also in it and their fame has to do with their level of power.

Then I started hearing hova in his blueprint album…who is hova, what does it mean many people and I myself was wondering…oh thats Jay, he is Jayhova! so I heard, but What? is he sick?

Now am a christian, and attended charismatic prayers a lot since a kid, so I know that much about my Jehovah Jireh (God provides), and Jehovah Rapha (God heals), and Jehovah Nissi (Him as our banner, willing to fight any battle for us, and give us victory), which is in Hebrew. So hearing that “jayhova” sh*t threw me off, and God revealed this to me that jay-z wants to be seen as God, I immediately rebuked that in the name of Jesus. Now Jay has dropped the name cos many religious people were offended by it, and he then later started saying “Hov”, and afterwards dropped that too, and then in 2003 i heard his lucifer song. What! are you kidding me? The beat was so nice that people were just rocking to it on full blast without paying attention to what he was saying, Jay is very coded. Why make a lucifer song? My reasonable doubt about Jay z started from his Blueprint album…even I remember my mother warning me to stop listening to such music cos she is a deep, spiritual, and God-fearing woman. Parents of nowadays will go to the store to buy destructive music for their kids….what a shame. Stop listening to Jay-z’s music bro, atleast be careful what you listen to and don’t get addicted to his music like many have.

SALONE: I understand bro.

NAIJA: Let me speak about Obama asking for Jay’s endorsement real quick. Although am not 100% certain yet, my instinct tells me Obama and Jay-z are somehow related through the secret society they are involved in. So I, and many others are not falling for none of that. Am sure you know every American president will never be in that position if not a member of some society, and this is no conspiracy theory cos they have to protect what the founding fathers of this country worked for. This is no rumor, and it makes sense.

End of Discussion & Debate. Leave your comments below.