“Please welcome my next guest, Jay-Z!”
To be honest, that was a phrase I didn’t think would ever mean a lot to me. Over the years, I have never been that into David Letterman’s talk show, but the few times I’ve watched, he featured high profile, high net-worth guests who don’t often look like myself. In his new Netflix series, the guests transcend the typical profile of his former guests and hit a new plateau, with names such as Barack Obama, George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai and Jay-Z. While I love all the others, Jay-Z’s appearance hit close to home for me. When I saw his name in a promotional video on Instagram, I lost it. And when Hov entered the stage, I felt this sense of joy that I don’t feel too often.
Growing up, I would hear Jay-Z on the radio and buy his CDs. He, as an artist and individual, symbolized hip-hop. His struggles of growing up impoverished in a fatherless household and resorting to illegal means to support himself and his family in their times of need were a part of that symbolism. His lyricism, poetic way with words, the double and triple entendres, all without writing a word down showed his genius.
Over the years, I became an increasingly enthusiastic Hov fanatic and appreciated his honesty with songs such as, “You Must Love Me,” “Song Cry” and “Where Have You Been?”. His story, while not identical to mine, was breathtakingly similar: same neighborhood, same dilemmas, same household structure, but most importantly, we looked the same. In one of his most popular songs, ”99 Problems,” he explores the relationship between black men and law enforcement, which revealed a reality of which I had no prior knowledge. In his music, I have heard Jay-Z mature and condemn various hip-hop trends that he has contributed to, which were and still are, deeply rooted in our community. The “Big Pimpin’” rapper has contributed to the strengthening of toxic masculinity within hip-hop, which he has condemned later in his career on songs such as “Kill Jay-Z” and “4:44.”
Hov’s story is an iconic one of hope, growth and understanding to all fans of hip-hop. His rise to success and prominent business career has always been one of inspiration and determination. When listening to past records and interviews, it is obvious he has been thinking of his master plan for quite some time; every thing he has accomplished, he set in stone years, maybe even decades, ago. Jay-Z’s story is not only a success story for hip-hop, but for us as well. He has encouraged millennials to seek ownership (your music, house, block, etc.) and to use his mistakes as a guide to shape our lives.
Although we may not have noticed it growing up, representation matters. At a young age, I recall believing I had no real talents because I was not artistic or athletic, because that’s where we see most black success stories. With Jay-Z’s interview on David Letterman, it brings happiness to know the kids of the next generation have something such as this at their fingertips. Jay-Z from the Marcy projects, who faced the world, but survived — and he looks just like you.
