Or... break the wheel.
Jay-Z Says There’s No Shame in Success, Compares Being Called ‘Capitalist’ to the N-Word
- Thread starter Joe Money
- Start date
Or... break the wheel.
The class war isnt being waged by the masses. Its being waged by the 1% ( really .01%). I agree with some of what you are saying but it gets tiring hearing people who point out the inequities of the system being labelled as engaging in a class war when the reality is the complete opposite.
Its like hearing talk of a coming race war as if slavery, colonialism and Jim Crow didnt happen. Like its only a war when others decide to fight back against their oppression. Race war been happening for hundreds of years.
The problem is that your question relies on the morality of the capitalist. That is a VERY risky gamble.
Some people use their wealth to give back to the community, but a lot more don't. You have others that try to give back, but don't know what the hell they're doing and end up making things worse.
Capitalism can be a force that improves lives in advances societies, but it also triggers greed, mankind's biggest weakness.
Capitalism needs to be heavily regulated. Something the United States has done a bad job of.
To replace it with what?
Hey you know what, some communities are literally built on capitalism. More then you might think.
Word. show me ONE wealthy or billionaire that hasn't done dirt or fucked folks over to gain said wealth
Are you capeing for the 1% ?
That's because we don't have a firm definition of what selling out even means.
IMO selling out means shutting the door on the people who helped you get to where you are. That includes your fans, your family, and anyone else behind the scenes.
It's okay to embrace another audience. Expand, evolve, experiment, collaborate, try different medias, etc. But are you still making music for the guy that bought your album out of the trunk back in the days?
It's great that you're playing stadiums, but now that you're famous are you willing to do a surprise pop up for that struggling dive bar owner who gave you your first break rapping in front of a 50 people?
That cousin who lent you their broke down car to get to a show. Now that you're rich are you willing to get them a new one?
Are you willing to make and provide opportunities for the other artists coming up the same way you did?
Do you know who you are and what you stand for? Do you have at least a few core values that you refuse to break no matter what?
I don't care if you're the corniest cat alive. If you maintain these kinds of standards you will never be a sellout. Even if I hate your guts.
What does that even mean though?
It's nearly impossible to become a successful entertainer, or even a working entertainer, unless you deal with corporations at some level.
If a small Independent record label wants to have national or international reach they need a distribution deal with a major media corporation. Any artist with radio play has worked with Clear Channel. If you've done a tour most likely it's been through Live Nation and most definitely had corporate sponsors. If you have a popular video most of your plays have gone through YouTube. Don't even get me started on any rapper that's appeared in a major motion picture or TV show.
A rapper that works for corporations is no different than the guy who works the assembly line at general motors. Their employer doesn't say anything about who they are as people or professionals. That part is up to them.
That's the frustrating part.
Once reparations are given it will likely be the biggest wealth redistribution in American history. It would help black people pay off debts, buy homes, start businesses, and a do a million other things that would enrich every single American no matter what their background.
Best of all, if you're a white activist fighting for wealth redistribution, reparations gives you a perfect moral argument for your cause. Especially since a lot of the wealth you're trying to redistribute was earned before 1865.
Any CAC who fights for redistribution without reparations is not only a false ally, they have no clue how to seize an opportunity. That lack of vision will kill a movement.
Elon Musk
he already got his pussy hat stowed from when he was on the verge of losing that Bey bag… that nigga jigga will be wearin a maga hat soon enough. he ain’t sayin shit different from “CoonYe” as a lot of niggas call his bff lol
When has Jay NOT been self styled as the rap capitalist “god”?
When has Jay NOT been self styled as the rap capitalist “god”?
You fundamentally misunderstand everything there is to understand about capitalism
the “fruits“ as you like so many before you call what are actually the “spoils of war” are by capitalist definition NEVER YOUR LABOR
in other words, your fruit is only “yours” by forcing others to labor for your benefit.
who you choose to call “your people/community” and then with those ill gotten gains “build up” is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT. because “your fruits” are still the spoils of war — you forcing those you have made “others” to labor
somebody else probably already broke all this down in the thread - and certainly it has been broken down for hundreds of thousands of years before my dumb ass decided to post this here
Nah he has. You can't become a billionaire without exploiting the working class. The people making these cars aren't getting paid in comparison to their labor.
Fuck outta here lol
Did you forget that Jay has ALWAYS talked that capitalist shit. He has been the same dude from day 1 and never said he was anything else.
Being a drug dealer is true capitalism and he took full advantage.
If he would have gotten locked up instead of becoming a billionaire, yall would have said he was the realest nigga ever.
Nah I wouldn't
FantasyWheel™
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I've seen it time and time again. The loudest, so-called down, the system is unfair people do a 180 as soon as some serious coins get added to their bank accounts.
I mean yeah thats why to the ppl that define that as selling out they seen that hip hop as a whole was sold to corporate interests a long time ago, theres ppl that see that for every subculture that becomes mainstream culture basically
If it wasn't for corporate interests and mainstream acceptance hip hop would have died decades ago.
Things might have been more real in the era where rapper were only playing for the love, but long term that's not sustainable.
As these rappers get older most of them start reapplying that love and inspiration to go to college, advance their careers, or start families. Something more substantial than respect on stage or the streets.
If your music isn't paying the bills you have to spend 40 plus hours at a job that does. Without that corporate profit and motive rappers never would have had the opportunity to grow and expand the art form.
On the other hand, when you have rappers who make a decent living off of their craft it inspires the younger generation to pursue their own passion for it.
Being from Canada I've seen first-hand what happens when you little to no corporate intervention in the hip hop scene (not including Drake, he's after my time). You wind up with a rats nest of talented MCs fighting each other for a 15-minute set at a dive bar. Rappers who can almost fill a stadium in their own hometown, but have to beg for gas money halfway through a national tour. Folks who can have the number one music video in the country (not just biggest rap video either). You run into them a year later and they're laying tile for a living because the music didn't pay them enough to feed their child.
Corporate intervention might be evil, but it's a necessary evil
How can you be sure that it would've died completely? Even go go music is still around just regional, so perhaps it could've stayed regional and would that be the worst thing? Maybe the early ppl involved in the culture could've built their own independent economy without involving corporate interests which is another possibility?
What you’re saying is generally true for most music artists anyway, including the majority of rappers today. They don’t make a living from it.
I disagree with this part. Economic power is why the Jews,Asians, and Gays have more power and influence than us in the US. Despite us doing the heavy lifting when it comes to organized protesting, these groups wield more power and influence because they have leveraged economics better.
Please list the people Jay Z “backstabbed” to get to the top.
This here.
My point is that instead of fighting against the “1%” for being wealthy, our efforts are better spent focusing on improving our economics. Primarily receiving the Reparations due. CACs putting Reperations on the back burner impede our collective progress than any Black billionaire.
Absent a few exceptions, compensation is not based on how hard you work. Compensation is based on the money you generate and the difficulty in replacing you.
Suppose you're right and hip Hop stays regional and corporate free. It's a niche culture that only exists on the Eastern seaboard.
Now you have no Dre, pac, Kanye, Eminem or OutKast. Most of the rappers who pushed the art forward would have never known to pick up a microphone in the first place. Groups like Whodini that signed a foreign labels never would have existed either.
Considering some of the terrible one-sided deals that a lot of early rappers signed I really have to question how well this independent economy would have worked. Especially since most rappers didn't have the resources to get something like this off the ground in the first place.
At least gogo musicians had other lanes to make music. If you're a keyboardist who can't find a go-go gig you can still play for a funk band, rock band, R&B group, etc. All else fails you can teach.
Most rappers don't have those options, especially back in the day when most people outside the culture didn't even consider rap to be music.
That's because the music industry has way more applicants than jobs. Even those who get the jobs rarely have a clear path for advancement or lasting success.
However, without corporate intervention a lot of those jobs wouldn't exist in the first place.
Who said it would’ve stayed local? Word of mouth is a motherfucker and certain movements can’t be denied especially if it’s entertaining and fun.. once someone would’ve figured out how to generate money from it others would’ve followed.. the dressing styles, the graffiti, the whole breakdancing movement, the beats, the rhymes and flows would’ve definitely eventually been expanded to other regions.. 40 yrs later and people still can breakdance in nyc in tourist/ cac areas and white people are overwhelmed and astonished by the skill set and be dropping money for that entertainment
This was meant to be a "what if" scenario where hip hop stays local and corporate interests never get involved.
Personally I think that scenario is very unlikely. Especially considering the time, place, and manner that hip-hop came up.
It was a time when the music industry took a huge dive. Disco was on its death bed and most of the rock bands weren't selling anywhere near what they did in the early seventies.
Record companies were desperate to find the next "big thing", especially if it didn't cost a lot to make. Hip Hop was perfect!
First you got a bunch of artists who are broke as hell so you don't really have to offer them that much. They're already living in the densest region of the United States which saves a lot of money and leg work for promotion. Shows are cheap because the only music equipment you have to manage is two turntables, a mixer, and a few microphones. You never have to worry about replacing a guitar string or drum skin in the middle of a set.
There was no way that corporate wasn't getting involved in this!
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