Is The Business of Jay-Z Bad For Brooklyn?
Jay-Z has made a business of spreading hypnotic tales of his youth in Brooklyn. Set in Marcy Projects, the survival-of-the-fittest Darwinian story has been etched into the minds of fans worldwide. The association of Brooklyn with a downtrodden area is so strong that when Jay-Z says he wants to invest in a development project in Brooklyn, it many will see it as philanthropy, as opposed to just a business deal.
For the man whose built a following with his nuanced, introspective and intelligent lyrics, it would be fascinating to know how Jay-Z would rap about this if he was on the outside looking in. Would he justify the injustice? Would he reconcile the idea of business interests and community preservation? Would he lament the transformation of his hometown or boast about the Manhattanization of his former hood?
Many of his fans would say there are two sides to Jay-Z. The one who considers himself to evoke “the soul of Mumia” and the one who talks endlessly about his gilded status. The one who signs on to produce “Fela”, the Broadway production chronicling the life of Nigeria’s premier musical prodigy, and the one who raps “I’m like excuse me Ms. Fufu, but when I met your A$$ you was dead broke and naked, …”. In the end, the more popular and enduring image is the one guided by hip-hop’s consumerist culture.
“His hip-hop identity is as a business,” said Dr. Lester Spence, professor of political science and Africana studies at
Johns Hopkins University and author of the forthcoming book, “Stare in the Darkness: Rap, Hip-hop, and Black Politics.” “There’s this strong theme in rap music of MCs being hustlers, even the drug focus is on drug dealing as a business. So there are certain values that accrue to that which both contradict but also reaffirm the values of what we think of as modern day hip-hop.”
Spence describes the approach of many rappers as one synonymous with neo-liberal principles. “We take as common sense that market principles are the best principles not just for the pursuit of business in the free market but for organizing how cities work, how states work and how we’re supposed to work as individuals,” he said. “That’s where that term ‘[I’m not a businessman,] I am a business, man’ comes from,” Spence said referring to an oft-quoted Jay-Z lyric.
When it comes to Jay-Z, Spence says, his mix of entrepreneurial self-concern and Brooklyn fealty should be understood as the simple extension of his business, nothing personal. “What MCs end up using place for is to generate interest in themselves as a brand and to generate revenue for their own project,” he said. “To this extent, Jay-Z is not being contradictory when he invests in Brooklyn, even contrary to the wishes of Brooklynites, [nor] when he raps about Brooklyn and he lives in Manhattan.”
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was certainly unconcerned with geographic borders when it came to buying the Nets on May 12th of this year. He’s now the majority owner of the team and 45% owner of Barclays Center, making the project even more real for residents who hoped that it would have faltered on the heels of Ratner’s fiscal challenges. But with talk of Jay-Z’s friend, superstar basketball player Lebron James, possibly signing with the Nets, the hype continues to build and Jay-Z stands the chance of making his involvement more critical to the project.
“If they could wind this down and get Lebron James next next year, Jay-Z would be credited with that single handed decision and that would boost his portfolio in unimaginable ways,” said Olorunda. “As much as I think he deserves to be called out for [his support of the Atlantic Yards project] because it’s a writings on the wall kind of betrayal, I also understand that most people in his position wouldn’t turn that down because he’s just not doing it purely out of conviction. This is a strategic decision on his part.”
No matter how astute the decision may be, Spence hypothesizes that if Jay-Z is ever called to task by the opposition, he’d have a retort primed for the dais. “He would give you a story about how this project would aid Brooklyn and how it is the best idea for Brooklynites and those who don’t understand it are hating on him,” he said. “So then you’re left with both sides trying to fight for what Brooklyn should be about and you got one side with money power and respect and you got the other side with [protestors]. Which side wins out?”
Jay-Z or Bruce Ratner couldn’t be reached for comment.
