Jay-Z, the hip hop and rapper mogul and star, had not released a music video for quite some time. Hence, no wonder why his new album 4:44 has garnered widespread attention. On the album is one song: The Story of O.J.
The new music video of the song, The Story of O.J., in which Jay-Z turns himself into a blackface cartoon, sends a charged civil rights and political message.Jay-Z, the hip hop and rapper mogul and star, had not released a music video for quite some time. Hence, no wonder why his new album 4:44 has garnered widespread attention. On the album is one song. The new music video of the song, The Story of O.J., in which Jay-Z turns himself into a blackface cartoon, sends a charged civil rights and political message.
The four minutes of black-and-white animation mimics blackface characters traditionally used by cartoonists of major entertainments companies to depict racist stereotypes of blacks.
The video has raised comments, some accusing Jay-Z himself of rousing racial tensions. Most music and entertainment specialis and artists, civil rights activists, and politicians have rejected the criticisms directed against Jay-Z and come to his defense.
Jay-Z, himself, explained what drove him to come up with the lyrics of The Story of O.J.. In a mini documentary, tilted Footnotes for The Story of O.J., released on Tidal on Monday, July 3, 2017, Jay-Z explained:
"O.J. would get to a space where he's like, 'I'm not black, I'm O.J.' Like Tiger Woods would get to a space and think, 'I'm above the culture. And that same person when he's playing golf and playing great, you're protected. When you're not, they're gonna put pictures of you drunk driving and, like, embarrass you. That world will eat you up and spit you out."
The Story of O.J. draws from another song, by famous Civil Rights activist and great soul diva, Nina Simone. Nina Simone's Four Women tells about the struggles and fate of four women, based on the color of their skin: black, yellow, tan, and brown.
Just after the start, The Story of O.J., with the background music of Nina Simone's Four Women, shows Jay-Z, rolling his eyes at one of O.J. Simpson 's most notorious alleged quotes, in the times when he was a football great, "O.J. like, 'I'm not black, I'm O.J.' ... Okay."
Jay-Z' The Story of O.J. and Nina Simone's Four Women: two stories to inspire and challenge lovers of music, civil rights activists, and the society.
To listen to the two songs, follow the link here and go to videos section or choose the video menu.
