JAY-Z summary

Countless rappers have made their money by making music with shallow lyrics that appeal to the broadest possible base of hip-hop fans, from fraternities to block parties. Others, like Talib Kweli and Common, have chosen to prioritize the message they want to communicate, making music that matters but doesn’t necessarily reach the charts. JAY-Z’s career is remarkable because he has managed to do both. 

He makes a lot of music on themes which are run-of-the-mill in hip-hop albums, like fast cars and booty and parties. But then he slips in songs that offer him the space to reflect on deeper social issues.

Hip-hop artists are not usually thought of as poets. JAY-Z’s name is not placed alongside Wordsworth’s or Shakespeare’s on lists of the greatest bards in our history. However, that is due to shortcomings in the way that most people listen to his work, rather than a shortage of talent on his part. 

JAY-Z is a master of language with considerable intellectual gifts. If you listen closely to his lyrics, you’ll hear that he uses complex metaphors and wordplay to communicate politically astute messages and make insightful social commentary. 

In the song “Guns and Roses,” Jay-Z describes himself as being like Michaelangelo, with his lyrics “paint[ing] pictures with poems.” That line is representative of how JAY-Z repeatedly compares himself to other artists and seeks inspiration in their work.

Including references to visual artists and artworks in his songs is an unusual and subversive move for a hip-hop artist. He is explicitly laying claim to the title of fine artist. Furthermore, he is challenging the idea of hip-hop as being something that belongs “on the streets,” and showing that it can have a home inside an art institution as well. 

By now, we’re used to seeing celebrities make impassioned statements about social justice. It’s less usual to see them actually backing up those statements with concrete actions.

JAY-Z is notable for fighting for social justice through a variety of channels. 

There are many ways to fight for social justice. Public protest is a very important way to call attention to social ills. For example, American footballer Colin Kaepernick’s now-famous protest involved “taking the knee” during the singing of the national anthem at football games run by the NFL in order to protest police brutality. 

Though outspokenly supportive of Kaepernick, JAY-Z seemed to backtrack on that support by accepting an offer to advise the NFL on their live music programming and engagement with issues of social justice. 

In 2016, Beyoncé released her seminal album, Lemonade. It is a searing account of what it was like for her to experience the uncertainty and paranoia of being cheated on by her partner. In one video, she triumphantly marches along the street, smashing everything she can see with a baseball bat, seemingly reveling in the destruction. 

Beyoncé doesn’t explicitly name JAY-Z as the culprit or claim the album as autobiographical, but there is enough innuendo for the listener to put the pieces together. The couple have always kept their relationship private, so this amounted to a shockingly public revelation. It also had broader political implications, forming a war cry against the mistreatment of women in a misogynistic culture.