What kind of crazy fucked-up world do we live in where a rapper has more gravitas and self-control than the President of the United States?
One in which the culture is driven by African-Americans and elder white people want to jet back to a past that never even existed in the first place.
Donald Trump is sowing the seeds of discontent. He's speaking to his base. The same people he addressed when the football players took a knee. Forget that Trump couldn't understand that it wasn't about the flag but the rights of African-Americans, the "Wall Street Journal" scraped the data and found out that the protests had nothing to do with the reduction in NFL viewing. Proving that Trump's base...just cannot stop watching football.
And they just cannot stop listening to hip-hop and watching the NBA.
Trump's 71, he missed the memo. It's hip-hop that dominates, it's the NBA that is growing in leaps and bounds. But you'd expect this from a doofus who does not read and gets all his information from the biased Fox News.
That's right you right wing nitwits, I'm slinging it straight. If you don't think Fox is biased, that's all you watch. And if you don't read the "New York Times" I feel sorry for you. Forget the politics, it's the number one news/information-gathering organization in America. Most of what you know comes from it. Come on, you're surfing the web and you have to rely on the NYT to break the story of fake followers? Even Hilary Rosen, the grand dame of the RIAA? But that's the world we live in, where "team players" denigrate all that they do not agree with delineating the rest as fake when the truth is anything but.
And the truth is life is a struggle. Especially for African-Americans.
As for Trump's tweet about African-American employment rates... That does not include all the black men in jail, those out of the workforce entirely, never mind the big drop was under Obama. Talk about fake news. Why is it no one can go beneath the surface.
And the fascinating thing is Jay Z doesn't shirk controversy, he's willing to lay it on the line, his truth, when too many other musicians are worried about pissing off a potential audience member. Hell, this makes me feel even BETTER about Jay Z, he's not only an entertainer, but a man of meaning! We need more beacons, we need more truth. And right now you get it most in hip-hop. Sure, there's glorification of rich lifestyles and drugs, but there's also explications of depression and romance and life...it's all there, but Trump isn't listening.
But his kids are.
Hell, let's get Barron's playlist. Ivanka's. His sons Uday and Qusay.
This is the greatest fight of our lifetime. It encompasses so much.
First and foremost, globalization. It's here. Own it. Yes, too many people have been left behind in the march forward, but we cannot turn back, it will only be to the individual's detriment.
Second, income inequality. We've been lionizing the rich for far too long, as the job-creators, as know-it-alls when the truth is they're just rich. Who is looking out for the rest of us? Used to be the Democrats, then it wasn't, and that's how they lost power. There's more of us than them.
Third, privacy and individual rights. By time Trump and his cronies get through bringing down the press and the FBI their legion will believe in nothing but their own bizarre rhetoric, trusting no one in the process.
But never forget, the most trusted people in the world are entertainers.
That's why corporations tie up with them for endorsements. Sure, Bob Dole did a deal with Viagra, but politicians are rarely used in commercials, because no one believes them, no one follows them, no one wants to be like them.
But they want to be like Jay Z.
You become a legend when you're more than an entertainer, when you stand for something, when people believe in you. Olivia Newton-John had a string of hits, but she ain't no legend, Jay Z is.
And it's funny to watch this movie. One in which the older generation, mostly white folk, denigrate hip-hop and their progeny are addicted to the sound and the story.
That's where they get the news.
And Jay Z just dropped a bomb on Trump.
And the President responded with a whimper, he doesn't even know what the war is about.
It's about you and me folks. Fighting for the right for everybody to live a full and happy life with dreams.
The old white people want to keep you down.
But the African-Americans want to lift you up. After centuries of oppression they still maintain their optimism.
And if that ain't an inspiration, I don't know what is.
"Jay Z thinks Trump is 'in pain.' The President responded by bragging about helping black people.":
wapo.st/2rKBMRH--
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