Jay Z has come under fire on social media from numerous users who have accused the rap mogul of employing anti-Semitic stereotypes on a song off of his latest album, 4:44.
On the song “The Story of O.J,” the Grammy-winner raps: “You wanna know what’s more important than throwin’ away money at a strip club? Credit. You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This how they did it/Financial freedom my only hope/F— livin’ rich and dyin’ broke.”
Those lyrics received harsh reaction from some Twitter users.
While the 47-year-old rapper has yet to respond to the backlash over his lyrics, music manager Guy Oseary has rushed to Jay Z’s defense.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Oseary, who works with major music acts from Madonna to U2, said “If you read the lyrics out of context I can understand why people are jumping to that conclusion.”
“But if you listen to the song in its entirety you will hear that the whole of the song is based on exaggerated stereotypes to make a point,” Oseary wrote. “There are African American stereotypes throughout the song.”
“In my opinion, Jay is giving the Jewish community a compliment,” “‘Financial freedom. He mentions as being his ONLY hope. If you had to pick a community as an example of making wise financial decisions achieving financial freedom who would you choose? I’m not offended by these lyrics,” Oseary explained. “I hear them the way he intended them to be heard. Giving ‘credit’ to a community that supposedly understands what it means to have ‘credit.’ I’m good with that.”
Explaining the meaning behind the lyrics on his 13th studio album, Jay Z said “The Story of O.J” is “really a song about we as a culture, having a plan, how we’re gonna push this forward. We all make money, and then we all lose money, as artists especially. But how, when you have some type of success, to transform that into something bigger.”
“The Story of OJ” wasn’t the only track on the rapper’s album to makes waves online. On the third track, “Smile,” Jay’s mother Gloria Carter came out as lesbian.
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