Jigga And Me

So I never thought it would happen, Hip Hop and I on the same page, I sat in my ivory tower and I looked down on the over-sized posturing that seemed to be all Hip Hop music could offer me. I was proved wrong the other day as I read a news paper article on none other than Jay- Z, Jigga as he is often known to friends and fans alike - one of Rap's elite, the King some argue persuasively.

I was more than thrilled to read that Jay-Z had decided a boycott on the alcoholic beverage Cristal, known through the rap circuit and actually through the world as a whole, as the drink you imbibe when life is just that good - Rap Star good. The favorite swill of the rich and ostentatious, and as a result I am sure sales of this drink were sky high as it was purchased by the rich and the credit-card rich alike. So why on earth was it just OK for Cristal's managing director Frederic Rouzad to step all over the best free advertising any product has ever received in the history of product placement? Why was it just alright for him to disregard the countless millions who would of course read his comments and understand them for the racist epithets they were: "We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business." THEIR BUSINESS?! WHAT?!

I am not Mr Hip Hop obviously, but this is beyond a question of what lyrics one finds offensive, this has gone into the financial arena, and there is nothing more disconcerting, infuriating, rage-building, than hearing someone say, 'I dislike your self so much that even all your money could not change my mind.'

I am a fan of Jay-Z, I may know absolutely nothing about what his music is, but he has proven to me sufficiently that he knows what his power is and he can effect change. Like many of course he has his string of press-kit ready philantrophic pursuits, but through the attention his revolt against Cristal has received, the question then becomes, when will he decide to turn that power against 'the game' itself as they say. When will his evolution reach a level of promoting a face for Hip Hop that evolves the entire industry to a level of social and political awareness that reaches into the hearts of all his millions of fans, white (many there are I am sure) and black alike. Aside from Jigga vs. Cristal; when will it be Jigga vs. Negative stereotypes of women in media? Jigga vs. the hyper-masculinity syndrome? Jigga vs. violence? And I am not talking about writing a song that says violence is wrong, I am talking about serious action like his boycott, real world action.