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Fredric is a web developer based in Chicago who hopes to one day start a foundation to support young, Black males in programming and computer science.

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jay-z on pbs

November 16th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

hat tip to intelligent ignorance.

i’ve never been one to jump on the bandwagon when it comes to people claiming anyone as ‘the greatest ever’. i try my best to take the time and find out more about the situation and make my own judgements. while i’ve always regarded young hov as a top m.c., other artists like nas, common, and phonté (from little brother) speak to me more and have always held a high place in my adornment for ‘greatest ever’.

the one thing that this video interview did for me, however, is see a glimpse of sean carter, the man. i’ve always liked diddy and kanye because of what they’ve said outside of their records and i’ve never had a chance to hear jay speak…on anything. the video is about 55 minutes long, but is well worth it. he shows a glimpse of his inspiration (and what it means to be inspired) by the film american gangster. he speaks his mind about the imus situation, using the word nigga, and the expectations placed on him when he took over def jam.

one of my favorite sayings has always been that your greatest advantage is when people underestimate you. i underestimated the maturity of jay-z over the years and now have a new found respect for him, especially as a black man.

video below.

There Is 1 Response So Far. »

  1. Comment by Anjuan on 17 November 2007:

    I definitely respect his mind (even more than his celebrated flow). However, I wish he would translate his insights into his lyrical content more often. I can’t be the only one tired of hearing about “the hard knock life and how I managed to get rich and attract beautiful women”. I am not saying that every rhyme has to be social commentary, but let’s raise the bar a little bit.

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