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Jay-Z stopped bullsh*tting with Rap a long time ago. The Brooklyn mogul and Roc Nation have reportedly partnered up with the NFL—leading to a whole lot of questions and speculation.
According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the NFL is forming “an entertainment and social justice partnership” with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.
The partnership will include Jay-Z being involved in selecting the performer for the Super Bowl (as a co-producer) and various other NFL events and content. Hova famously turned down performing at the Super Bowl himself in 2019, and rapped about it on “Apesh*t” from The Carters album, with his wife Beyonce, Everything Is Love.
“I said no to the Super Bowl: You need me, I don’t need you. Every night we in the end zone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too,” he spit on the Pharrell Williams-produced single.
Apparently, the NFL surely decided to step to Jay-Z correctly for his services this time—likely in the form of a massive bag. The optics for the pro football league have been horrible, in certain circles, after Colin Kaepernick was effectively blackballed from the league after protesting racial injustice by kneeling during the National Anthem before games.
Aligning with Jay-Z reversing such trends is a stretch in the woke times, but it is surely a start. However, that’s a lot of racist team owners to contend with. Nevertheless, Jigga is in.
“The N.F.L. has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive,” Jay-Z told the New York Times. “They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”
Roc Nation and the NFL will reportedly make a formal announcement tomorrow (Wednesday, August 14). But will Kaepernick ever get a proper chance to play in the NFL again?
Twitter is already chiming in about this move. Peep some of the more potent banter below.
Jay-Z & Roc Nation Teams With NFL In Music & Social Justice Partnership, Twitter Has Questions was originally published on hiphopwired.com