Jay-Z’s comments about capitalism prompt social media debate

The mogul compares ‘capitalist’ to the N-word
Jay-Z's comments about capitalism prompt social media debate
Jay-Z (Photo credit: Bang Media)

Jay-Z has social media talking.

In the wake of receiving mass praise for his new four-minute verse on DJ Khaled‘s “GOD DID,” the hip-hop legend made a rare appearance on  Twitter Spaces for a talk with Khaled and other music industry figureheads. The verse opens with four of his artists or affiliates who have become billionaires: Himself, Ye, Rihanna and LeBron James. Jay-Z then describes how his success came from a past of dealing drugs to escape a childhood of poverty.


So as Jay-Z discussed the verse on Spaces, his point about capitalism made the rounds on social media afterward.

“When we start getting it, they tried to lock us out of it, they start inventing words like ‘capitalists,’ ” Jay-Z said.


The Oxford Dictionary defines a capitalist as “a wealthy person who uses money to invest in trade and industry for profit in accordance with the principles of capitalism.” The same dictionary defines capitalism as “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.”

In plain terms, the majority of American wealth is in the hands of 1% of the country’s residents, a very exclusive group.

What prompted the “eat the rich” phrase came as a result of the wealth gap between American billionaires and the average citizen, whose income was $84,352 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We’ve been called n—– and monkeys this year,” Jay-Z continued. “Those words y’all come up with, y’all have to come with stronger words. When I say y’all, I’m not talking about y’all. The words that they come up with, they have to come up with a stronger word. We’re not going to stop. We’re not going to be tricked out of our position.

“Y’all locked us out and created a system that doesn’t include us, and we said ‘Fine.’ We took an alternate route, we created music, we did our thing, we f—– killed ourselves to get to this space, and now it’s like, ‘Eat the rich.’ Man, we’re not stopping.”

One social media user, @alchem1st93, re-posted an old Tupac interview where he was discussing capitalism in response to Jay-Z’s comments.

“It’s too much money here,” Tupac said in the interview. “Nobody should be hitting the lottery for $36 million and we’ve got people starving in the streets. That is not ideal.”

Other users shared their thoughts, which included telling people they can’t become billionaires and how Malcolm X would’ve hated him.

https://twitter.com/borgposting/status/1565402845700132867?s=20&t=fBa38dRZdLuXbGCjzJckzA

https://twitter.com/iTerryTommy/status/1565188583597789185?s=20&t=xbYeqf1qi8kCOVNvFNvAVg

While Jay-Z was criticized by many, he also had a horde of supporters defending him, with some pointing out his activism efforts through organizations like REFORM Alliance and his various scholarship efforts.

Listen to Jay-Z’s full statement below.

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