Jay-Z: Maoist?

[Janine Melnitz]

No. No, probably not.

But his jacket sure is (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVA-xTBeHyM&fmt=18) (2:52)

In a much, much better song than that, he of course claimed to be "Like Che Guevara with bling on", which is (accidentally) a very apt statement on "radical chic" in the entertainment industry.

Personally I'm a little skeptical about the value of hand-wringing over "recuperation" and whatnot -- if revolutionary slogans etc. are popular enough that capitalists think they can make a buck off them, that's probably a good sign. What do y'all think?

[gorillafuck]

I knew Che Guevara was a popular face for rebellion but I wouldn't expect a hip hop star to be sporting a picture of Mao.

[scarletghoul]

Yeah this is great, especially because it has Rihanna in too, who is awesome. <3 <3 <3

edit: it wouldn't be that surprising if he did have Maoist sympathies. Its not uncommon among politically concious black americans like him, due to the legacy of the Black Panthers.

[Janine Melnitz]

Huh -- I guess I never thought of Jay as all that politically-conscious, but I also haven't really followed him too closely, so maybe you're right

[RHIZOMES]

Huh -- I guess I never thought of Jay as all that politically-conscious, but I also haven't really followed him too closely, so maybe you're right

A lot of the most famous rappers have some low but higher than average levels of political consciousness and they end up betraying it.

[scarletghoul]

In a much, much better song than that, he of course claimed to be "Like Che Guevara with bling on", which is (accidentally) a very apt statement on "radical chic" in the entertainment industry.
Are you sure it was accidental?

[Andrei Kuznetsov]

We Kasamies had a big conversation about that on our blog, right here:
http://mikeely.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/jay-z-cameos-mao/
Check out the comments- the dialogue gets interesting.

Here's the article we were talking about:

Jay-Z a Maoist?

Jay-Z’s new video features Kanye West, Rihanna, and Mao Zedong

By Joshua Errett (from Now Magazine (http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=170956))

Wait a second. Does Chairman Mao Zedong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong) make an appearance in the new Jay-Z video (http://nahright.com/news/2009/08/20/video-jay-z-feat-rihanna-kanye-west-run-this-town/)?

Um, looks like it.

Run This Town is the second single of Jay-Z’s upcoming 11th studio album, the soon-to-be blockbuster Blueprint 3 (slated to be released September 11). It features Rihanna on the hook and an admittedly masterful verse by Kanye West, who produced the song.

In the just-leaked video, there is also a quick cameo by Chairman Mao (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/images/mao-propaganda-poster.png), seen as a black-and-white print on the back of a leather jacket at around the 2:54 mark.

Mr. Z often plays with communist references, some of which are commonplace in rap (bourgeois, or “bougie,” plays on the overused get money motif) and some of which are unique (his line “I’m like Che Guevara with bling on, I’m complex” is famous among fans).

But using Mao imagery might be a first, as well as controversial for obvious reasons.

Maoism is blamed in no small part for the deaths of millions, in China and neighbouring Asian countries (Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge were extreme Maoists, and also extremely genocidal). It’s fairly safe to say that in the still Communist-panicked U.S. (have you seen those town halls?), Mao is seen as a villain, without much nuance.

Mao’s Little Red Book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotations_from_Chairman_Mao_Zedong) is still widely available all over the world, but is generally bought for the kitsch factor. In Beijing, it’s relegated to a tourism trinket, and less often, a source of ironic humour among young Chinese.
But the Run This Town video does not evoke much irony or kitsch, at least on a surface level. It appears as a straightforward statement, albeit probably a fashion statement than anything else.

Jay-Z ran into mild controversy with international symbols in a video for Blue Magic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiuNd5SoU8E), off his last album American Gangster. In that video, he’s seen flinging around Euros instead of the more traditional American greenbacks. Newspaper columnists and reactionaries derided the rapper for devaluing their dollar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7097736.stm). Ridiculously so, but still.

After that, there’s no way the multimillion dollar rapper, former music industry head and all-around savvy entrepreneur would accidentally place Mao in his video.

Director Anthony Mandler says he plays with rebellion in the video, telling MTV (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1619084/20090819/jay_z.jhtml), “We live in a very orderly society in America, but when you get into Brazil, you get into the Middle East, you get into Africa, you get into Eastern Europe, when you get into places like that, there’s a different sort of ‘we run this town’ [going on]. There’s less order and more chaos.”

But Mao is only only specific reference to a world leader in the entire clip.
With the aforementioned frantic (and crazy) debates about Communism (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/12/town-hall-highlights-prot_n_257786.html) in town halls across the country, is this the right time for Jay-Z to be flashing iconic images of Mao?

[Janine Melnitz]

In a much, much better song than that, he of course claimed to be "Like Che Guevara with bling on", which is (accidentally) a very apt statement on "radical chic" in the entertainment industry.
Are you sure it was accidental?
Not completely, no, but I'll defend to the death my assertion that "Run This Town" kind of sucks

[Black Cross]

^^^ Just like Kanye West, and Jay Z for the most part. Fuckin commercial rap.

[scarletghoul]

Pfft, fuck off. They are talented rappers who make good music.

[Janine Melnitz]

Yeah, Jay-Z's really really good at what he does, and I have some time for Kanye. I just thought the production on this particular song was weak as hell

[Muzk]

A lot of the most famous rappers have some low but higher than average levels of political consciousness and they end up betraying it.



I've seen a video about a guy who became super rich. His home was made of pure gold. In the interview he said, 'I see myself as the good guy - I collect lots of money and then use it to eliminate poverty!'



Wish I remembered his name

[LOLseph Stalin]

I've seen a video about a guy who became super rich. His home was made of pure gold. In the interview he said, 'I see myself as the good guy - I collect lots of money and then use it to eliminate poverty!'



Wish I remembered his name

Sounds like a dirty pig to me. He's a true savior. There's totally no poverty because of him. :rolleyes:

[punisa]

Saw him with Beyonce the other night, walked pass by me surrounded by gorilla guards.
Everything about those two screamed "RICH n FAMOUS".
I'd forbbid those people to wear anything that is related to socialist struggle.

[An archist]

Yeah, Jay-Z's really really good at what he does, and I have some time for Kanye. I just thought the production on this particular song was weak as hell

The video is really cool though:D

Anyway, of course we don't know exactly why he put a picture of mao in the clip, but I think it's mostly done for shock value and because the whole video is about revolutionary coolness, lots of people with black bandanas, torches and molotovs and that stuff, it just fits the theme of the video and it isn't cliché guevara again.

[scarletghoul]

Yeah, Mao is an icon of rebellion and the rise of the underdogs

[Radical]

I'm suprized Bill O' Reilly diden't pick up on it and start accusing Jay Z of being a Communist

[Janine Melnitz]

I'm suprized Bill O' Reilly diden't pick up on it and start accusing Jay Z of being a Communist
Too soon is all. Wait for it...

[mykittyhasaboner]

Poor song in my opinion, then again it seems like typical "hip-hop" stuff that gets churned out like crazy, so it's expected.

So he's wearing a jacket with Mao on the back, big deal. Until he starts writing songs like Dead Prez, The Coup, Immortal Technique etc etc that have some kind of political influence, he's just a poser if you ask me.

[Madvillainy]

Poor song in my opinion, then again it seems like typical "hip-hop" stuff that gets churned out like crazy, so it's expected.

So he's wearing a jacket with Mao on the back, big deal. Until he starts writing songs like Dead Prez, The Coup, Immortal Technique etc etc that have some kind of political influence, he's just a poser if you ask me.

Yeah because Immortal Technique isn't a poser. :rolleyes:

[Revy]

The lyrics sucked (well except for Rihanna's lyrics) but I liked the video. The lyrics were not about revolution, but the video had that kind of quality. Although they seemed more like anarchists than Maoists.

But Jay-Z is not "Maoist" anymore than Cameron Diaz (http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2007/specials/yearend/scandals/cameron_diaz.jpg) who wore a Maoist slogan (in Chinese) on her handbag, or Fall Out Boy (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1595194/20080918/fall_out_boy.jhtml), who have referenced Mao as well.

[scarletghoul]

There is the kinda anarchic side to Maoism of the cultural revolution and stuff.

[mykittyhasaboner]

Yeah because Immortal Technique isn't a poser. :rolleyes:That wasn't really central to what I was saying. Immortal Technique is more of a political rapper so I used him as an example, I don't even listen to him. The point is Jay-Z wearing a jacket with Mao on the back is really stupid because he isn't a Marxist or anything like that.

[Revy]

are they saying "ew" after he says "I got a banquet full of broads, they got a table full of fellas".

A lot of lyrics I read say it as "yeah" instead of "ew" or omit it although it sounds a lot like "ew " to me.

a commenter over at Kasama said that Jay-Z was making a cheap shot at homosexuality.

and then you have Kanye West who says "when everybody on your dick, no homo". "No homo" of course being what is added to something that sounds gay to say that you're not gay (although a lot of comments to the video are homophobic toward him).

perhaps the most important insight everyone is making from Jay-Z's lyrics is that he's a Freemason! and that the song is about the New World Order :rolleyes:

[Madvillainy]

are they saying "ew" after he says "I got a banquet full of broads, they got a table full of fellas".

A lot of lyrics I read say it as "yeah" instead of "ew" or omit it although it sounds a lot like "ew " to me.

and then you have Kanye West who says "when everybody on your dick, no homo". "No homo" of course being what is added to something that sounds gay to say that you're not gay (although a lot of comments to the video are homophobic toward him).


I'm positive they are saying 'yeah' and not 'ew', but I wouldn't be surprised he does have a huge selection of homophobic lyrics.

I was surprised by the Kanye west part though since I've heard him saying he wanted to eradicate the word faggot from hiphop and that he had a gay cousin or something. A bit disappointing.

The song is pretty shit anywayz.

[Janine Melnitz]

I was surprised by the Kanye west part though since I've heard him saying he wanted to eradicate the word faggot from hiphop and that he had a gay cousin or something.
Yeah which is why he's one of the favorite targets for hip hop fandom's recent love affair with paranoid theories about why this or that big-time rapper is a "faggot" (not just as a casual insult -- rather intriguingly intricate fantasies are floating around to support these accusations) and therefore not to be listened to

It's a rough fucking scene

[Plagueround]

I'm going with Bob Dylan on this one, who once said that if hearing a song in a commercial made even one person get into an artist, it's a good thing. In the same vein, if a single person discovers revolutionary politics because of this (no matter how unlikely that may be), it's a good thing and it doesn't matter what Jay-Z's intent was.

[Искра]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8txhtB2e5M
Still better then anything you mentioned :)

[bailey_187]

Yeah because Immortal Technique isn't a poser. :rolleyes:

blud u have MF Doom/Madlib in your pic. do u really enjoy those boring monotone super duper metaphors?

[bailey_187]

Dead prez say they (dont know which one) "studied Chairman Mao" in this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peU7fCMDo6Q

[Искра]

Dead Prez are "black nationalists", but i think that scarletghoul (http://www.revleft.com/vb/../member.php?u=18456) explained you pretty well why there a Mao in "Black nationalism" - because of Black Panthers
Dead Prez are ok, but their ideology sucks... I think that they are Rastas

[Madvillainy]

blud u have MF Doom/Madlib in your pic. do u really enjoy those boring monotone super duper metaphors?

Indeed I do. Plus his mask is super cool.

[StalinFanboy]

It sounds like they are saying "daaaaamn" not yeah or ew. But "yeah" makes more sense than "ew" since those are dis lines.

[ComradeOm]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8txhtB2e5M
Still better then anything you mentioned :)Is it just me or does she mention Gary Neville at 2:45+? Odd to hear him mentioned alongside Bush and Blair :lol:

[Orange Juche]

Dead Prez are ok, but their ideology sucks...

I really don't know what to think of them. I do like a number of their songs. But some of it is just makes them look incredibly ignorant.

Take these lyrics from "They Schools:"


Students fight the teachers and get took away in handcuffs,
And if that wasn't enough,
then they expel y'all

Come on, really?

[mannetje]

he's a capitalist, and more he isn't.

[bailey_187]

Dead Prez are "black nationalists", but i think that scarletghoul (http://www.revleft.com/vb/../member.php?u=18456) explained you pretty well why there a Mao in "Black nationalism" - because of Black Panthers
Dead Prez are ok, but their ideology sucks... I think that they are Rastas

they arent Rastas. were would u get that from?

"I beleive man made god, out of ignorence and fear" from propaganda.

Black Nationalism doesnt "suck". its a progressive movement.

[scarletghoul]

Kasama had a cool article on "no homo" and homophobia in hip-hop. Worth reading

http://mikeely.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/no-homo-hip-hop-and-homophobia/

[bailey_187]

Kasama had a cool article on "no homo" and homophobia in hip-hop. Worth reading

http://mikeely.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/no-homo-hip-hop-and-homophobia/

lol i havnt heard any say no homo for ages now

the new word (for that thing, and im not condoning it) is "pause"

fuck knows how "no homo" turned into "pause"

also couple man were saying "no scromo" for a while. thank fuck that didnt catch on.

[Искра]

they arent Rastas. were would u get that from?
from their songs, from motives they use etc. vegetarianism, ganja thing, red, gold and green, and Black Nationalism....

Nationalism and progress together are an oxymoron.

[bailey_187]

from their songs, from motives they use etc. vegetarianism, ganja thing, red, gold and green, and Black Nationalism....

But they dont worship Rastafari/Hailie Salasie or whatever....

[bailey_187]

Nationalism and progress together are an oxymoron.

silly anarchist.

[Искра]

silly anarchist.
Why? Because to me class is more important than nation? Or because I find nationalism reactionary?

[Delenda Carthago]

Yeah because Immortal Technique isn't a poser. :rolleyes:

He is not a poser i think.I ve seen videos of him talkin in his hood about revolution...It seems honest to me.

[brigadista]

nah ... hes a millionn/bilionniare..