The nightmare scene of Jay-Z shaking NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand and partnering with the oppressor keeps replaying in my mind like a nightmare happening repeatedly. Really? “Is he even trying to help Colin efforts or just siding with the NFL, or even more gut wrenching making this a business movement to further Roc Nation entertainment company. Nevertheless, when you make a statement like Jay-Z made… “We are moving beyond kneeling” That tell me when you are making a statement like that you are taking the focus off the underlying issues.
No! Jay-Z it started with kneeling. Therefore, you even had an opportunity to partner with the NFL. Wow, what a coincidence NFL announced that it would give Jay-Z company Roc Nation, absolute power in choosing the performers for the NFL’s coveted Super Bowl halftime show. Three years ago, he’d publicly criticized the treatment of Colin Kaepernick by the NFL who hasn’t had an NFL job ever since he kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. He also once said that he does not need the NFL. The NFL needs him. So, I just cannot understand why he did a 180 on his stance. The only thing I can come up with is greed. He saw an opportunity and moved on it like any businessman in his position would do.
Now that Jay-Z’s has given the NFL his blessing, it’s imaginable that many entertainers who distanced themselves from the NFL might have a change of heart. The NFL got exactly what it wanted from Jay-Z: guilt-free access to black entertainers, audiences, culture, influencers, and most of all money. Jay-Z advised the rapper Travis Scott, who performed with Levine because he would be playing “second fiddle”
Clearly Jay-Z’s support of Kaepernick was all a ploy to land the biggest contract of his career. why would Jay-Z waste any of his enormous social and cultural capital on the NFL when he said that he doesn’t need the NFL money, platform, validation, or resources. I get it, he is hip-hop’s first billionaire, so he really doesn’t need the money. I won’t question Jay-Z’s desire to empower African Americans commitment to social justice. I just question his motive in partnership with the NFL. So, why is Jay-Z helping the NFL Banish Colin Kaepernick?