So before this case gets quickly swept out of court, it should be noted that the New York Observer is reporting that rap mogul Jay-Z is being sued for $5 billion for finding personal benefit financially from the AFRICAN FREAKIN’ SLAVE TRADE!!!
Alex Haley, conspicuous by his absence at the press announcement, was unavailiable for comment.
Brooklyn activist Clive Campbell is suing the artist, born Shawn Carter (but also known under such colorful pseudonymns as “Jigga”, “Young H.O.”, “Jay-Hova”, and my personal favorite, “The United Nations of this Rap Sh*t”) along with developer Bruce Ratner and Barclays bank seeking a “claim of lien” in property records that seeks the money from slavery reparations.
I don’t really know what that means.
Let me call in Rockworms.com legal correspondent Bridge Mandelbaum for an explanation. Bridge?
Hey Adam. Thanks for letting me help shine a little light on this matter. So really, all that the above text means is that this activist, Mr. Campbell, wants to seek the specified monies from an organization on behalf of the African-American community in an effort to gain reparations for their works in the founding of this nation. It won’t work and frankly, it is hella stupid.
Thanks Bridge!
Back to the story, Ratner, Barclays and the Jigga Man are in this mess because Campbell is perpetrating the long-standing claim that Barclays had links to the African Slave trade. The bank has denied this ad-nasium and frankly, wouldn’t mind if everybody stopped talking about it.
Oh yeah, the reason any of this is happening is because Jay-Z is a partial owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, he is helping build them a new arena, he called upon Ratner to help build, Ratner took charge of the development, Barclays bought the naming rights to the future arena and *VOILA*… they are are all connected to horrendous atrocities.
In the suit, Campbell claims that Jay and Ratner worked “in concert” with the bank and “profited from the African Slave Trade and continue to profit from these gains, through a conspiracy dating back hundreds of years and continue to date to oppress Black people, enslave them, unlawfully deport them to all corners of the Earth.” I learned from this that the phrase “African Slave Trade” is apparently a proper title and must be given all caps.
In all my years minutely and anally studying the legal system, this is one of the most embarassingly stupid suits I have ever seen. All that this does is make a joke out of the idea that the black community should receive reparations for the work of their ancestors.
And on top of that, even if Jay-Z IS a guilty party in the continued exploitation of the African-American people, can we really bring ourselves to condem the man who has taught us such valuable life lessons as “I’m young enough to know the right car to buy, but old enough to not put rims on it”, ” Genuine article I go, I do not sing though, I sling though, If anything, I bling yo,” and of course, “…I’m not a businessman. I’m a business…maaaannn…, lemme handle my business, damn.”
Wiser words have possibly never been spoken. Except Jesus. But he had a tele-prompter.
