Weeks after reports revealed Jay-Z may not own as much of the Brooklyn Nets as once believed, renowned political speaker Dr. Cornel West wants Young Hov to clean his slate.
Reports Sohh:
Reports of West’s need for Jay to be honest with his fans have circulated into the weekend.
Once again, folks are all up in Jay Z’s business over exactly how much of a stake he has in the Brooklyn Nets. Academic and activist Cornell West recently implored the rapper to disclose the financial facts. “Now I love Jay-Z, I’ve spent much time with the brother. He’s a lyrical genius. But we’ve got to tell him the truth. Tell the truth, Jay-Z. You tell the truth on ‘Reasonable Doubt’ in 1996, that’s what he started out with. He’s telling the truth, we love you negro. But we gon’ make sure you’re accountable too. All of us in this together, and I’m saying it out of love,” said West. (Atlanta Black Star)
Coincidentally, Jay reportedly took a jab at his haters and critics alike over his ownership percentage late last month.
During his third night of concerts at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Jay-Z took the time to speak to the crowd and address some recent criticism. In particular, he noted how newspapers have pointed out his minority ownership of the Brooklyn Nets. “Don’t let anybody diminish your accomplishments,” he said to the crowd. “It’s our motherf*cking time now.” He then told “every single person” to throw up their middle fingers and direct them at everyone who tried to hold them back before tearing through “99 Problems.” (Complex)
In August, New York Times reporter David Halbfinger discussed Jay’s resistance to get featured in a Brooklyn Nets feature.
“The first couple of calls I made was to try and see if Jay-Z would talk to us because that would take the story in a very friendly direction presumably. There are issues with doing that. The issue if you get an interview is how much do you allow the interview to shape the direction of your reporting? In this case his people said, “No way, no how!” In fact, they tried to shut the story down arguing that this is just a hype story and why don’t we wait until later when the arena is open. … It was very straightforward and exactly how the story turned out to be. … I also reminded them that I wrote the “American Gangster” piece. It’s very simple. He invested $1 million and that was out of a $300 million purchase price. That’s one-third of one percent, period. End of story.” (The Launch Magazine)
And now…the video.
And now…
This is EbenGregory.com…telling you I agree with Beyonce. Both times.
nelly owns a bigger part of the bobcats
POW!
What does it matter? The fact that you can place the title OWNER and Shawn Carter together is an accomplishment in tis self – “Clap for Him…HEYYY” How many of us can even say they have done a fraction of what this man has done? I’ll wait…
Peolple always want to find some ole BS to latch on to, to give confirmation for their HATING! Hell those are proably the same people that throw parties and toast to that 10 cent annual raise you just got at work, why cant he find glory in a MILLION $ move no matter the size? I didnt see anyone hating on Serena W. and JLO and all the others that owned a miniscule portion in Miami Dolphins…Hating for no damn reason!
Appearance versus Reality…nobody is hating on the Jigga-man here but,There is a clear difference between having an investment in a company and ownership.
Jay-z has been bragging on wax since Kingdom Come that he owns a ball team. Well the reality is this, he owns a fraction less than 1 PERCENT of the total share capital of the Nets. Until Jay-z owns at least 1 FULL PERCENTAGE SHARES in the NETS he cannot even claim to be a minority share holder owner in the business.Dr West is right to question the deception in your hero’s claim.No hate just facts!
Perception is reality….
It’s business. We all know that “the powers that be” aren’t really gonna let a black man get in on that good money. Outta say 120 professional teams blacks own less than 5 (don’t quote me on that. I’m talkin’ mlb, nfl, nba…we won’t even mention the nhl cause it’ll make things look uglier). Jay got some hush money to make the deal go through and the probably tossed him some “ownership” to make the deal look good. None the less, Jay right behind Diddy. Both well over 400 mill in net worth. I’m glad to see them make it. Hope they keep it and spread it to the next generation.
Title says this includes a video. I don’t see any video. Here is a person who loves to act like a big shot. Wants to think he is some kind of king.
All they did was give him a stage and provided the money he took it from there. Then gets mad when he is called out on it. Faker.
I was rushing and forgot to add. It’s there now though.
Jay-Z is a big shot. Nearly a half a million in big shots. And when you’re talking small investments in a third of a billion dollars, that return will be incredibly substantial–which leads to even greater investments. So…I’d get a bit upset when people who’ve never made this level of investment in their lives try to “diminish my success.”
Dr west has a valid point but since Jay-z is an icon a hip hop institution in his own right y’all simpletons don’t want to look at the issue with any objectivity.
The crux of the matter is this, the Nets needed to build a new stadium which involved relocating residents in Brooklyn. To avoid the acrimony with BK natives they recruited a local Icon to front it under the guise of black ownership. The stake that Jay owns is known as a non-controlling entity i.e. he has no executive power in the decision making.Thus we call it prime tokenism.
Cornell owns zero-thirds of zero percent of an NBA basketball team.
funny