海角大神

Author, professor, and political pundit Michael Eric Dyson has made a career out of contextualizing the struggles of Black America. With his latest work, 鈥淛ay-Z: Made in America,鈥� he continues to unpack the catalysts and consequences of black creativity, power, and wealth. His exploration of how Jay-Z 鈥� a seasoned artist with more than 20 Grammy awards 鈥� has changed hip-hop and elevated social causes also reinforces that black history is American history.聽

Dyson, who has taught about the rapper for years at Georgetown University, argues that the U.S. wouldn鈥檛 be the same without Shawn Carter: 鈥淚n many ways, this is JAY-Z鈥檚 America as much as it is Obama鈥檚 America, or Trump鈥檚 America, or Martin Luther King鈥檚 America, or Nancy Pelosi鈥檚 America, or Maxine Waters鈥檚 America, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez鈥檚 America. JAY-Z has given this country a language to speak with, ideas to think through, and words to live by.鈥�

Jay-Z鈥檚 rise to fame is a fabled one: As a young drug dealer, he used his gift of rhyme to escape the treacherous projects in Brooklyn and become the first billionaire hip-hop artist. His career has had euphoric highs and gritty lows, and has inspired his art. Jay-Z, Dyson says, 鈥渃an describe street hustling with an artistic verve that is every bit as beautiful and poignant as that of the best canon poets.鈥� Despite accusations of Jay-Z鈥檚 allegiance to capitalism over the plight of black Americans (his recent NFL deal fueled this notion), Dyson makes it clear that the artist鈥檚 politicized nature is evidenced in the music itself.聽

The author uses Jay-Z鈥檚 own words to underscore his social awareness, from the harrowing traumas of slavery in the 2013 song 鈥淥ceans鈥� to lyrics about systemic oppression and gentrification on Meek Mill鈥檚 2018 track 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Free.鈥� As Dyson points out, the earlier 鈥淒ope Man,鈥� from 1999, decries racism for hindering black youth: 鈥淏ut my mind was strong / I grew where you hold your blacks up / Trap us, expect us not to pick gats [guns] up / Where you drop your cracks [drugs] off by the Mack trucks / Destroy our dreams of lawyers and actors / Keep us spiralin鈥�, goin鈥� backwards.鈥�

Other endeavors, like the Shawn Carter Foundation, the investment in prison reform efforts, and donations to the families of victims of police brutality, also show Jay-Z鈥檚 resolve to help the black community. But ultimately, his rebellion started on the page 鈥� and Dyson is the perfect chronicler of its permanence.