The question has always been asked “What If…” and the answer is “Jay-Z.”

Jay-Z has become the only artist that has allowed his growth to be caught on record. There were no voids where Jay grew and we didn’t see it. Jay-Z has always been in the spotlight. So as he matured, so did his music. And now he’s at a point where we have witnessed his growth into a successful black man with more money than you can shake a stick at.

There are two lines in “30 Something” that encompasses the “grown up” part of Jay-Z…

“I don't buy out the bar, I bought the nightspot”

And…

“Young enough to know the right car to buy/Yet grown enough not to put rims on it…”

The former is about just being flat out rich. Nothing more, nothing less. Jay-Z has more money than you (or he) has ever thought of and can now do things that were out of Hip-Hop’s collective reach. Instead of purchasing from someone, wouldn’t it be better to own it? It's as simple as “why buy a drink for ‘x’ amount of dollars when I can own the club that has the bar that sells drinks for ‘x’ amount of dollars?” The math is so simple, yet so complex. Many of us love basketball, so why not own a team? Jay-Z did it, now you see how many others have followed in his footsteps. But wait…don’t you need “good credit and such” to own a team?

The latter is about knowledge of wealth. As simple as the line is perceived to be, it speaks in volumes about Hip Hop culture today. Excess, materialism, etc. Jay-Z understands that rims look nice but have no added value for a vehicle and thus can be disposable. But how many of us understand that? I mean seriously…how many of us understand that owning a house is far more important than having a Dodge Magnum on 24’s? Rather ironic that we are entrenched in a culture so obsess with money yet has no idea what to do once we have it.

But in a consumer driven economy, the truth is that we are supposed to like rims and spend our hard earned dollars on bullshit. We’ve all been through it one way or another. So when someone like Jay-Z flips the script and talks about “good credit” do you think that this is what the economy wants to hear? Better yet, do the old owners of rims, jewelry and other excess want you to consider saving your money and your credit so you can one day own a business or a team or a corporation or even them? Hell no!

Mass Media has done a helluva job convincing us that the glass ceiling is closer to our heads than we originally thought. By using Hip Hop as a tool to promote hamburgers, GAP clothing and cars instead of fighting against sexism, racism and other numerous forms of oppression, they powers that be have beaten us at our own game. Continued on page 3 »