Rapper's generally aren't the first people you think of when it comes to answering questions about political issues.
That's not to say that rhyme sayers aren't aware of what's going on in the world.
Take Roc Nation CEO Jay-Z, for instance. He's developed a friendship with our current President, Barack Obama. Also one of his good friends Kanye West, has recently been raked over the coals for five year old comments he made about former Commander In Chief, George Bush.
When the Associated Press asked about the Kanye West situation, Hov defended his friend.
"I think what Kanye went through was, he himself became that, over the Taylor Swift incident. People said he was racist. And he’s not a racist person, so it made him reflect on the comments that he made. But I 100 percent agreed with the comments that he made, because again ... it felt like it was being done to black people. Like all you saw on the news was black people with help signs and all this stuff, and then you have this picture of the commander in chief, who we all rely on, just flying by. It’s like, What is that? If that had happened anywhere else besides New Orleans, would the response been so slow? Would Bush been on the ground? You have to ask these sort of questions. Just the fact that he thinks that the worst thing that happened to him is Kanye saying something about him. Like, what? That alone shows you where his mind is. Are you kidding me?" Hov said
A lot of people don't remember that Hov got into a serious legal jam back in 1999, when he stabbed record executive Lance "Un" Rivera. At the time Jay-Z thought Lance had leaked his new album 'Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter.' He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge that resulted in a sentence of three years probation.
Hov was asked to compare his situation to Lil Wayne's recent incarceration on gun charges.
"The same sort of thing almost happened to me, and I pride myself on being a disciplined person. I was looking out for that sort of thing. I was trying to avoid it, and it still happened to me, so it just goes to show how difficult it is. Once you become a so-called celebrity, your life or your decisions don’t stop. You have to make smarter decisions, because you’ve grown up living your life a certain way. Most people grow up and just smoke weed. You just smoke weed and think, “OK, I’ll keep weed in my pocket.” Now that you’re a celebrity, it’s a whole different sort of thing. Celebrities need to be conscious and know who they are, because the same choices they made as a civilian will cost them years as a celebrity."
Finally Jay weighed in on the current troubles President Obama has been facing.
"I believe the same thing about Barack that I believed at day one. What he represents is bigger than any political agenda that he can pass across the House, Senate or whatever. I think that right now he’s going through a difficult period because people are putting the last eight years on his table and they’re judging him by it. You can’t expect a man to clean up eight years of mess in two years; it’s just bad math. It’s impossible."
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