“I’ve turned to Jay-Z’s words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery” — former President Barack Obama
It finally happened, ay-Z was finally given the spot in the annals of music history that he deserves as he snatched a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night, being inducted into the prestigious standing by none other than former President Barack Obama.
Beyoncé, LeBron James, Chris Rock, Sean Combs, and Samuel L. Jackson would all appear in Jay-Z’s video before the former President would make the formal induction extra special.
“I’ve turned to Jay-Z’s words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery,” Obama said. “Today, Jay-Z is one of the most renowned artists in history and an embodiment of the American dream, a dream he has helped make real for other young people like him.”
“I would like to apologise—I’m just fuckin’ with you,” Chappelle opened his speech, hinting at the controversy surrouding Netflix special. “It is an incredible honour to induct this next man into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But I need everybody in rock’n’roll to know, that even though you are honouring him, he is ours. He is hip hop. Forever and ever, and a day.”
“I would watch these guys, and you know they had big rope chains, and they wore leather, and sometimes even the red-black-green medallions, and whatever they wore, everybody would wear the next day,” Jay-Z said in his acceptance speech, referencing the other inductee from hip hop on the night, LL Cool J.
“And I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to be like those guys.’ And so I set out on my journey, writing at my table—shout out to Dr. Gloria Carter in the house, she bought me the green notebook.”
“We was like we gonna create our own company, you know? That’s hip hop. And we created this company called Roc-A-Fella Records,” Jay-Z noted. “Shout out to Dame [Dash]; I know we don’t see eye to eye, but I can never erase your accomplishments, and I appreciate you and thank you for that. And shout out to [Kareem] ‘Biggs’ [Burke]; he’s one of the most honourable people I’ve ever met. We created something that will probably never be duplicated.”
