BBC via YouTube screenshot

“I’m not fearful. I believe that we are resilient, especially us as black people and especially the culture—we’ve been through so much more than this guy.”


That’s what Jay-Z had to say about raising his children in the age of Donald Trump.

Although Jay-Z has quietly kept busy in the arena of activism and philanthropy, he hasn’t really spoken out on the subject of Trump, but in an intimate interview with BBC Radio 1 host Clara Amfo, Hov went into detail about his family life, raising children and the perspective his public life and success have given him. When asked about his perspective, Jay-Z refused to even call the president’s name:

This guy, I’m looking at him like, man, this is a joke, with all ... I can’t even say with all due respect—with all disrespect. I just think that, you know, he’s not a very sophisticated man, especially when it comes to the idea of ‘until everyone is free, no one is free.’ Period. That’s just a fact. We are all linked some kind of way. So if you oppress a certain people, everyone is in danger. That’s just ... karmically and in real life.” If I’m being oppressed and you have this big, nice mansion with all this, I’m coming inside there. That’s gonna happen, that’s just how life is. So on just a practical level, that just makes sense. On a spiritual and karmic level, if we’re all children of God, then we’re all brothers and sisters, and at some point, if you’re doing that to your brother, then that can’t last.


When asked about his friendship with former President Barack Obama and getting into politics, the rapper said: “I don’t think I was politically astute, ever. I just care about people. I think politics is a divisive thing. I guess it’s in place so people can have checks and balances ... but what it does, typically, it doesn’t work the way it was designed to work.

“It’s people attached to these laws. I think they have forgotten that piece,” he added. The rapper also said: “When you put in stuff like prison reform, people are going to jail. Families are being broken up. Fathers are away from their children. The family structure is broken so that kid grows up, he gets into trouble, he goes to jail and the cycle is vicious.”

Hov went on to explain how he looks past politics and party lines to get to the humanity of issues. Last week he dedicated a performance of “The Story of O.J.” to Colin Kaepernick during a hometown concert in Brooklyn, N.Y. Jay-Z also reportedly turned down an offer to play the Super Bowl halftime show.

Hey, you can’t knock his hustle.

View the entire interview below: