then they write their "Presence" off their taxes as "Charity"...
Posted on 08/02/2013 4:51:23 AM PDT by SJackson
Have you ever wondered why so many actors seem content to preach about America’s solutions without actually contributing to them? Why so many Hollywoodites promote higher taxes, but stash their cash in offshore bank accounts? Preach the necessity of carbon containment, but fly around in private jets? Vote Democrat but live Republican?
The answer lies in the peculiar self-centeredness of many in the entertainment industry. Granted a platform by the fates, they feel that their mere words can move mountains. Hence the offputting hubris of rapper and Obama ally Jay-Z, who told Rap Radar’s Elliott Wilson that he didn’t need to expend time or effort on social change:
“My presence is charity. Just who I am. Just like Obama’s is. Obama provides hope. Whether he does anything, the hope that he provides for a nation, and outside of America is enough. Just being who he is.”
Jay-Z feels that he can change the world, one pearl of wisdom at a time, just like his beloved president. But Jay-Z wasn’t done singing Obama’s praises for magically bestowing upon the planet the quasi-divine gift of his being: “You’re the first black president. If he speaks on any issue or anything he should be left alone…Of course we want to challenge him to do better.”
Where does this inflated sense of self-worth come from? From Hollywood itself. The sad truth is that there is only one area in which celebrities can just show up and make a difference: their art. Jay-Z can’t alleviate educational underperformance in the black community by just being there. But he can impact views on sex and violence by being there. His art just requires him to get in front of a microphone and blurt his lyrics. That does have impact.
When Jay-Z tells kids, “We formed a new religion / No sins as long as there’s permission / And deception is the only felony / So never f— nobody without telling me / Sunglasses and Advil, last night was mad real” –that may be barely literate but it has impact. When he raps, “Middle finger to the law, n—-, gripping my balls / All the ladies they love me, from the bleachers they screaming,” that has impact. That impact is heightened when the president of the United States, Barack Obama, does the Jay-Z hand signal to “brush the dirt off” during a speech, then gives tribute to the rapper.
No wonder Obama is such a big Jay-Z fan. Both Obama and Jay-Z believe in the power of the word – and they’re right. But oratory is far more commonly and successfully used to manipulate people toward valueless action than it is to instill virtue. The words of Obama, the rap of Jay-Z, the scripts of the Tinseltown craftspeople are all designed to appeal to the emotions. That’s what they do best. If there is a Nietzschean dialectic between Apollo (the ordered) and Dionysus (emotion), art in the modern age generally appeals to the Dionysian. Order is cast aside for passion. Visit a hip-hop concert, and witness the Dionysian ecstasy of the crowd. Apollonian reason is nowhere to be found.
Allan Bloom wrote about rock music in The Closing of the American Mind (he was overbroad there), but what he wrote was far more applicable to hip-hop: “Ministering to and according with the arousing and cathartic music, the lyrics celebrate puppy love as well as polymorphous attractions, and fortify them against traditional ridicule and shame. The words implicitly and explicitly describe bodily acts that satisfy sexual desire and treat them as its only natural and routine culmination for children who do not yet have the slightest imagination of love, marriage or family.” Add violence to the mix, and this is a realistic picture of a great bulk of hip-hop.
Unfortunately, the Jay-Z power of the spoken word has entered politics with a vengeance. All that matters is the cadence, the rhythm, and the emotion of what is said, not the logic with which it is being said. That’s not exclusive to President Obama, of course – great orators from Bill “I Feel Your Pain” Clinton to John “Two Americas” Edwards have preyed on the same emotionality. Just by stirring feelings, our politicians feel that have now done their jobs.
And, in a certain sense, they’re right. The politicians who rely on emotion don’t have to make people’s lives better – they just have to make people feel more fulfilled. President Obama does make people feel good, even as they go broke. And those in Hollywood can say the same about themselves, even as the country goes morally bankrupt.
His wife feels the same about her own untalented self.
Honestly it makes me sick that these twits (including The Won) live such a life and I and many others try to figure out what day we can afford meat.
Well I guess here is one mind that was brainwashed by the "My mind is a pearl" campaign of a couple a decades ago.
The arrogance and delusion of these people is astounding.
truthfully, he’s a curse on his own people as are most all of his ilk. He doesn’t give them hope, he gives them false hope-the false hope that they too can be rich and famous without having to work for it. He truly is a useful servant of Satan.
then they write their "Presence" off their taxes as "Charity"...
Celebrity: B-List Business Gangsters Historical Hollywood Killers Music Nuisances Politics Sports Television All CelebsBad Attitude Classics Cleavage College Fogeys Funny Faces Grills Hair Hawaiian Shirts Message T-Shirts Nascar Obama Ouch Pacino Pretty Perps Strippers Tattoos Topless Men Topless Women Tramp Stamps Uniforms Unusual Suspects Weepy Well Dressed . Submit a Tip! . Signup for the TSG Newsletter! .. Rap star Jay-Z (real name: Shawn Carter) was arrested by New York City cops in December 1999 for allegedly stabbing a record executive at a Manhattan nightclub. Originally charged with felony assault, the performer pleaded guilty in October 2001 to a reduced misdemeanor count and was sentenced to three years probation. Jay-Z pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to stabbing record producer Lance "Un" Rivera in December 1999 and is expected to be sentenced to probation. He faces up to three years' probation for the third-degree assault charge, according to a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney's office. The incident took place December 2, 1999, at the Kit Kat Club on West 43rd Street in Manhattan, at a listening party for Q-Tip's solo album Amplified. Jay-Z, who had performed earlier that night at a separate party for his own then-new album, The Life and Times of S. Carter, had denied any wrongdoing from the start. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1450090/jay-z-pleads-guilty-stabbing.jhtml
Yo, J dawg. Your presence is brain pollution. Your (c)rap is a matter for the EPA. Every word you utter needs a moral scrubber.
Almost a bigger Narcissist than 0bama. Almost.
he should be left alone
Yes. Alone. In a cell.
My
Dad used to say:
You can pile hope into one hand & crap into the other.
See which one fills up first.
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