While Jay-Z does agree with the public sentiment that Colin Kaepernick was “done wrong” by the NFL, the rap mogul thinks it is time to move on from the former player’s saga and on to a new chapter.
According to his new interview with The NY Times, Jay-Z told Katherine Rosman, “No one is saying he hasn’t been done wrong.”
But the rap icon wants to know what happens after all that is said and done.
“He was done wrong. I would understand if it was three months ago. But it was three years ago, and someone needs to say, ‘What do we do now—because people are still dying?”
What he’s done is set out to form a partnership between the NFL and his Roc Nation company to give the agency the ability to co-produce events such as the Super Bowl halftime show. But he didn’t stop there- the partnership also has a focus on social justice in addition to its entertainment factor.
But Jay-Z and this initiative, however, have been met with major criticism since he sat down in a press conference with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last August, all while Kaepernick remained unsigned.
“As long as real people are being hurt and marginalized and losing family members, then yes, I can take a couple rounds of negative press,” Jay-Z said of the backlash he received.
According to Rosman, Roc Nation asked Goodell to spend $100 million on social justice outreach and causes over the next decade as part of the partnership.
The first of their efforts to effect change will be the league’s public service video during Sunday’s Super Bowl sharing stories of black people who were killed by police.
The ultimate purpose of this partnership is to get inside the establishment to bring representation of color and try to foster a nationwide cultural dialogue that’s very much necessary.
