Hey yall. I discussed this in detail in the linked post, but I really think there is a lot of political contradictions in Jay-Z’s work, especially the line in ["Murder to Excellence"](https://genius.com/Jay-z-and-kanye-west-murder-to-excellence-lyrics) where he references Fred Hampton, who was a socialist, revolutionary Black Panther; while Jay Z on the other hand unapologetically benefits from and promotes capitalism, i.e.:


“I arrived on the day Fred Hampton died, uh / Real n*** just multiply”

With this in mind, it’s worth asking "what does this reference actually means in the context of a song that also flexes wealth and success?" 

I’m not here to hate on his art, Jay Z is a Hip-hop legend, but it's definitely interesting to dive into lyrics and meaning, and it’s interesting to interrogate when politics conveyed in song present one message, while real world positions of an artist seems to lean another way.

What do y’all think? Is this fair criticism or am I reading too deeply into a lyric? 

Would love to hear perspectives from both hip-hop heads and folks thinking about politics in music.

My view on JAY-Z’s politics through the lens of “Murder to Excellence”