Whether Jay-Z is a Mason or affiliated with the Illuminati is all speculative. It’s fun to talk about, I suppose, but it seems like a waste of time. For years now, imaginative people have pieced together lyrics and video imagery to conjure up theories about Jay-Z’s alleged occult activity. Some of it is fascinating. Often times, it’s ignorant as hell. For instance, a few years ago a preacher played a Jay-Z song for his parish. What he failed to mention was that it was actually a remix done by DJ Danger Mouse for The Grey Album. Clearly DM did it to stoke some false controversy; clearly he succeeded:
Others point to the diamond-shaped Roc hand sign as a symbolic representation of the Eye of Providence seen on dollar bills and in Masonic iconography. Like I said, it’s all speculative. It makes for fun conversation, but it’s nothing more than that. What interested me most about Jay-Z’s new “On to the Next One” video is a brief moment at the 3:39 mark. As Jay is reciting the line “Obama on the text”, a picture of a necklace depicting Jesus on the cross is displayed between a pair of bullets. What’s the purpose of this imagery? More specifically, why is it presented precisely after the Obama reference? Does Jay believe the president will be assassinated/martyred like Jesus?
To be sure, Jay-Z’s lyrics have always been deeper than meets the eye. An innocent verse to some can be perceived as a threat-filled subliminal assault to others. When do we know which is which? I might be reaching here, but who’s to say that “text” isn’t a double-entendre for “Tex”, short for “Texas”, an allusion to the murder scene of John F. Kennedy, the last U.S. president to be assassinated. We’ll probably never receive any explanation(s) for these inquiries because Jay-Z is such a tease. That being said, we can all expect these kinds of questions to not only linger but grow as well – as long as the answers continue to be withheld.
Others point to the diamond-shaped Roc hand sign as a symbolic representation of the Eye of Providence seen on dollar bills and in Masonic iconography. Like I said, it’s all speculative. It makes for fun conversation, but it’s nothing more than that. What interested me most about Jay-Z’s new “On to the Next One” video is a brief moment at the 3:39 mark. As Jay is reciting the line “Obama on the text”, a picture of a necklace depicting Jesus on the cross is displayed between a pair of bullets. What’s the purpose of this imagery? More specifically, why is it presented precisely after the Obama reference? Does Jay believe the president will be assassinated/martyred like Jesus?
To be sure, Jay-Z’s lyrics have always been deeper than meets the eye. An innocent verse to some can be perceived as a threat-filled subliminal assault to others. When do we know which is which? I might be reaching here, but who’s to say that “text” isn’t a double-entendre for “Tex”, short for “Texas”, an allusion to the murder scene of John F. Kennedy, the last U.S. president to be assassinated. We’ll probably never receive any explanation(s) for these inquiries because Jay-Z is such a tease. That being said, we can all expect these kinds of questions to not only linger but grow as well – as long as the answers continue to be withheld.
god i hate jay-z sooooo much. pop hopping fag
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice vid :P
ReplyDeletei don't know if drugs enticed this initial write up from you ivan, or if it was purely another shock blogging attempt, or simply just embracing the idiocy that's out there. care to take a stand that is less ambiguous about your take on this, maybe i didn't read it well the first time..but the last line you wrote implies there is a secret.. 0o0o do tell what motivated this exactly... boredom? ignorance? irony? scepticism? all of the above??
ReplyDeletegood night
the only thing i can conjure up is that you put on your 'danger ivan' mask and are trying to "stoke up controversy"
ReplyDelete^^^^^^^he put it up because it has something to do with hip hop. try publishing a good hip hop blog and not talking about jay-z. sorry, brain, if we're not all pondering what you're pondering. why the fuck is an anonymous troll talking about masks?
ReplyDeletei wouldn't assume anything based on a music video though, ivan. it may be worth it to look up who the film crew for the video was, artistic director, writer, producer, etc. it's not very likely that jay-z is responsible for 100% of the imagery and, more importantly, the editing in the video.
doing d.i.y. music videos, i've found that the editing process is usually random, and certain clips may sync up with certain lyrics unintentionally. it could be a similar case with this.
the preacher in the second video is G Craig Lewis. he's a televangelist that makes his career crafting up conspiracy theories about hip hop artists.
one of my favorite videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvvpW_-sdUI
i think the fact that jay-z's lyrics can spawn controversy like this is good news, when most pop rappers give me nothing to think about nor a desire to think: "let's get crunk and then make an amateur porno"
I agree with anon at the top, he's a pop hopping fag.
ReplyDeleteIts way to far fetch even for you Ivan, C'mon now...
ReplyDeleteI like how a lot of y'all never even comment on this site unless you wanna' talk some shit. Never any thanks about some of the great work this site does, never any props for being (in my opinion) one of the very best hip-hop blogs around, but as soon as this post comes up people decide to shit on Ivan for posting it?? Nah, fuck that noise. I thought the article was pretty damn interesting. "Like I said, it's all speculative. It makes for fun conversation." I think it's interesting to talk about. Can anyone else come up with some theories as to why there's a crucifix between 2 bullets right after he says Obama's name? And it might not have come from Jay's ideas at all, the art director may have just shown Jay some stuff and he approved it. Who knows. And it doesn't matter if you don't personally like Jay-Z, that's not what the conversation is about. You can dislike Jay, but still have a conversation about the theories. Use your head people.
ReplyDeleteWowww... I'm not trying to speak for Ivan here, but to all the people flipping their shit, did you see that he said, "It’s fun to talk about" and "It's all speculative." Yall anonymous bitches need to check your tampons.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I looked up both the "Run This Town" and "On To The Next One" symbols and it's pretty interesting. My guess is Hov knows shit like this would happen, and it's all to garner some attention.
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ReplyDeletewhat's with this critical thinking shit? thinking is for suckas.
ReplyDelete/s
ivan should speak for himself regarding the comments for this entry, not ivan fan boys
ReplyDeleteclearly the two bullets and the crucifix with christ being shown is indicative of how christ and christianity is a target for attack for some just like obama.
ReplyDeletemost likely nothing more and nothing less.
Can't Craig lewis tell that the words were spliced up!!! Dude should feel silly for even digging that up!!! Anyways...Nice write up
ReplyDeletei guess the handshakes he gives to other so- called "illuminati" are just coincindental, too.. if you read about the ceremonies and overall customs of freemasons and other secret societies you will open your eyes and i'm sure some of you have seen this clip below, but have you really looked at it and then look at the videos?..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX-xVN0xERk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2OXuXTkBNQ
..and if you learn about the real rockefeller family, you would know about their elitist plans that include controlling the world.. here is a quote from john d. rockefeller's own memoir.. "For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure--one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it." another is "competition is a sin"..
these cats are brazen and don't care because they know the world thinks it's too crazy to happen in their lifetime.. but remember this, people also thought it was too crazy for a black president to happen in their lifetime, too..
did you notice the lights came on in the beginning symbolizing the ILLUMINATION, all of the skulls, 3's, 7's, crows, and the large halo behind j in this video? oh yeah, and the crucifix with the 2 bullets next to it? look deeper and think about the grip he has on our youth and adults that are blindly being led in the way of man worship.. just read a little and compare things for yourselves..
1 John 4:1
and then there are fraternities and sororities.. read about the origins of those while you're at it..