Jay-Z Says He Doesn’t Know What The Occupy Movement Is About

The Occupy Wall Street movement, began a year ago in New York’s Zuccotti Park.

We’ve followed the movement since it began, and attempted to explain the messages of the movement; which was primarily to bring awareness to the income inequalities in the U.S. , an issue that has been taking place for over 30 years, and ultimately caused the economic crisis of 2008.

Our goal in reporting about the movement, was so that hip hop could understand the significance of the movement, and how the issues that were being presented, affected many of us who come from poverty stricken communities.

Now hip hop’s presence was felt by a few  including mogul Russell Simmons, who worked relentlessly to bring awareness to the movement, and emcee’s Lupe Fiasco, David Banner, and Talib Kweli; who were both vocal about supporting the movement.

Now, while some hip hop artist were about supporting the movement, others seemed to be distant or confused about what the movement was about.

This seems to be the case with hip hop mogul Jay-Z, who was pictured wearing a shirt titled Occupy All Streets, during the height of the movement.

Now when we saw Jay, wearing the shirt, we didn’t understand what his message was about, and no one seemed to ask.

According to a recent article by the NY Times, Jay-Z states that he never backed the movement, because the message wasn’t made clear.

However, in the same article, Jay also says that he told Russell Simmons, that he’s not going to a park to picnic, and had no idea what to do.

Now we’re sure that Russell Simmons broke down the movement to Jay, so we’re completely confused as to why he doesn’t understand the movement.

In the NY Times article, Jay also says that the movement speaking about the 1 percent, needs to be clarified, because America was built on free enterprise.

We don’t think they’re attacking entrepreneurship Jay, instead the movement seems to be focused on the systematic income equalities, with respect to large corporations squeezing the middle class, into becoming obsolete.

Someone from the Occupy movement needs to reach out to Jay, so that he’s aware of both the movements intentions, and the history behind the income disparities.

In addition, it’s time for hip hop to stand for more than just selling products, or creating campaigns that represent causes, in effort to improve their public relations.

Jay-Z’s NY Times quote:

“I don’t know what the fight is about. What do we want? Do you know?”