Jay-Z is an outspoken feminist now. We don't know if this is a position he's always held, something he's come to with maturity, the result of extensive training by Beyoncé, or that thing that happens to men when they have daughters (as much as we'd really like that not to be a prerequisite). The important thing is the evidence is there, in the form of Hova's impromptu speech to a little girl in the middle of a concert.
"Now remember, like I was saying, you can be anything that you want to be in the world," Jay-Z told a 9-year-old girl in the audience at his 4:44 tour stop in Cleveland on Sunday night. A video shot by another audience member shows the girl's face projected onto the big screen. "I'll tell you something, at this very moment America is way more sexist than they are racist. But you, young lady, you got the potential to be the next president of the United States. You believe that."
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The rapper then asked the girl to help him count down to the start of "N---as in Paris," and the video goes on to show the girl on screen dancing excitedly to the track.
My favorite moment of the concert ? it was so amazing to see him uplift this beautiful black child like this #444tour pic.twitter.com/DIsPowjQQT
— Amanda Waller (@naptural_mae) November 20, 2017
Several times in 4:44, Jay talks of women's sacrifice, the struggles of his lesbian mother, and how he wants to do better, without actually saying he's a feminist. In "4:44," his open apology letter to Bey about his infidelities, he says, "Took for my child to be born/ See through a woman's eyes."
Just being a good man to your own wife and daughters isn't enough, however. Of course, Blue Ivy and Rumi Carter, who are essentially royalty, can be anything they want to be. Telling this little girl in Ohio that she can, too, is a much bigger message everyone needs to hear.
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