S. Samuel
Forbes Cash King Jay-Z recently shared his reaction to the current Occupy Wall Street movement in his hometown and admitted despite a wealthy status, he would take a tax hit if it meant good things would be a result.
Young Hov claims he would support higher taxes just as long as he saw where the money was going.
“I think me personally, I wouldn’t mind paying more taxes if it went to things that really mattered,” Jay said in an interview. “If it went to education and people in poverty, if it went to the right things, I wouldn’t mind. I think it should be clearly defined where all the money is being allocated. … [With Occupy Wall Street], I think it’s saying a lot all over the world that people can get their voice out there and fight for a better world. I support all sorts of movements. There are so many different fights that we must take on – education and health care and poverty. It’s good that young people are getting out and getting their voice heard, especially in this time of social media where that argument on the block or that thing that takes place in a small place — is being viewed globally. You’re really getting to recognize the power of your voice.” (CNN)
Rap mogul Russell Simmons recently defended Jay’s “Occupy All Streets” retail t-shirt campaign.
“What’s wrong with selling goodness? There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s not the most preferred. In yogi scripture, at least, the highest form of giving is giving without expectation. Selfless. But a lot of people need incentive. You should sell things you’re happy about. You should sell products that you’re inspired by, that promote lasting and stable well-being. Give the world something or sell the world something that you’re proud of. Jay-Z didn’t make a T-shirt [that said] “F— the Bums on the Street.” He wrote a T-shirt “Occupy All Streets” – I’m happy, it furthers the movement, it inspires the movement. Listen, I’m going to get every corporationthat wants to support us to get branding as part of the process. No one’s against business. We’re against business having too much control over our government.” (Billboard Biz)
Prior to the shirts going retail, Jay was spotted alongside Simmons rocking “Occupy All Streets” at his New York City concert in early November.
Jay-Z isn’t trying to Occupy Wall Street, he’s trying to Occupy All Streets. While backstage at his Watch The Throne concert, Jay rocked an “Occupy All Streets” t-shirt, as he snapped a few pictures with his good friend Russell Simmons. Jay-Z and Kanye West told us that somebody watch the throne, and the critics should have listened. DETAILS: Jay-Z & Kanye West “Watch The Throne” Tour Dates While backstage at their Watch The Throne concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Jay-Z and Kanye were presented with platinum plaques for selling over a million records for Watch The Throne. (Global Grind)
Recently, Houston’s Slim Thug gave SOHH his take on the media attention-generating movement.
“I tweeted some stuff about it but I don’t really know much about it,” Thugga told SOHH referring to the Occupy Wall Street protests. “I don’t really get the whole meaning behind it. They’re out there saying they don’t like banks ripping them off or they don’t have no jobs. The protests are real. I definitely think something is wrong. I don’t know if what they’re doing is effective enough. I’ve seen the police clearing them out in New York, handling them. I don’t know how to picture it. It’s definitely something f*cked up about 99 percent of people not getting paid [compared to the 1 percent of wealthy incomers gaining the majority of the concentration]. That’s definitely f*cked up, and I support that, but I just don’t know if that’s the right way [to have their demands met]. They’re too peaceful to me, they need to be a little bit more forceful. If you’re going to just put some tents out there, then just let the homeless people stay there and you can go home. They can just sleep in front of those buildings.” (SOHH)
Check out Jay-Z’s interview below:
