S. Samuel
Grammy-winning rapper Jay-Z recently opened up about his relationship with United States President Barack Obama and how despite the nation leader's status, his cool factor falls slighly behind him.
Labeling Obama the second coolest person in the entire world, Jay admitted the president always draws a reaction out of him in-person.
“The president is like the second coolest person in the world,” Jay said in an interview with Angie Martinez on August 1st, jokingly naming himself the first. “[Next to?] I mean, come on. Don’t make me say it, Ang. [laughs] Don’t make me say it Angie. [Does he react?] Yeah. Yeah, he’s very humble. Yes. It’s weird. I love it. [Do I react to him?] Definitely. [He’s the only one I react to,] off top [of my head.] 100 percent…Who you are puts a lot of pressure on regular relationships because it’s not a regular relationship. People begin to see you differently.” (Hot 97)
Earlier this summer, Jay gave his assessment on how Barack has done as the country’s leader as of late.
Speaking to a small room of music journalists just hours before the Labor Department released its monthly jobs report, which found national unemployment numbers rising to 9.2 percent in the month of June, Jay-Z said of the criticism, “He’s the president, it’s fair.” “You gotta fix [the country’s current climate],” Jay-Z continued. “Can’t fix it all in one day. Numbers don’t lie, it’s f*cked up out there. Unemployment is still high.” Jay-Z then proceeded to joke about how Obama should have allowed him to deliver the news of Osama Bin Laden‘s death on May 1. Acting as if he were speaking at a press conference, Jay-Z adopted the accent of a street tough and said, “He was a threat, you know what I mean? We handled that.” He delivered the line and laughed. (Billboard)
In 2010, Jay revealed a visit he and wife/singer Beyonce Knowles made to the White House.
Jay-Z took advantage of his time in the Beltway on Wednesday to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “I just came from the White House,” he told the audience at the Verizon Center on the Washington, D.C., stop of his Blueprint 3 tour. According to The Washington Post, Hov made the remark during the last minutes of his concert. Officials confirmed to the Post on Thursday (March 4) that President Barack Obama had indeed met with the Brooklyn MC and the pair chatted briefly. In an interview overseas last month, Jay-Z revealed that when he once called President Obama, he heard BP3 playing in the background. (MTV)
The rapper has also previously discussed President Obama’s interest in his music.
Rapper Jay-Z said President Barack Obama was among his biggest fans and that he frequently played the artist’s explicit tunes while exercising, it was reported Friday. The 10-time Grammy award winner said in an interview with U.K. broadcaster the BBC that the President enjoyed working up a sweat to the sounds of Jay-Z’s latest album, Blueprint 3. “Barack loves hip hop. When I called him he was playing Blueprint in the gym,” the star said. (My Fox)
Check out Jay-Z’s interview below:
