After Calling Out Jay Z, Marina Abramović Institute Clears The Air

Written By Cyrus Langhorne

Jay-Z
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Music mogul Jay Z‘s name is reportedly in the clear this week after being singled out by artist Marina Abramović for allegedly holding out on an agreement to cross-promote their brands in 2013.

According to reports, the artist’s institute has issued a statement to apologize to both entertainers and explain the confusion.

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This week, Marina claimed she gave Jay permission to adapt her “The Artist is Present” for his 2013 visual but said he didn’t live up to his promise to cross-promote their works.

“The day before, he came to my office and I gave him an entire power point presentation and said: okay, you can help me, because I really need help to build this thing. Then he just completely used me. And that wasn’t fair. This is very different from Lady Gaga, for example, who has done great work for me. Just by having 45 million followers, she brought all these young kids into my public.” (Spike Art Magazine)

Abramović also claimed she would never work with Hov again because he didn’t live up to his end of the deal.

“And in the end it was only a one-way transaction. I will never do it again, that I can say. Never. I was really naive in this kind of world. It was really new to me, and I had no idea that this would happen. It’s so cruel, it’s incredible. I will stay away from it for sure.” (Spike Art Magazine)

The duo made headlines back in summer 2013 with their must-see visual.

As originally presented, The Artist Is Present found Abramović sitting still at a table in the atrium of New York’s Museum of Modern Art for 736 hours, as people sat in the chair across from her. Jay Z’s version lasted six hours, in which he repeatedly rapped the song in New York City’s Pace Gallery in June 2013 for the Mark Romanek–directed Picasso Baby clip. Judd Apatow, Michael K. Williams and Alan Cumming all visited Jay Z for the video. At one point, Abramović and Jay Z pressed their foreheads together in the video, which premiered on HBO that August. (Rolling Stone)

Jigga previously talked about the close-knit relationship between art and hip-hop.

“The truth is, as far as hip-hop and arts, we were like cousins. If you think about those days when Fab Five Freddy was with Madonna and Basquiat and everything. We all went to those clubs; that’s when hip-hop was more underground. The arts and hip-hop really partied together. But when art started becoming part of the gallery, it was this separation. But we pretty much came up together.” (“Real Time With Bill Maher”)

3 Comments

Written by Cyrus Langhorne

SOHH.com Writer. You're likely to find me covering hip-hop news and music releases. Netflix is still my go-to before Disney Plus.

3 Comments

  1. that was fast,,her own institution stepped in,,,theres a lesson in here,,”don’t talk down on hov”,,jigga stay winning

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