On Friday April 26th, 2019 Jay-Z hosted his B-Sides 2 concert at the grand re-opening of notorious New York venue Webster hall.
For years Jay-Z has enlightened how entrepreneurs of this era should be thinking. Whether it be him discussing his transition from street hustler to rapper, company president to business owner, or philanthropist to community leader; Jay-Z has sublimely showed how a hustler is supposed to evolve. Here are a couple of things we learned from the Mogul.
Gentrify your own hood
During the concert, Jay-Z took the time to spit a freestyle to pay his tribute to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle who recently past from being another innocent victim to gun violence in his own neighborhood. Although Jay was showing respect there was a powerful message behind it telling Africa-Americans to gentrify their own neighborhoods.
“Gentrify your own hood before these people do it, play eminent domain and have your people move in, thats a small glimpse into what Nipsey was doing, to anybody that was confused into what he was doing.”
For a while New York’s most dominant black neighborhoods have been getting gentrified, forcing the black community to relocate due to high rent prices. Those neighborhoods have included Long Island City, Jamaica, Queens, Harlem, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
Lets Eat Together
Not just known for his business moves Jay-Z is also known for his past rap rivalries with Nas, Camron, Jim Jones, and Dame Dash. He demonstrated that that no matter how big the issue is black men can come together and create bigger moments than their own issues.
Jay-Z continues to push Hip-Hop and it’s culture further than anyone could imagine. Its the black community’s job to observe and use what they learn to contribute to what their slave ancestors would call “black excellence.”
