Jay-Z Draws Criticism for Apparently Comparing Capitalism to Racial Slurs

Jay-Z has drawn criticism on Twitter, after apparently likening being called a capitalist to being on the receiving end of racial slurs.

The billionaire rapper and entrepreneur, 52, joined a Twitter Spaces conversation with fellow musician and journalists Rob Markham and Ari Melber, among others on Wednesday. During the talk, he discussed his rise from poverty to immense wealth.

In an audio clip that has since been shared across social media, the hip-hop star, who is married to chart-topping singer Beyoncé, was asked about having boosted the earning power of others, including the likes of Rihanna and Kanye West.

"Yeah, we're not gonna stop," said Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter. "You know, hip hop is young, we still growing, and we're not falling for that tricknology whatever, you know, the public puts out there."

"Before was the American dream: 'Pull yourself by the bootstraps, and you can make yourself... You can make it in America.' All these lies that America told us our whole life," he said. "And then when we start getting in, they tried to lock us out of it. They start inventing words like you know, 'capitalist,' you know, things like that. I mean, you know, we've been called 'n*****' and 'monkeys' and s***. I don't care; those words y'all come up with. Y'all gotta come up with stronger words."

"We're not gonna be tricked out of our position," Jay-Z continued. "Y'all locked us out. Y'all created a system that, you know, doesn't include us. We said fine. We went our alternate route. We created this music.

"We did our thing, you know, we hustle, we f***ing killed ourselves to get to this space. And, you know, now it's like, you know, you know, 'Eat the rich,' and, man, we're not stopping, so that evolution is, you know, from us."

Markham reposted the audio excerpt in question, along with the caption: "OK den."

Jay-Z's impassioned comments soon went viral on Twitter, where a number of the platform's users pushed back on his statement.

"Jay Z really was on that Space crying about us calling him a capitalist (he is). Then tried to say that calling Black rich folks capitalists is similar to the n word," wrote one listener.

Another detractor tagged Jay-Z as they shared their reaction to the snippet of audio.

"Jay Z is the most self aware wolf," they tweeted. "He wore a Che Guevara shirt on his Unplugged Album and thinks they JUST invented the word capitalist? Are you dumb @sc?

"We are saying 'Eat The Rich' because we are finally aware that the rich and capitalism are the problem. F*** billionaires."

Another reacted by stating that "Malcolm X told you about these people," before sharing a video clip of the late civil rights figure.

"These aren't leaders," said the activist in the video. "These are puppets and clowns that have been set up over the Black community by the white community and have been made celebrities and usually say exactly what they know that the white man wants to hear."

Amid the criticism, a number of supporters spoke out in Jay-Z's defense, as they argued that his take had been misconstrued.

Responding to somebody's assertion that Jay-Z had said that being called a capitalist could be likened to a racial slur, one person countered: "That's not what he said, but nuance is lost on social media and people hate rich people these days.... But that was his point, now the narrative is rich is bad."

When another Twitter user accused Jay-Z of saying that criticizing capitalism is "anti-Black," they continued their defense, writing: "I didn't hear it that way, I heard him saying they create new terms to make us be hated and hate ourselves... and these terms even make the world hate us once we achieve the same measurables 'they' have been achieving for generations."

Newsweek has reached out to a representative of Jay-Z for comment.

Jay-Z has been known for touting entrepreneurship. He also launched a digital currency opportunity initially directed at those living in his old neighborhood, the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn, New York.

The Bitcoin Academy, a project backed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and the Empire State of Mind rapper "aims to provide education, and empower the community with knowledge, and get rid of some of the barriers so that residents can learn more about Bitcoin specifically and finance in general," according to its website.