Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

Let’s not forget that there are millions of Americans who have no real memory of the late Michael Jackson.

Can it not be argued that Jay-Z is the pop-culture icon for those who came of age in the 1990s and 2000s, just as Jackson was the pop-culture icon for those who came of age in the 1970s and 1980s? Would anyone be surprised if, years from now, people talk about what it was like to hear “Hard Knock Life” or “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” for the first time?

Take nothing away from Jackson’s accomplishments, but those who are expressing their fondness for Jackson’s work are showing their age a little bit, just as those who still talk about Elvis Presley’s excellence reveal how many gray hairs they have. Yes, Jackson was one of the greatest entertainers of all-time—but for younger Americans, that title should be conferred upon Shawn Carter.

Jay-Z’s music is the official soundtrack for this generation. His beats and lyrics are embedded in the minds of those who will own houses, raise children and pay taxes in the 2010s and 2020s. They’ll talk about what it was like to buy The Black Album and Kingdom Come.

Every generation has a figure to worship, a person who can seemingly do no wrong. Jay-Z has already assumed that Elvis/Michael role for this generation. Presley made rock mainstream, Jackson increased the popularity of pop, and Carter made hip-hop the national anthem.

It was Carter who once and for all destroyed the notion that hip-hop was just a fad, a temporary musical trend that would fade away like grunge and disco. It was Carter who became the Billy Graham of hip-hop, the person who made the musical form a permanent fixture in the world’s consciousness.

Like Elvis and Michael before him, Jay-Z has been branded a negative role model by older Americans. Crusaders for civility in the 1950s lambasted Elvis for swiveling his hips, and morality monitors in the 1980s gave Jackson a thumbs-down for his crotch-grabbing antics. Carter has also been on the wrong side of the culture-war battlefield, although his image is not a completely negative one.
One can dislike some of the language in Jay-Z’s music while also giving him due respect for his tremendous business skills. When it comes to investing wisely, effectively promoting one’s own brand and knowing what the people want, he is in fact a positive role model. (Perhaps if Jackson possessed financial wisdom equaling Carter’s, he would have been able to avoid some of the problems that beset his final years.)

Say what you will about some of the themes in his music, but there’s a
certain class to Jay-Z; you get the sense that he’s mentally balanced, disciplined, shrewd enough to avoid the dangers that ultimately ensnared Elvis and Michael. He’s an American success story—a man who overcame disadvantage and an absent father to become the King of Hip-Hop and one of the sharpest business minds of the 21st century. In fact, it’s fair to argue that because of his status as a “normal superstar,” Jay-Z is a better role model for today’s children than Michael and Elvis were for yesterday’s.

Is Carter flawless? No, but who is? In a world running short on role models, should we throw him away because of past controversies? Or should we realize that those who look up to Carter could do far worse in terms of selecting a hero?

There are millions of Americans who are growing up in circumstances quite similar to those of Jay-Z’s youth. In him, they see a way out, a way beyond the projects or the barrio or even the economically struggling small town. Long before anyone ever heard of Barack Obama, Jay-Z represented hope to these Americans. He was, and is, their icon.

That’s a good thing. Sure, I have my issues with Carter: his rather irritating presence on some of Beyonce’s singles (couldn’t they have cut him out of “Crazy in Love?”), that line in “Things That U Do” where he described himself as a “product of Reaganomics” (huh?). Yet his talents as a musician and businessman are impossible to deny.

When Carter passes away, his fans will experience the same sadness that Jackson’s fans are currently feeling, the same sadness that Presley’s admirers felt in August 1977. Yet their sadness will be offset by the memories of his music and the largeness of his legacy. Until that day comes, Carter will remain America’s Icon—beyond any reasonable doubt.