Jay Z appears on Real Time with Bill Maher, debuts ‘Picasso Baby’

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

Rap mogul Jay Z returned to “Real Time with Bill Maher” for the show’s summer finale Friday, discussing everything from hip-hop to “stop and frisk” law enforcement.

Jay Z (AKA Shawn Carter), also debuted his video performance art piece called “Picasso Baby.”

During the show, Jay Z and the other panelists, Business Insider‘s Josh Barro, Occupy Wall Street activist Alexis Goldstein and former congressman Barney Frank, talked about various issues including income inequality. On that topic, Jay Z said:  “I don’t really want to scare America, but the real problem is there’s no middle class, right? So, the gap between the have and have-nots is getting wider and wider. It’s going to be a problem that no amount of police can solve because, you know, once you have that sort of oppression, you know –and that gap is widening–, it’s inevitable that something is going to happen.”

When Frank made the point that the African-American community doesn’t want fewer police, just better policing, Jay Z chimed in, “more jobs would be better than more policing.” He added that what people in impoverished communities “deserve” is “to get out of there. Public housing was a temporary stop till you get yourself together and move on,” noting that he grew up in the Marcy Housing Projects in New York City.

After the show, Jay Z also debuted his 10-minute art / music video project “Picasso Baby,” a video he produced and which was directed by music video veteran Mark Romanek. The performance art video for the single from Jay’s new album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” was shot at New York City’s Pace Gallery.

Watch the roundtable segment below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsPFYIVNIqc

And watch Maher’s interview with Jay Z: