JAY-Z responds to claims he sold out with NFL deal: ‘I’m already rich’

Hov addresses his haters on a song off of Jay Electronica's recently released debut album, 'A Written Testimony'

JAY-Z has responded to critics who have labeled him a sellout after his Roc Nation company inked an entertainment deal with the NFL last summer.

[griojw id=”1qdFgaPR” playerid=””]

JAY-Z has responded to critics who have labeled him a sellout after his Roc Nation company inked an entertainment deal with the NFL last summer.

As part of the partnership, Roc Nation is expected to roll out social-awareness campaigns that many fans were hoping would include former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick 

READ MORE: Jay-Z and NFL release gun violence PSA honoring Hadiya Pendleton

Jigga previously fired shots at the NFL over its treatment of Kaepernick due to his National Anthem protests at games over police brutality and racism against Blacks in America.

Jay defended his NFL partnership at a press conference with commissioner Roger Goodell last August, during which he also praised Kaepernick’s controversial kneeling during the National Anthem. The hip-hop mogul noted, however, that his NFL deal would follow a different approach to help spread awareness about racism and injustice.

“That’s his version of an action item, this is our version of an action item,” JAY-Z explained. “We all do different things. We all work differently for the same results. I don’t knock what he’s doing, and hopefully, he doesn’t knock what I’m doing.”

But critics believe Jay is selling out the culture for putting his financial interests over social injustices.

Hov addresses these claims on Jay Electronica’s “Flux Capacitor” off his recently released debut album, A Written Testimony, Complex reports.

JAY-Z raps:

Why would I sell out? I’m already rich, don’t make no sense

Got more money than Goodell, a whole NFL bench

Did it one-handed like Odell, handcuffed to a jail

I would’ve stayed on the sideline if they could’ve tackled that sh*t themselves

He concludes with a mild threat that also channels Kanye West.

“You backstabbers gon’ turn me back to the old Jay/

He’s not who you wanna see, he’s not as sweet as the old Ye.”

READ MORE: Jay Electronica returns alongside Jay Z on ‘We Made It’ remix

JAY-Z previously responded to the NFL/Roc Nation backlash in a New York Times interview that was published earlier this year.

“We didn’t say, ‘Let’s go make some money off the NFL,'” he said. The rapper added he could deal with criticism over the partnership if it helps white football fans realize they should care about police brutality, too. “As long as real people are being hurt and marginalized and losing family members, then yes, I can take a couple rounds of negative press.”

Mentioned in this article:

More About: