New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang found himself dumbstruck when asked to name his favorite Jay-Z song after claiming in an interview with comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, that he’s a fan of the rapper’s music, according to HotNewHipHop.
“I listened to a lot of hip-hop during like the 90s and 2000s,” Yang responded when asked what he’s been “vibing to” lately, emphasizing his affinity for Jay-Z and Nas.
“What’s your favorite Jay-Z song?” asked Fumudoh, host of the self-titled Showtime show Ziwe. “I mean, he’s a New Yorker.”
“Yes,” Yang replied after an awkward pause. “What is my favorite Jay-Z song?”
Comedian Seth Rogen commented on the video on Twitter, writing “I feel like he was literally asking someone else to tell him what his fav J song is.”
Eventually Yang droned the chorus to Jay’s 2003 collaboration with California-bred band Linkin Park, “Numb/Encore,” reported the New York Post.
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“I think it was a duet, right,” he asked fishing for the title.
“Yes, there it is,” Yang said after Fumudoh revealed the answer he couldn’t quite pin it down.
“What? Your favorite Jay-Z song is a rock song, by the way?” she asked in disbelief.
“It was the first thing that came to mind. I think about others that I love,” replied Yang.
“And then there was the collaboration with Kanye was like, ‘word in Paris,’” said Yang, steering clear of ultimately being quoted dropping the N-bomb in the 2011 song title.
“Yeah, ninjas in Paris, you can say ninja, ninjas in Paris,” Fumudoh jumped in.
“Ninjas, in Paris! Thank you for the help, Ziwe,” Yang exclaimed, thanking the comedic hostess for “bailing [him] out.”
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“He’s got such a canon, you can’t really go wrong,” said Yang.
Yang didn’t hesitate when asked to name his four favorite billionaires however, citing former mayor Mike Bloomberg for having “done a lot for the environment.”
“He made it so that people don’t smoke in restaurants and bars around New York City, which at the time seemed like a revolution,” he said. “People were like, ‘You can do that?’”
Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan also ranked among Yang’s rooster of the super rich, as did Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and LeBron James, who Yang believes is on his way to joining the billionaire boys’ club.
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