This past weekend, JAY Z took over Terminal 5 in NYC for two exclusively streamed shows via TiDAL. Hitting the stage to perform cuts like “Dead Presidents Pt.1” and “It’s Like That,” Hov decided to rattled off a few thoughts titled “Stream of Consciousness.”
Including in the verse, was his not-so-subtle jabs at Spotify/YouTube. Cameos include: Beyoncé, Jay Electronica, Jeezy and Vic Mensa.
“I don’t need no middlemen to talk to my ni**as / I understand if you don’t understand I figure my ni**a / That’s where we differ / I take what’s mine you accept what they give you / I get you / I don’t take no checks / I take my respect / Pharrell even told me ‘Go with the best bet’ / Jimmy Iovine offered the safety net / Google came around with a crazy check / I feel like YouTube is the culp-a-rit /. Ni**as pay you a tenth of what you supposed to get / You know ni**a die for equal pay, right? You know what I’m worth / I ain’t your slave right / You know I ain’t shucking and jivin’ and high fivin’ / You know this ain’t back in the days right / But I can’t tell by the way they kill Freddie Gray right / Shot down / Mike Brown / Like the way they did Tray right? / Y’all gone’ keep choking’ ni**as / We gon’ turn style / I ain’t your token ni**a / You know I came in this game independent right / TIDAL / My own label / same difference / Oh ni**as is skeptical of they own shit / You bought nine iPhones and Steve Jobs is rich / Phil Knight worth trillions you still bought those kicks / Spotify’s nine billion and they ain’t say shit / ‘Lucyyy you got some splainin’ to do’ / The only one they hatin’ on look the same as you / That’s cool / I know they tryin’ to bamboozle you / Spending billions on meryin’ to confusin’ you / I had to tell myself ‘Hov, get used to it’ / It’s politics as usual.”
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