Jay-Z is a Coon!?

So as I was doing my daily facebook rounds early this morning I noticed one of my fellow VIBE interns (probably the best writer we had) going off on a tangent. As I read into her very well written argument I was intrigued by the wisdom and wit that she had, as well as the story behind it all. Apparently a writer for Esquire magazine conveyed Jay-Z as a stereotypical "coon". Well the word "coon" itself wasn't used, but when you sum it up with all the racial epithets she was throwing out there-- she knew what she was getting at. I'll post what was said, and then elaborate with my thoughts. The title of the article is titled "Jay- Z: It Takes a Harmless, Hand-Built Gangster to Run This Town by Lisa Taddeo (She better hide after all the scrutiny of this article!) The Village Voice's blog also decided to harshly comment on the writers "choice of words". Here is the introductory paragraph:

But there is a deeper significance -- a racial philanthropy -- that perhaps neither man intended. Jay-Z is black black. He is old-school double-dark-chocolate-chunk black. He is black the way Labatt is blue. He is not white black, Barack black, like our president. Or the kind of black that doesn't curse and deplores the n-word, the genteel black, like Oprah. He is, arguably, the first black-black guy to cross over into Oprah-land and Bill Clintonworld without making the Oprah-sized no-look-back forward flip that means you're selling not necessarily your soul but perhaps something fleshier, a little more external.

Was I the only one who saw the "coonery" in here? This writer referred to Jay-Z as "black black" AND "old-school-double-dark-chocolate-chunk-black". As I mentioned in a previous blog, often times people have bad choice of words. But in a case like this, where her work clearly had to be approved by someone else, it leads me to believe that there is some hidden inappropriate message behind this. Instead of embracing Jay in his accomplishments (much like the title of the article generalized), she made him sound like the dirtiest, gorilla, monkey ape in all of this world! This is the beginning paragraph, the one that should gather the reader's attention! Let's continue and see how homegirl continues to dig her own grave...

But then ask any of Jay-Z's fans what they like about him and the first thing they will tell you is that he didn't sell out, because they feel a little uncool for liking someone who's so huge. They don't think Jay-Z sold out because he and Stoute have expertly eased his brand into Big Lot America, and even though he games with Don Shula in a Budweiser spot, here he also appears in his "Run This Town" video, thugged out in a black gladiator underworld of which he is patently the dark lord. But now remove these undone Timberlands and add a pair of Louis Vuitton yacht shoes and look again -- the Jay-Z Transformer doll! -- he just as easily morphs back into the boardroom cutout, the Cannes weekender.

Jay-Z fans are Jay-Z fans. He overly large lips or extremely impressive swagga is not going to change the way they appreciate his skills. The first part of that paragraph clearly an assumption and horrible generalization based on some very closed-minded individual. Go ahead and ask me why I like Jay-Z. I like Jay-Z because he is not only talented, but he is a mature business man who makes GREAT music. He notices the potential in other artists and promotes them to the best of his ability (Rihanna). My next question is why in the WORLD would see say that Jay-Z fans are embarrassed? What the hell should we be embarrassed about? Sorry sweetie, but liking Jay-Z is pretty cool to me! The line that really set it off for me is: "...remove these undone Timberlands and add a pair of Louis Vuitton yacht shoes and look again -- the Jay-Z Transformer doll! -- he just as easily morphs back into the boardroom cutout, the Cannes weekender." So not only is Jay black black, he's also a doll that wears white linen suits when he gets around his rich, WHITE, celebrity counterparts.

If you read the entire article (I've posted the link below), you will notice that giving details about the interview made her almost sound disgusted with the whole thing. I don't know, maybe it's JUST me. But her choice of words and the way she described his music, life and career just seemed so tasteless.

Check out the link to the article below:
http://www.esquire.com/features/people-who-matter-2010/jay-z-business-0210