“I recorded a demo and I went to every single record company and you know what they said, right? That sh– is trash. But, the audacity of hip hop, we didn’t believe them. I, for not one second got depressed. For one second, I didn’t change my course. We was like, ‘We’re going to create our own company.’ That’s hip hop,” said Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter as he accepted the honor of being inducted into the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Brooklyn, New York Marcy Projects alumnus received the honor in the company of other great inductees, such as Tina Turner, Carole King, Gil Scott-Heron, Foo Fighters, Clarence Avant, Billy Preston, and fellow hip hop heavyweight LL Cool J, among others, at a ceremony that took place on Saturday, Oct. 30 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
Speaking of Ohio, comedian Dave Chappelle, who currently lives in the state, had the honor of being the spokesperson to induct the Roc Nation owner. Charismatic and genuine, JAY-Z’s acceptance speech was a powerful testament of dreams-turnt-reality and exemplified how far one can go with persistence, strategy, and undying passion.
One of JAY-Z’s main lessons in his speech was to always be authentic to oneself. By doing so, we define ourselves as individuals, but simultaneously, connect as a human race sharing commonalities. To show how human JAY-Z is, he jokingly admitted that right after accepting the induction honor he would be going to court — a chaotically ironic set of circumstances for the most part. Maybe that has been the key to his success. He takes the ups and the downs with such keen grace, knowing that for everything there has to be balance.
Speaking of balance, another legendary hip hop mogul, Dr. Dre, introduced LL Cool J to the stage to accept the Rock Hall’s Musical Excellence Award. The arena erupted as the “Mama Said Knock You Out” rapper performed with Eminem.
Born James Todd Smith, LL Cool J, better known as the G.O.A.T., rose from Queens, New York during hip hop’s golden era as one of the premier rappers at hip hop label Def Jam. He is another remarkable talent that has transformed from music artist to global superstar, actor, and writer.
Both JAY-Z and LL Cool J have surpassed hip hop greatest expectations. Their career longevity is living proof that hip hop is evolving and going places that were once off limits for the genre and culture.
If we take advice from both of their discographies, we should know that when making your dreams come true, you can’t have Reasonable Doubt even if it’s a Hard Knock Life, but instead you must stay Authentic and follow The Blueprint, do it Bigger and Deffer each time… and one day, you too could be the G.O.A.T, ya dig?
The Induction Ceremony will air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max.
