Oh, Jay can you see, I’m no protester
Allow Jay-Z to explain himself.
The hip-hop star said he and his family weren’t trying to make a political statement when they sat through the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Miami on Sunday, but were instead focused on making sure the performance went according to plan.
Jay-Z has a partnership with the NFL in which he produces the entertainment aspects of the Super Bowl.
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez co-headlined the halftime show at the game, which the Kansas City Chiefs won over the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20.
“I didn’t have to make a silent protest. If you look at the stage, the artists that we chose, Colombian [Shakira], Puerto Rican J.Lo,” the rapper said Tuesday during a conversation at Columbia University, as seen in a video published by TMZ.
“We were making the biggest, loudest protest of all.”
Jay-Z — whose real name is Shawn Carter — and his wife Beyoncé garnered attention Sunday after TMZ shared a video showing them seated during Demi Lovato’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
On Tuesday, Jay-Z said he wouldn’t lie about protesting had that actually been the case. He also noted they would never put their 8-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, who was with them at the game, in the middle of a protest.
“I’m looking at the show. ‘Did the mic start? Was it too low to start?’ ” Jay-Z said.
The “Empire State of Mind” singer was speaking Tuesday at the university while launching a new lecture series.
Named the “Shawn ‘JAY-Z’ Carter Lecture Series,” the program will take place once a year and explore issues and topics important to Jay-Z and the university’s African-American and African Diaspora Studies Department.