Barack Obama Praises Jay-Z at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

Former President Barack Obama poured on the praise for rapper Jay-Z at his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction on Saturday.

“I’ve turned to Jay-Z’s words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery,” Obama said at Jay-Z’s inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The former president appeared to be tuning into the event via livestream or a pre-recorded video, according to footage that was posted to social media.

“Today Jay-Z is one of the most renowned artists in history and an embodiment of the American dream, a dream he has helped make real for other young people like him,” Obama continued. “So let me be one of the first to welcome home the kid from Marcy houses — as an official Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.”

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Barack Obama inducts JAY-Z pic.twitter.com/HREMW5FucS

— Dr. Bryan McGeary (@BMcgeary) October 31, 2021

The rapper joined Obama on the campaign trail in 2008 and 2012.

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In 2016, while discussing his favorite rappers on SiriusXM’s “Sway in the Morning” radio show, Obama said that Jay-Z is “still the king.”

In 2017, the former president inducted the rapper into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, stating, “Nobody who met us as younger men would have expected us to be where we are today.”

Jay-Z and his wife pop star Beyoncé have been long-time supporters of various social justice causes, as well as the Marxist political organization Black Lives Matter.

Last year, Jay-Z’s Team ROC — the social just arm of his company ROC Nation — teamed up with other social justice groups in an effort to bail out protesters arrested after taking to the streets following Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s announcement that police officer Joseph Mensah would not face criminal charges in the fatal shooting of Alvin Cole.

In September, it was announced that Team ROC is suing the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department (KCKPD) over allegations that the department covered up instances of police misconduct.

While the social justice arm of Jay-Z’s organization takes action against police, Beyoncé has spent years stoking anti-police sentiment in the U.S., and has emerged in recent years as one of the anti-police movement’s most affluent and influential supporters.

In 2016, Beyoncé used her platform as a performer at the Super Bowl 50 halftime to stage a tribute to the militant Black Panthers Party, which some called a blatant attack on law enforcement. The pop star received a highway-clearing police escort to be sure she arrived at the stadium on time for her performance.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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