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Last week I mentioned that unsigned rapper Lucy Diamonds, in a clear attempt to get some attention from the media, had called out Jay-Z for being an "Anti-Christ." The claim was so ridiculous that I assumed it would not go much further than that, but the idea that Jay-Z has some sort of Satanic message in his music seems to be gaining converts.
In the past couple of days a video has been making the rounds of a preacher calling out Jay-Z for his evil ways. The preacher makes the claim that if you played one of Jay-Z's songs in reverse, you would hear the message, "Murder Murder Jesus 666" and "Catholics gotta Murder Them." The song he is referencing is "Lucifer" from Jigga's Black Album, however what he is actually playing during the sermon is the Danger Mouse remix of Lucifer from The Grey Album.
Here is the video of the preacher's sermon against Jay-Z.
I realize that 99% of the people visiting this site are intelligent enough to realize how absurd this whole thing is, but I'm going to break it down for you anyway. If you take the Lucifer track from the Black Album and play it in reverse (and yes, I just did it myself this morning) there are no hidden messages to be found, satanic or otherwise.
The Lucifer remix from the Grey Album (the mashup album combining Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatles White Album), however, is another matter. When you play that track in reverse, you will hear the phrases that the preacher talks about. For the remix, Danger Mouse took a bunch of vocal snippets from Jay's original version and put them together to form the phrases, then recorded them in reverse. I haven't heard him say it in any interviews, but I would guess that Danger Mouse was inspired to do this by the Beatles' John Lennon, who was the first artist to record songs in reverse with his song "Revolver." And since he was doing this for the song "Lucifer," I can only assume Danger Mouse put the "666" phrase in there as a spoof on the heavy metal records of the 80's that allegedly contained hidden satanic messages.
I'm putting up the Grey Album version of Lucifer as well as an mp3 of the track in reverse so that you can hear the actual phrases:
Lucifer (Grey Album Remix)
Lucifer (Grey Album Remix in Reverse) <-- this is the version where you can hear the "666" etc.
It seems pretty clear to me that the "evil" phrases on the Lucifer remix were put there as a joke, but of course its a lot easier to get attention for yourself (and your church) if you proclaim it as a sign that Jay-Z is the devil. In any case, Jay-Z had nothing to do with the Grey Album, so I think its safe to say he's clear on that charge.
The preacher also condemns Jay for calling himself "God," alluding to the fact that Jay sometimes refers to himself as "Jay-Hova," a play on "Jehovah," an Old Testament name for God. Jay-Z first used the name on a 1998 DJ Clue freestyle with the line, "Jay-Hova, the God MC" (a line he would later reuse on The Takeover). I took this as his way of bragging that he was the best MC, though it doesn't surprise me that some people would get offended by it. Strict adherents of Judaism aren't allowed to say the word "God" out loud and have rules about even writing the word down, so I can see why some would take offense with Jay casually throwing out references to God. At worst, though, this is a poor use of hyperbole on Jay's part.
The final claim made by the preacher against Jay-Z is that Jay is a Five Percenter. I've discussed the 5 Percenters before, and I realize that many people view the 5% beliefs as blasphemous, but to my knowledge Jay-Z is not a Five Percenter. So I'm going to have to acquit Jay on this final charge for lack of evidence.
Final Verdict: Jay-Z is not Satan.
9/28/2006 10:25:37 AM posted by Fresh