Jay-Z is a complicated man. He grew up in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, New York but rapped and hustled his way to one of the most successful entertainers of all time.
Religion wasn't a big part of Jay-Z's family growing up, but growing up where he did, Jay-Z experienced all kinds, saying:
Church wasn't a major part of my life growing up… But when you grow up in a place like Bed-Stuy, church is everywhere. So is mosque. So are a thousand other ways of believing.[1]
He is religious, though. At least he's not an atheist. He has said:
For the record, I of course believe in God, but I believe in one God. If people must know my religious beliefs, I believe in one God. I don't believe in religion. I don't believe in Christians or Muslims. I think all that separates people. I think it's one God. I think it's all the same God, and I don't believe in Hell.[2]
Fuck 'em all–except Obama
One side of Jay-Z seems to feel that politics is all lies and corruption–and he wants no part of it, saying:
I'm not interested in politics. I have zero interest. I have interest in hope and people. Politics – I still think it's a bunch of liars and a bunch of self-interest. It's not about people, it's about themselves and their rise to power…[politicians] don't have the balls to say, 'I believe in this, I don't care what happens.' And until that happens, nothing is going to get fixed; you're still going to have 14 year olds in cities with AK-47s.[3]
But when it comes to Obama, Jay-Z must have changed his mind, because he supported the president's 2008 campaign,[4] he and his wife, Beyonce, are buddies with the first family, even popping in to the White House just for a visit,[5] and Jay-Z even came out in support of Obama's "Buffet Rule," saying:
I wouldn't mind paying more taxes if it went to the things that really mattered. If it went to education, to people in poverty, if it went to the right things, I wouldn't mind.[6]
He's got "hope" for some "change," y'all!
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