Earlier this week, Jay-Z announced that his Roc Nation company would make an unlikely partnership with the NFL. The rap star explained that he still supports protesting, kneeling, and NFL player Colin Kaepernick, but he also wants to work with the league to make substantial changes.
On Wednesday, Jay-Z answered questions at his New York City headquarters alongside NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. One of the questions he was asked was if he would kneel or stand and he responded with, “I think we’ve moved past kneeling and I think it’s time to go into actionable items.” He supports protesting, but believes that actions need to be taken in order to make changes.
Many were wondering if Jay-Z talked to Kaepernick and he said that they did have a conversation about the deal but he did not go into detail about what they discussed. He also touched upon the first discussion about the partnership with the NFL saying “First thing I said to Roger was, ‘If this is about me performing at the Super Bowl, then we can just end this conversation now.'”
Jay-Z shot down any indications that he would be performing at the 2020 halftime show saying his company will co-produce it, but he will not be performing because he doesn’t like the process. He also gave his thoughts on this years Super Bowl. Maroon 5 headlined this year’s halftime show and when it was announced that Travis Scott was to join as a special guest, there were reports saying that Jay-Z didn’t want the rapper to perform. He confirmed these reports were true and clarified it had nothing to do with Kaepernick.
He went into it and explained “My problem is (Travis) had the biggest year to me last year, and he’s playing on a stage that had an M on it. I didn’t see any reason for him to play second fiddle to anyone that year and that was my argument.” Jay-Z made some good points during his Q&A session and it looks like this partnership will make some positive changes in the NFL.
