4 chapters across the catalog
The discussion focuses on how celebrity "ownership" in sports teams, such as Jay-Z's minority stake in the Brooklyn Nets, is often used as a marketing tool to gain community support for projects that ultimately displace residents. The hosts argue that the term "owner" is used ambiguously to mask the fact that these celebrities often own less than 1% of the entity.
MSNBC's Joy Reid criticized Kyrie Irving, calling his stance an "anti-vax tirade" and mocking the comparison to Muhammad Ali made by Stephon Marbury. The hosts argue that Reid is "triggered" because Irving's calm, soft-spoken defense of personal choice is difficult to marginalize. They suggest the media industrial complex is desperate to smear Irving because he represents a threat to the mandatory vaccination narrative.
Actress Ja'Net DuBois, known for her role on "Good Times," passed away on February 17, 2020. She is remembered for writing and performing "Moving On Up," the theme song for "The Jeffersons." The song was inspired by her personal dream of moving her mother out of a Brooklyn ghetto and achieving the American dream of homeownership.
Jay-Z is identified as a pioneer in using a "black face" to facilitate gentrification, specifically regarding the development of the Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets. The hosts argue that his small ownership stake was used as a marketing tool to suppress community pushback against large-scale redevelopment. This model is compared to how other rappers are used as figureheads for real estate projects in their respective cities.
