Jay Z reflects on the impact that hip hop has had on racial relations during Oprah’s Master Class. “I think hip hop has done more for racial relations than most cultural icons. Save Martin Luther King, because his dream speech we realized[d] when President Obama got elected,” he adds,”But, the impact of the music, you know, this music didn’t only influence kids from urban areas. It influenced people all around the world.”
Shawn Carter has been a huge part of hip hop since 1996 and speaks on the changes the genre has made around the world over the years. “Before people partied in separate clubs. There were hip hop clubs and there were techno clubs. Now people party together, and once you have people partying, dancing, and singing alone to the same music, then conversations naturally happen after that.” He goes on to say “I truly believe that racism is taught when you’re young so it’s very difficult to teach racism when your kid looks up to Snoop Doggy Dogg.”
Watch more below and reflect back on Jay’z thoughts on discrimination here.
© 2015, Julie Aly. All rights reserved.
