The Life & Rhymes of Jay-Z, an Historical Biography
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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE LIFE & RHYMES OF JAY-Z, AN HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY: 1969-2004 Omékongo Dibinga, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Dr. Barbara Finkelstein, Professor Emerita, University of Maryland College of Education. Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the life and ideas of Jay-Z. It is an effort to illuminate the ways in which he managed the vicissitudes of life as they were inscribed in the political, economic cultural, social contexts and message systems of the worlds which he inhabited: the social ideas of class struggle, the fact of black youth disempowerment, educational disenfranchisement, entrepreneurial possibility, and the struggle of families to buffer their children from the horrors of life on the streets. Jay-Z was born into a society in flux in 1969. By the time Jay-Z reached his 20s, he saw the art form he came to love at the age of 9—hip hop— become a vehicle for upward mobility and the acquisition of great wealth through the sale of multiplatinum albums, massive record deal signings, and the omnipresence of hip-hop culture on radio and television. In short, Jay-Z lived at a time where, if he could survive his turbulent environment, he could take advantage of new terrains of possibility. This dissertation seeks to shed light on the life and development of Jay-Z during a time of great challenge and change in America and beyond. THE LIFE & RHYMES OF JAY-Z, AN HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY: 1969-2004 An historical biography: 1969-2004 by Omékongo Dibinga Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Professor Barbara Finkelstein, Chair Professor Steve Klees Professor Robert Croninger Professor Derrick Alridge Professor Hoda Mahmoudi © Copyright by Omékongo Dibinga 2015 Acknowledgments I would first like to thank God for making life possible and bringing me to this point in my life. I thank my ancestors for fighting every single day over centuries so that I may have a better life and even an opportunity to pursue my graduate studies. I thank my parents, Dr. Ngolela wa Kabongo and Dr. Dibinga wa Said for not only igniting a passion for education in me, but making every sacrifice possible to ensure that your children had a better life. Your journey from colonial Congo to The United States was not a voyage made in vain. You provided the blueprint for me on what it means to be an educator, an activist, a parent, and a humble human being. Asante sana, nakupenda sana. I thank my siblings: Said, Musau, Muadi, Yandje, Kabongo, Pata, Simba, and Moumié for providing me with the confidence I needed to believe that I could be successful in life. You also protected me growing up in the crime and drug infested streets of Boston, Massachusetts and so it is no exaggeration to say that I may not be alive were it not for you. To their spouses and significant others: Taalib, Csilla, Mary, and Janelle, thank you too for believing in my potential. To my nieces and nephews: Taalib, Shaumba, Mzuri, Kasai, Jalani-Musau, Zoltan, Kata, Said and Ngolela, please know that you can do whatever you set your mind to and let this be an example for that notion. Though there are many other extended family members I could thank here, I must directly acknowledge my aunt, Dr. Musau wa Kabongo for giving me continued motivation to complete my doctoral studies when I often wanted to quit. I would like to thank The University of Maryland for accepting me into such a great program. I would like to thank Dr. Barbara Finkelstein for agreeing to be my dissertation chair though you were in a different department. Your guidance, wisdom, and expertise have truly been invaluable to me. Thank you also Dr. Jim Finkelstein for opening your home to me and so ii many other students over the years. I learned a great deal about service just by observing you over the years. May you forever rest in peace. I thank Dr. Carole Anne Spreen for believing in me since the first day we met. I literally could not have continued my studies without your help. It seemed as if every semester you were helping me find a graduate assistantship so I could continue my studies. No assistantship at Maryland was more meaningful than working as your teaching assistant. I want to thank Dr. Derrick Alridge for agreeing with Dr. Spreen and allowing me to teach graduate and undergraduate students at The Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. That invaluable experience served as a springboard for my current teaching positions at American University. I would like to thank Dr. Michael Eric Dyson for your continued support of my work. Working as your teaching assistant for four years provided me with such an in-depth knowledge of not only Jay-Z, but you renewed my passion for academia and inspired me to complete my doctoral studies. Thank you Reverend Marcia Dyson for believing I had the talent to work for Dr. Dyson and introducing us. Thank you Dr. Sharon Fries-Britt for your support and modeling teaching excellence. Thank you also to Drs. Steve Klees, Hoda Mahmoudi, and Robert Croninger for agreeing to serve on my committee. Dr. Klees, thank you for seeing the potential in me to be a student in your program. Special thanks to Lattisha Hall and Caroline Ordiales Scott for your administrative support in this process. To Jay-Z. I always respected your ability as a rapper, but there was a time where I would not even place you in my list of top ten rappers. That was because I did not know your story. Listening to your Black Album convinced me that I need to know your story and sparked the idea for this dissertation. I see us opposite sides of the same coin and realize that a complete story of any person cannot be told until the coin is flipped. My respect for you has grown through this iii process and I thank you for your efforts to make sure that multiple stories of the American experience are told. To my children: Saafi, Ndeji, and Yenga, you are the reason I wake up every day and work as hard as possible to make this world a better place. Nothing you will ever learn from me will be equal to all that I learn and continue to learn from you. None of you were even born when I started this doctoral journey but each time one of you came into my life, my motivation grew to continue on. I literally wrote much of this dissertation with you sleeping on my lap (as you are right now Yenga). You are powerful beyond your measure and know that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to if you believe in yourself. Remember that life does not care about your excuses, only your results. Use this dissertation as an example of that. I love you. Kendra. There is just too much I can write here. You have been my partner and wife for 21 years. I would not have even entered the University of Maryland if it was not for you— literally. I was first rejected from Maryland and then accepted a year later because my application was kept on hold. I was already into my career and asked you if I should even go and your response without hesitation was “You better go!” the rest was history. Had you said I did not need to go, I would not have but like you have done so many times in our life together, your vision of what is possible for me often surpasses my own vision for what I believe I can do. You are just an incredible woman and I am so honored to be on this journey with you. I love you. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………………...ii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….v Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Purpose & significance...……………………………………………………….................1 Research questions…………………………………………………….…………………..5 Literature review…………………………………………………………………………..6 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………..13 Limitations…………………………………………………………………….................16 Chronology and chapter outline…………………………………………………..….......17 Chapter 1: prelude to a hustler (1969-1982) ………….................................................................19 Chapter 2: The evolution of a hustler in search of community (1983-1994)………...…………..43 Chapter 3: Regrets on the road to riches (1995-2000)…………………………………………...76 Chapter 4: The hustler meets the human being in search of the American Dream (2001- 2004)……………………………………..……………………………………………………..115 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...156 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………................176 v The folks from the suburbs and the private schools so concerned with putting warning labels on my records missed the point. They never stopped to worry about the realities in this country that spread poverty and racism and gun violence and hatred of women and drug use and unemployment. People can act like rappers spread these things, but that is not true. Our lives are not rotten or worthless just because that’s what people say about the real estate that we were raised on. In fact, our lives may be even more worthy of study because we succeeded despite the promises of failure seeping out from behind the peeling paint on the walls of every apartment in every project.1 -Jay-Z2 Introduction In the shadows of the lives of many rappers who grew up in impoverished communities in the 1960s, lie stories of creativity and despair born from a struggle against the force of adverse circumstance: the struggle for attention in an overcrowded classroom; the struggle to find a unique and authentic voice and form of expression; the struggle to develop a talent and a capacity to rescue families from the ravages of poverty.