Jay-Z Blasted by '21 Jumpstreet' Director Over Cuba Trip
Jay-Z responded to critics of his Cuba trip with a song called "Open Letter" and now "21 Jump Street" director Phil Lord has responded to the song with an open letter of his own, blasting the rapper for "being a bad artist."
Although Jay-Z's Cuban excurision with his wife, Beyoncé, and both their mothers was approved by the U.S. Treasury Department, Lord -- the son of a Cuban refugee -- told the Huffington Post that the rapper's newest single upset him to the point where he had to speak his mind.
An Open Letter to Jay-Z
Dear Mr. Z,
I just heard your new track, "Open Letter," released today. It's got everything I love about your music: looping internal rhymes, an infectious beat, and imagery that draws me into a kind of swaggering, defiant fantasy.
Speaking of defiant fantasies, I've been following news of your recent trip to the island nation of Cuba. As the son of a Cuban refugee, and cousin and nephew to many Cubans on the island, I cringe when Americans visit Cuba for a fun island vacation. For one thing it's illegal (which nobody seems to care about), but more importantly, it's either ignorant of or calloused to the struggles of Cubans on the island. I actually encourage my friends to travel to Cuba, to bear witness to one of the great tragedies of our time, to learn about the real Cuba, to put a human face on the caricature of Americans that the Castros propagate. Exchange and travel between our two nations should be a catalyst for change, as it has been even in my own family. But for me, Cuba is not the place to have a fun, sexy, vacation. Because for Cubans on the island and living elsewhere, it's not.
So when I heard of your visit, I thought to myself, Jay Z seems like a smart, thoughtful guy. He doesn't realize what he's walking into. He probably just thinks Cuba is a chic place to relax with the family. He probably just doesn't know the things I know.
He likely doesn't know that the Cuban tourism industry is run by the Cuban military, so when he spends money at an officially sanctioned hotel, or restaurant, he is directly funding the oppressors of the Cuban people.
He doesn't know that most Cubans have poor access to independent news sources, the internet, books, and food.
He doesn't know that Cuba has two health systems, one for the well-connected, and one for everyone else.
He doesn't know that before Castro, the Cuban peso traded one-to-one with the dollar, and that since then, the Castros have raided the nation's coffers and introduced widespread poverty to a once prosperous nation.
He doesn't know that my ancestors fought to free Cuba from Spain, and to set up a democracy to ensure that they would always be free.
rest at https://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/jay-z-lectured-21-jumpstreet-director-cuba-trip-open-letter-85551
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