Brooklyn's biggest ego has a new message for all the haters.
In a new track recorded and released in 24 hours, Jay-Z insists he’s cashing out of the Brooklyn Nets — but not abandoning the borough or its arena.
“Would’ve brought the Nets to Brooklyn for free/Except I made millions off it, you f---in’ dweeb,” he rhymes in his new track, “Open Letter,” directed at critics from Havana to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
The message comes on the heels of Jay’s announcement he will sell his 1/15 of 1% share in the Nets so his new sports rep agency, Roc Nation Sports, can pursue NBA clients. League rules bar sports agents from owning NBA teams.
The rapper has already signed Giants receiver Victor Cruz and Yankee star Robinson Cano. But as Jay-Z raps in the track, he remains invested in the arena itself.
“I still own the building, I’m still keeping my seat/Y’all buy that bulls--t/you’d better keep your receipt.”
Beyonce and hubby Jay-Z are surrounded by fans as they tour Old Havana in Cuba, Thursday, April 4. Permission to travel to the country was granted by the U.S. Treasury, officials said.
“That whole stadium is engineered to generate money for Jay-Z,” said Zack O’Malley Greenburg, author of a biography on the hip-hop magnate.
He noted the 40/40 Club and a store that sells Rocawear clothing are in the arena. Products in which Jay-Z has invested, such as Armand de Brignac Champagne, are also featured in the Barclays Center.
Nevertheless, any mention of profits yielded through the arena rubbed some Brooklynites the wrong way.
“As soon as he found a better deal for himself, he dumped (the Nets),” said Daniel Goldstein, a longtime critic of the development. “It’s about Jay-Z and his business and this is the best business move for him to do. It’s got nothing to do with the Nets or Brooklyn.”
A source in Jay-Z’s camp said the “dweebs” he referenced were not Brooklynites buying into the new team.
'Open Letter' lyrics contain several f-bombs and nasty remarks aimed at politicians.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said rap lyrics mean little to him. “I came to Jay-Z’s concert here for his first show, and my wife and I looked at each other and we barely understood a word,” he noted at Barclays on Thursday night after giving his state of the borough speech.
Basketball isn’t the only one of Jay-Z’s 99 problems addressed in the tune. He also takes aim at haters who blasted his trip to Cuba with wife Beyoncé last week.
“Politicians never did s--t for me/except lie to me, distort history,” the rapper spews, “I . . . turned Havana into Atlanta.”
The song implies the White House approved the trip: “Boy from the hood/but got White House clearance.” But Jay Carney, White House press secretary, shot down that claim.
Jay-Z announced he will sell his shares of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center to start sports agency.
But according to the song, the pair are pals: “Obama said, ‘Chill, you gonna get me impeached’/But you don’t need this s--t anyway/Chill with me on the beach.”
One thing was for sure: The song was a great publicity move.
“He’s got y’all again. This is classic Jay,” said Trey Smith, 30, of Brownsville. “He gets you thinking one thing and he’s going the other way. He’s got everyone off guard.”
See the complete lyrics below:
I done turned Havana to Atlanta
Guayabera shirts and bandanas
Every time you think they got me I switch the planna
Bulletproof this, radio scanners
Ballin' 'til they ban us
You gettin' too much bread, they try to jam you
Boy from the hood but got White House clearance
Sorry y'all, I don't agree with y'all appearance
Politicians never did s--- for me
Except lie to me, distort history
Wanna give me jail time and a fine
Fine, let me commit a real crime
I might buy a kilo for Chief Keef
Out of spite, I just might flood these streets
Hear the freedom in my speech
Got an onion from Universal, read it and weep
Would've brought the Nets to Brooklyn for free
Except I made millions off it, you f----n' dweeb
I still own the building, I'm still keeping my seat
Y'all buy that bulls---, you'd better keep y'all receipt
Obama said "chill, you gonna get me impeached"
But you don't need this s--- anyway
Chill with me on the beach
Y'all gon' learn today
Ya'll almost want to start a revolution
You know whenever I'm threatened, I start shooting, bark
Catch a body, head to Houston
I'm in Cuba, I love Cubans
This communist talk is so confusing
When it's from China, the very mic that I'm using
Idiot wind, the Bob Dylan of rap music
You're an idiot, baby, you should become a student
Oh, you gonna learn today
Where the f--- have you been
The world's under new management
The new role model, f--- this Zoolander s---
