The press release issued yesterday included an opportunity to request an interview with Jay-Z regarding the Cristal boycott. I didn’t see the release till late and didn’t expect to necessarily get an interview but I requested one anyway. However, I’ve just been informed that I won’t be talking to Jay-Z anytime soon.
I have no complaints about that but I just hope that somebody will ask him some serious questions rather than playing Stan the Journo/Fan. Hopefully, he got a lot of non-hip hop media requests since hip hop journalists tend to have difficulty asking real questions.
The Complete Account:
ProHipHop Coverage & Analysis of Jay-Z’s Cristal Boycott
That’s a shame. But you know who they will grant interviews to, the old boys network, which consists of… allhiphop, XXL, The Source, Vibe and maybe Sohh. They always get the exclusive interviews…..
I just received an email myself. Apparently he won’t be granting any interviews at all for now, due to an overwhelming response.
Surprise surprise. I’m not holding my breath either. Although I haven’t received an email yet so who knows maybe Nah Right will be awarded the exclusive (yeah right). I mean, I’m a well known Jay stan but I’d be willing to ask the tough questions.
BTW – just curious, what would the tough questions be in relation to this subject?
I wouldn’t be surprised if they grant you an interview with him Eskay… you got that XXL connection now lol.
That’s right, Eskay’s famous! Or something.
Actually, I would expect regular news outlets to pick up on this. Jay-Z is a major figure in hip hop well known outside of hip hop. Dealer to artist to CEO, American success story, boyfriend to Beyonce, etc.
Now he’s taking on the French, self made success attacking the snobs who didn’t support us in the war kind of thing [even if we no longer support our selves in the war.]
I could see interest coming from television news shows, the NY Times, etc. ranging from entertainment to biz reporting though I’d bet entertainment news and how do we fill up this minute or close the show with an interesting tidbit type spots are most likely.
You know, Cristal’s Biggest Booster Boycotts Beverage!
We’ll see, I guess. The email I got does sound like he’s not doing any at all. But he may have done some yesterday and I imagine he went for the biggest opportunities.
I’m free associating here, by the way.
Here are some places I would go, not all of which could be considered tough, it’s partly in how you follow up whatever response you get that matters.
If I was on the blogging tip, I’d ask how he found out. If an associate brought it, how did they found out and who was that person. Either way, did they know the idea was raised at Nah Right? That direction would focus on whether or not he has simply stolen a grassroots idea to look good and catch the street’s attention.
If I took a business news approach, I would want to do some prior research about actual Cristal sales. Since my impression is that they are always running out, I would pursue the idea that I’ve floated in posts regarding why he thinks this will impact Roederer. I would also want his sales figures in order to know just how much this would actually hurt Roederer in terms of sales.
Ideally I would want to talk to that guy from Cristal before talking to Jay-Z to have followup quotes for Jay-Z’s response.
I would really want to ask if Jay-Z only read the Economist article and is normally in the habit of calling people racist and making business decisions based on three lines taken out of context.
I would want to know if he attempted to contact Roederer to get more information.
If I was trying to provoke him, I might want to ask him questions regarding whether or not this is just another ridiculous hip hop beef and is Roederer management in physical danger? Will he mob up on those guys in the South of France? What would Biggie Smalls do?
On the political tip, I might ask him why should anybody care about beef between rich people who drink ridiculously high priced beverages? I.E., why does this matter?
I might ask him how he feels this relates to issues within France regarding rap and the French inability to build a truly multicultural society.
These questions aren’t necessarily tough, but they represent a somewhat skeptical perspective regarding a boycott of high priced champagne, which is a very rare event and unlikely to have any real effects on everyday people’s lives.
I’d want him to have to explain any terms he uses like racist, not to define them, but to explain how this is racist. I would push him on that point, whether I felt it was racist or not.
I’d want him to have to explain why this should matter to anyone except Richie Rich? I.e., if he hadn’t sold a lot of records to the middle and lower classes, was there really any other reason for them to pay attention?
Stuff like that.
“Actually, I would expect regular news outlets to pick up on this.”
You’re right – and the BBC already did pick up on it!
“I might ask him how he feels this relates to issues within France regarding rap and the French inability to build a truly multicultural society.”
Part of the French inability to build a truly multicultural society is stereotyps about blacks all being fundamentalist Muslims or something. Wouldn’t the stereotypers assume blacks don’t drink champagne?
I’ve just seen the BBC’s online coverage but it’s pretty much the same material as everybody here got through the Associated Press. I did hear that it got on one of the entertainment news tv shows here and one of the hosts apologized to Jay-Z and said they were still going to drink Cristal.
It seems to be either a news brief or entertainment news item that’s not viewed as substantial enough to pursue past the wire reports.