![jay z empire state of mind original jay z empire state of mind original](https://www.songfacts.com/img-artists-240-34873.jpg)
The cult of Obama has the added dimension of being the tale of a singular black man overcoming historic obstacles, breaking the color line and achieving the highest office in the land.
![jay z empire state of mind original jay z empire state of mind original](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/empirestateofmind.jpeg)
This is why cops and soldiers are "heroes" and dissenters and the civil disobedient are troublemakers or enemies of the state. Even modern empires, like the U.S., often fall back on hero worship, adoration of strength and might over the rule of law and justice. The idea that the president transcends all worldly criticism corresponds with a different sort of "Empire State of Mind." Empires dating back to Egypt, Rome, Ancient China and Japan have depended on an "imperial cult," the notion that an emperor is to be worshipped as a messiah or a demigod. Two years later, the United Nations honored his work with a special humanitarian award. Carter met with policy makers, advocates, and poor, water-starved families in Angola and South Africa, and committed to building 1,000 clean water pumps in Africa. And there was The Diary of Jay Z: Water For Life, the 2006 MTV documentary that raised awareness of Africa's water crisis. He has been a high-profile giver: he and his mother started the John Carter Foundation ten years ago to help fund college-bound at-risk youth he tossed a million dollars into the Red Cross's coffers after Hurricane Katrina he is a partner in the Global Citizen Tickets Initiative - the brainchild of the Global Poverty Project meant to hip pop music fans to world poverty and compel them to act (via sharing on social media, writing elected officials, donating money) while dropping big bucks on concert tickets. Anyone familiar with the dictionary definition of "charity" will find the statement ridiculous, just as anyone familiar with Jay Z's philanthropic work will wonder why he would say such a thing. And when such a song is as heartening and well-crafted as "Empire State of Mind" is, it can work its magic even in the face of such divisive infield politics.Let me say at the outset that I am not interested in spats between celebrities or on expending precious energy on conflict-resolution for the Negro one-percent. Times being what they are, the need for this "unifying" type of hit becomes more apparent, acting as a tiny reaffirmation of a collective self that's becoming easier and easier to lose sight of completely.
![jay z empire state of mind original jay z empire state of mind original](https://www.musicnotes.com/images/productimages/mtd/MN0078121.gif)
And Jay, working with an almost exact approximation of his flow on "Run This Town", plays the nonchalant tour guide, pointing out landmarks to fill space even as his train of thought begins to break up. It's not that there's even anything terribly out-of-the-ordinary going on here: Keys' hook swings for the upper decks and subsequently the gut, working that "bright lights, big city" angle that appeals to the bridge-and-tunnel set as effectively as it does to people who've never actually visited NYC. Maybe there's something about the whole concept of the "New York City anthem" that's always going to resonate with and, to borrow a word, inspire us. What makes "Empire State of Mind" so undeniable is its innate magnetism- we can't help but drool over a big hook and even bigger ego, regardless of metropolitan affiliation.
![jay z empire state of mind original jay z empire state of mind original](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5Y3EDTKmpEE/mqdefault.jpg)
This thing was being banged to death, even earlier this week as the Phils stared down the short end of a daunting 3-1 series.
Jay z empire state of mind original windows#
Having recently transplanted to Philadelphia, where I watched the newly-appointed NLCS championship Phillies wait patiently to face the Yanks in the World Series, it became pretty clear that there wasn't a fucking chance I'd ever hear "Empire State of Mind" again in 2009 anywhere outside of regionally-insensitive corporate radio or hackneyed Philly-centric "remixes".īut oddly enough, there it was: at the bank and the corner store, pumping out of car windows on just about every block. A big, blustery scream-it-out-the-top-of-the-limo track, "Empire" checks most of the Boisterous Big Apple Anthem boxes, in the tradition of now-classics like Rakim's "New York (Ya Out There?)".
Jay z empire state of mind original series#
The minute Mariano Rivera closed out the ninth inning against the Angels to win the Yankees a 40th ALCS pennant, it went without saying that New York had already found its World Series theme song in "Empire State of Mind", one of a precious few highlights on Jay-Z's mostly half-baked The Blueprint 3.