In a Twitter Spaces conversation, the Roc Nation founder acknowledges that the comedian and his friend 'pushed a lot of buttons,' but thinks that 'great art is divisive.'
- Nov 8, 2021
AceShowbiz - Jay-Z has spoken up in defense of Dave Chappelle amid the backlash over his controversial jokes on "The Closer". In a Twitter Spaces conversation with Vulture's Craig Jenkins on Friday, the hip-hop mogul praised his friend as "super brave and super genius."
"I think that Dave is super brave and super genius," he said when asked about his thought on the comedian's controversial Netflix special. He acknowledged, "If you spend time with him, he's brilliant and I think he pushed a lot of buttons. I watched it sometimes like, 'Ah! Ah!' "
Hova insinuated that Dave's work is "true art," stating, "I think what happens with true art is that it has to cause conversation." He went on explaining, "Sometimes it's going to abrasive, something it's going to be off-putting to folks. But it opens up an opportunity to have a dialogue."
"These algorithms and things on these sites allow you to talk to people who agree with you. We have to speak to one another when we disagree…," he continued. "Anything that doesn't have that tension, it's not going to be real. We had fake conversations all this time before Trump was in office, then we got to see people for who they really were. And then we got to have real conversations... "
When pressed by the host as to whether "The Closer" is "divisive," Jay-Z declined to speak specifically to Dave's work. He responded, "I don't want to answer for Dave Chappelle, so I'm not speaking specifically to his work - I think great art is divisive. Some people like it, some people hate it. When you're making great art, you have to be fearless and create something that you believe in. That's what it's about."
Jay-Z's comments on Dave's controversy comes after the funnyman introduced Jigga at the latter's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, during which he briefly touched on the backlash over his homophobic jokes. "I would like to apologize to… Nah, I'm just f***in’ with ya," he teased, before praising his friend as "hip-hop, forever and ever and a day."
