Jay-Z: ‘America needs more jobs, not more police’

Rapper Jay-Z showed off his political debating skills on U.S. show Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday night (02Aug13), when he battled with panelists, including revered former U.S. Representative Barney Frank, on policing issues. The 99 Problems hitmaker was a special guest on the weekly current affairs show and he was determined to let Maher and his other guests know what he thought about issues facing America.
And when the conversation turned towards police and the middle class, he argued with Frank that the country didn’t need more police officers to combat crime – but more jobs.
He said, “More jobs would be better than police. I don’t want to scare America, but the real problem is there’s no middle class; the gap between the haves and the have nots is getting wider and wider. It’s going to be a problem that no amount of police can solve.”
Jay-Z also opened up about his feud with legendary singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte after the Carmen Jones star criticised the rapper and his wife Beyonce for “turning their back on social responsibility”.
The hip hop star said, “If it was a real problem, I’m not very difficult to find, especially for a man of that stature. He could reach out to me and we could have a conversation and do some good together. I just thought it was a bit grandstanding and I didn’t appreciate that. Especially dragging my wife into it, it was a bit of a low blow.”
Jay-Z made such a good impression on the show that Maher hinted that he should enter politics and put some of his vast wealth behind a run for office.