Rapper Jay Electronica sparks anti-Semitism controversy
Jay Electronica performs on stage on Day 2 of the 2018 Governors Ball Music Festival on June 2, 2018 in New York City. Image by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images
(JTA) — The respected rapper and producer Jay Electronica — a friend of Louis Farrakhan — released his debut album on Friday and it’s already causing controversy.
On the “Ghost of Soulja Slim” track, about a late rapper friend, Electronica raps in the second verse:
“And I bet you a Rothschild I get a bang for my dollar/
The synagogue of Satan want me to hang by my collar.”
Peter Rosenberg, a Jewish radio personality who appears on multiple rap and sports shows, took issue with the lines. At first he tweeted about a different reference Electronica made to the “synagogue of Satan,” one of multiple phrases from the New Testament that has prompted theological debate throughout history. Rosenberg said the phrase made him uncomfortable.
“My feet might fail me, my heart might ail me
The synagogues of Satan might accuse or jail me”Not feeling this bar from Jay Electronica and I know I’m not the only person who felt a way about it .
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) March 14, 2020
But then Rosenberg corrected his mistake, saying he meant to discuss Electronica’s more recent use of the line, showing in the process that Electronica has used the term more than once.
Apologies I quoted the wrong song … when I googled “Synagogue of Satan” — I mistakenly assumed Jay only said it once… this is the second time … the line this time is “The synagogue of Satan want me to hang by my collar” . lol my bad..songs dope besides that cringe though
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) March 14, 2020
Rosenberg didn’t comment on the Rothschild line, even though the prominent European Jewish banking family is referenced in a number of the more well-known international anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
But the Rothschild name check also could be an innuendo to a past rumored romance between Electronica and Kate Rothschild, a member of the family who had a business relationship with the rapper.
The song also begins with audio from a speech by Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam who has called Jews “satanic” (among other things) in the past. Electronica is a longtime member of the Nation of Islam, and he and Farrakhan are close — despite the fact that his raps are full of profanity, which is shunned by the Nation. Farrakhan has defended Electronica’s profanity in the past.
Jay-Z, who earned some words of caution from the Anti-Defamation League for one of his own rap lines in 2017, is featured on the track and heavily throughout the album titled “A Written Testimony.”
In a series of heated tweets to Rosenberg, Electronica said he stands behind “every single word” on the album. Electronica challenged Rosenberg to a public forum of sorts with theological scholars, then Rosenberg invited him onto his morning show — but the beef seemed to end there.
The post Rapper Jay Electronica sparks anti-Semitism controversy with Rothschild and ‘synagogue of Satan’ lyrics appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
