(AllHipHop News) Jay-Z and Beyoncé had some people upset on Sunday. The Roc Nation founder and his family were seen sitting as Demi Lovato was singing the National Anthem.
During a Columbia University Q&A, Professor Jelani Cobb asked Jay if he was conveying a signal by not standing for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” He explained that it was not meant to be a political statement.
“It actually wasn’t. Sorry. It really wasn’t,” said Jay. “What happened was, we got there, we were sitting, and now the show’s about to start. My wife was with me and so she says to me, ‘I know this feeling right here.’ She’s super-nervous because she’s performed at Super Bowls before. I haven’t… So we get there and we immediately jump into artist mode… Now I’m really just looking at the show. Did the mic start? Was it too low to start?”
The 4:44 creator added, “By the way, we couldn’t stage that because [my daughter] Blue was right next to us. We wouldn’t do that to Blue, put her in that position… If we told her we were going to do something like that, you would’ve seen her tackle me a hundred times.”
Jay-Z was at Columbia University’s African American and African Diaspora Studies Department to launch the Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter Lecture Series. The program also covered the Hip Hop mogul’s music career, legacy, activism, and philanthropy.
“This unique lecture series, named for one of our most important and influential cultural figures, helps to establish the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department at Columbia as a major intellectual and cultural center,” stated Farah Jasmine Griffin, chair of AAADS Department.