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Jay-Z’s Scathing New Track Elicits Response From White House

Apr 11, 2013  •  Post A Comment

In the wake of an alleged unauthorized trip to Cuba by Jay-Z and wife Beyonce, Jay-Z released a track today blasting politicians — and earning a response from the White House, USA Today reports.

The track, “Open Letter,” includes the lyrics: "Politicians never did (expletive) for me / except lie to me, distort history," "I done turned Havana to Atlanta / Guayabera shirts and bandannas," "Boy from the hood got White House clearance,” and "They wanna give me jail time and a fine — Fine, let me commit a real crime."

Many of the references appear to address the controversy stirred up by the Cuba trip, with Florida lawmakers among those looking into whether the trip was illegal. Today the White House responded to the reference to "White House clearance."

Said Jay Carney, the president’s press secretary: "I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury. … Because Treasury offers and gives licenses for travel, as you know, and the White House has nothing to do with it. "

Carney also said: "I am absolutely saying that the White House and president on down has not had anything to do with anyone’s travel to Cuba — that is something [for] Treasury to handle."

Carney added: "It’s a song. The president did not communicate with Jay-Z over this trip."

 

2 Comments

  1. Please. How many times has the Treasury Dept invited Jay-Z and Beyonce over for an evening party? Zero. And how many times has the White House invited them over during the past 4 years? File that question under “things CNN will never report”! The fact is, the occupants of the White House were thrilled with Mr. and Mrs. Beyonce, until today, or at least this quickly dies down. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/adele-and-beyonce-for-michelle-obama-first-lady-birthday_n_2847770.html?

  2. Don’t kid yourself. This was intentional. This was the first test in the White House attempt to normalize relations with Cuba and open it back up for travel by Americans.

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