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Music

JAY-Z Trashes Trump, Plays "Family Feud" and "Numb/Encore" at BBC Radio

"This guy, I’m looking at him like, man, this is a joke, with all—I can’t even say with all due respect—with all disrespect. I just think he’s not a very sophisticated man."

JAY-Z swung by the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge on Thursday, playing one new track and one old. He performed "Family Feud," taken from the still-brilliant 4:44, and payed tribute to the late Chester Bennington with a performance of his 2004 Linkin Park collaboration, "Numb/Encore." The Live Lounge can occasionally feel sterile and stilted, but both performances came across with clarity and power because, well, it's JAY-Z. He could perform with a child's microphone in a hospital bathroom and remain compelling.

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What did come as a surprise was his comment on Donald Trump. Hov has stayed relatively tight-lipped on the racist buffoon in the White House up until now, but he was forthright in his interview with BBC's Clara Amfro. "I believe that everything that happens in life is for your greatest good, and I don't think that this is happening if we weren't prepared to handle it," he said. "I'm just looking forward to what's next after that, because usually when things are darkest, then light is on its way. I'm not fearful."

JAY-Z never said the word "Trump," but the direction of his comments wasn't in doubt. No prizes for guessing who "this guy" is:

"I believe that we are resilient, especially us as black people and especially the culture. We've been through so much more than this guy. This guy, I'm looking at him like, man, this is a joke, with all—I can't even say with all due respect—with all disrespect. I just think he's not a very sophisticated man, especially when it comes to the idea of until everyone is free, no one is free. Period. That's just a fact. We are all linked some kind of way. So if you oppress a certain people, everyone is in danger, karmically and in real life. If I'm being oppressed and you have this big, nice mansion, I'm coming inside there. That's gonna happen, that's just how life is. So just on a practical level, that just makes sense. On a spiritual and karmic level, if we're all children of God, then we're all brothers and sisters, and at some point, if you're doing that to your brother, then that can't last."

Check out the interview in full at the top of the page, and watch the performances of "Family Feud" and "Numb/Encore" below.

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