Jay-Z Inducted Into Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame By Dave Chappelle + Salutes Roc-A-Fella Co-Founder Damon Dash During Acceptance Speech: I Know We Don’t See Eye To Eye, But I Can Never Erase Your Accomplishments

November 1, 2021 by Nick Fenley in Music with 0 Comments

Jay-Z Inducted Into Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame By Dave Chappelle + Salutes Roc-A-Fella Co-Founder Damon Dash During Acceptance Speech: I Know We Don’t See Eye To Eye, But I Can Never Erase Your Accomplishments

Jay-Z is officially part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

This past Saturday (Oct. 30th), Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. During the Cleveland-based event, the rapper-turned-entrepreneur was notably honored by Barack Obama. The former U.S. President paid tribute to Jay-Z in a pre-recorded video, saying:

“I’ve turned to Jay-Z’s words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery. Today, Jay-Z is one of the most renowned artists in history and an embodiment of the American dream, a dream he has helped make real for other young people like him. So let me be one of the first to welcome home the kid from Marcy Houses… as an official Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.”

Barack Obama

Shortly thereafter, Jay-Z was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Dave Chappelle, who recently found himself in a transphobia controversy. The comedian humorously referred to his controversy at the beginning of his induction speech:

“I would like to apologize… I’m just f***in’ with you! This is an incredible honor to induct this next man into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But I need everybody in rock & roll to know that even though we are honoring him, he is ours. He is hip-hop. Forever and ever and a day… This man is a diamond that was born of pressure. To coin a phrase that fellow Hall of Famer made, Tupac Shakur called it a rose that rose from the concrete. That to us, is what hip hop is.”

Dave Chappelle later added:

“Hova, my friend, I’m a fan. I’m honored that I got a chance to know you. You embody Black excellence, how great we can be. When Barack Obama was running for president, I sat in an arena in Columbus, and watched you influence the crowd and make sure we’re unified and vote as a body. I understand who you are. And I understand what you do and I a very grateful for your contribution to this art. And I am honored to be the n***a that gets to say ‘My n***a, welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.'”

Dave Chappelle

Jay-Z then took the stage to give a lengthy acceptance speech. Perhaps the most noteworthy portion of his self-proclaimed “long-a** speech” was his acknowledgment of Damon Dash, with who he’s been embroiled in a legal battle for numerous months. Earlier this year, Damon Dash sought to sell his one-third share of Jay-Z‘s Reasonable Doubt album through a non-fungible token (NFT)–a digital asset that allows someone to own a piece of online art. However, this ultimately resulted in a serious legal battle between the pair.

During his speech, Jay-Z said:

“Shout out to Dame, I know we don’t see eye to eye, but I can never erase your accomplishments. And I appreciate you and I thank you for that. Shout out to Biggs. He was one of the most honorable people I’ve ever met and we created something that will probably never be duplicated. I appreciate you guys. Thank you for our journey. Thank you. Thank you for your contribution to this journey.”