Artists can have greater access to reality; they can see patterns and details and connections that other people, distracted by the blur of life, might miss. Just sharing that truth can be a very powerful thing.
Jay-ZRead
No one came to our neighborhoods with stand-up jobs and showed us there's a different way. Maybe, had I seen different role models, maybe I'd've turned on to that.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The lack of positive role models in one's community can limit aspirations and opportunities for success.
In this quote, Jay-Z reflects on how the absence of influential figures with successful careers in his neighborhood affected his own outlook on possibilities for life. He suggests that if he had been exposed to different role models who demonstrated successful paths, it might have inspired him to pursue a different trajectory, highlighting the importance of representation and mentorship in shaping one's ambitions.
Themes
Role ModelsAspirationCommunitySuccessInspiration
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mentorship programs in schools.
More from Jay-Z
All quotes βThe most amazing feeling I feel_x000D_ _x000D_ Words can't describe what I'm feeling for real _x000D_ _x000D_ Maybe I paint the sky blue _x000D_ _x000D_ My greatest creation was you.
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Far from a Harvard student, just had the balls to do it
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I never ask for nothin' I don't demand of myself. Honesty, loyalty, friends and then wealth
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It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around and all of these games that we'd play, and suddenly it would turn just violent and there would be shootings at 12 in the afternoon on any given day.
Jay-ZRead
I would run into the corner store, the bodega, and just grab a paper bag or buy juice - anything just to get a paper bag. And I'd write the words on the paper bag and stuff these ideas in my pocket until I got back. Then I would transfer them into the notebook.
Jay-ZRead
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