Jay-Z’s new avant-garde video for “On to the Next One” — with images of ram skulls, black crows and a Joker-like clown — has some bloggers talking that Jay is dabbling in demonic imagery and Freemason symbolism. Hov thinks that’s ridiculous.
“I got a lot of money,” Hov told Power 105.1 radio host Ed Lover on Wednesday (January 13). “When people get a lot of money, they start getting those rumors like Tom Cruise, Willie Smith. That’s ridiculous.” Listen HERE
Hov is also the subject of a new independent street DVD that alleges he is “Hip-Hop’s Master Mason” and the Blueprint pays homage to a secret society.
“That’s crazy to me,” Jay scoffed. “I gotta remind people I’m from Marcy Projects. I can’t get into a golf club in Palm Springs.”
Swizz Beatz also denied rumors that the “On to the Next One” clip promotes devil worship.
“I don’t think about that. I know that’s a billion percent not true. The video displays another level of art and creativity from two great minds: the director and Jay — and myself, bringing the collaboration together. It’s no satanic ways around me and that’s for sure,” he explained. “I’m with Jay — I never see none of that stuff around him unless he’s hiding something, which I doubt. C’mon, man. That’s silly stuff. That stuff you don’t even comment on; we on to the next one.”
“It didn’t look like we was worshipping the devil,” Swizz continued, speaking on behalf of himself, Jay and Young Jeezy, who are all featured in the video. “It was easy. The song, the chemistry between me, Jay [and] Jeezy is a natural flow. When you put that in front of the camera, it’s natural. Jay was on set, I think, for only two hours. I was on set for like, an hour. Same thing. Jeezy was there. It was real quick. The director took it and went on to the next one. … I never expected the video to come out like that … it’s like a portrait. It’s like a canvas he took, which was the green screen, and he took that canvas and really painted it Murakami, Basquiat style. There go the results.”