The American rapper has criticized his government’s drug policy.
Jay Z has declared the decades-long U.S. war on drugs an "epic fail", in a short film he wrote and narrated.
The rapper says the strict anti-narcotics laws introduced in the 1980s unfairly targeted minorities. In the four-minute film, Jay-Z looks at the origins of the drug policy and its legacy of racial discrimination in the United States.
Speaking of the US’s attitude to drugs in the 80s, Jay Z says: “Drugs were bad, fried your brain, and drug dealers were monsters, the sole reason neighborhoods and major cities were failing. No one wanted to talk about Reaganomics and the ending of social safety nets.”
He also points out the racial disparities involved in drug sentencing and the US’s ballooning prison population.
Jay Z, who was born Shawn Carter, has frequently rapped about his past as a crack dealer.
In the illustrated film, the 45-year-old musician suggests punishment of drug dealers is hypocritical given that states such as Colorado have legalised marijuana.
Watch the film below:
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