Jay-Z let us all know he's anything but a sell-out for signing his deal with the NFL. The billionaire makes appearances all over Jay Electronica's freshly dropped album, A Written Testimony, and among the tracks on which he spits his wisdom, "Flux Capacitor" includes some allusions to his controversial partnership with the NFL. When it was revealed last August that Jay and Roc Nation had decided to partner with the NFL for a special music and social justice campaign, many were disappointed in the decision primarily because former 49ers Colin Kaepernick was not involved. It was widely believed that Kaepernick had been blackballed from the NFL due to his courageous protests against police brutality, so Jay starting up a buddy-buddy relationship with the NFL felt like a betrayal to some.
Though Jay always praised Kaepernick's actions, he was accused of selling out through this new partnership by prioritizing financial gain over what's right. However, on "Flux Capacitor," Jay notes that he finds these claims to be preposterous. "Why would I sell out?" he raps. "I'm already rich, don't make no sense/Got more money than Goodell, a whole NFL bench/Did it one-handed like Odell, handcuffed to a jail/I would've stayed on the sideline if they could've tackled that sh*t themselves."
Back in February, right before the Super Bowl LIV, Jay addressed the backlash he received for his NFL partnership. He noted that he could handle getting criticism for his choices so long as he's still using his platform to draw attention to the same issues that Kaepernick was protesting. “As long as real people are being hurt and marginalized and losing family members," he said. "Then yes, I can take a couple rounds of negative press."
