Here’s the full video for Empire State of Mind from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. The black and white ode to the Big Apple was directed by Hype Williams.
Sidebar: Jay-Z has been getting alot of flack as of late concerning his religious beliefs…a couple bars in this song portrays Jay’s view on Jesus and the church. Though he’s really never been overtly anti-religious, what he says can be taken as just that. I understand what he’s saying, as far as him conveying a story of a young woman in New York, but I believe what he said was taken out of context though.
Here’s what he said in the rhyme:
Caught up in the in-crowd, now you’re in style
End of the winter gets cold, en vogue, with your skin out
City of sin, it’s a pity on the wind
Good girls gone bad, the city’s filled with them
Mami took a bus trip, now she got her bust out
Everybody ride her, just like a bus route
Hail Mary to the city, you’re a virgin
And Jesus can’t save you, life starts when the church end
With that one line alone, of course, people are gonna say that you’re on some other ish. Alot of people want to hate on Jay and say that he doesn’t believe in God…but those are the same people who are taking his lyrics out of context just to put him on blast.