In case you missed it, Jay-Z recently dropped a video for “Family Feud,” which starred his wife Beyonce, who played the role of a pseudo-priestess, bearing witness to the Jigga Man’s confession of infidelity. The clip is heavy on the religious imagery, taking place in a chapel and employing some heavily Catholic visual themes. And while the “Family Feud” video is a powerful piece of art, The Catholic League has taken issue with Jay-Z and his latest vision.
In case you don’t know, The Catholic League’s mission statement is to defend “the rights of Catholics to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination.” In a statement made by Catholic League president Bill Donahue, he goes on to call Jay’s lyrics “relentlessly racist,” and “anti-black.” Check out the full statement here, addressing the teaser to the video:
A video trailer is supposed to be a teaser, but in this case it falls flat, leading nowhere.
Jay-Z’s recently released “Family Feud” video shows him walking into a Catholic church with his real-life daughter, rapping away—”Nobody wins when the family feuds”—as he struts. This is followed by a flashback scene where he is shown kissing a gal in her undergarments. Then Beyoncé appears, standing at the pulpit, wearing a navy blue outfit dressed like a queen. She is a priestess: she hears Jay-Z’s confession, apparently a statement on his real-life infidelities.
Is it anti-Catholic? No, it is not a bigoted assault. Indeed, it pales next to Jay-Z’s relentlessly racist (and anti-black) lyrics. But it is nonetheless gratuitous as well as exploitative, just the kind of thing we would expect from this genius couple.
