T.I. Talks Jay-Z and Jermaine Dupri Working With The NFL Black folks have been side-eyeing the crap out of Jay-Z after he got in bed with the NFL for what felt like a shady (and pointless) partnership . Now, T.I. is weighing in on Hov’s decision, as well as Jermaine Dupri ‘s choice to partner with the Super Bowl when it was in Atlanta . But FIRST, in the exclusive Radio One clip the Rhythm + Flow host talks about becoming more involved with the community, saying he’s careful about categorizing himself as an activist … and here’s why: “I’m active, but I’m not an activist. I feel like an activist is more philanthropic. I’m in the for-profit biz. Activists are boots on the ground, they out doing the work, mobilizing, organizing, and sacrificing luxuries for the purpose of the greater good…” he explained. On Jay-Z and JD, he commented: “You see, at the time, my reason for not rocking with the NFL was because of how I felt they were manipulating the culture. I felt that they knew that Black dollars were important. Therefore, they came to Atlanta and I felt like they went all the wrong places and did all the wrong things to encourage the Black dollar at that moment in time. I feel like it wasn’t enough fair representation. JD was a good go, but I felt like it came after the slight — after I feel like we’d already been slighted — so, you know, he took a hard stand at it. I didn’t condemn him or criticize him for it. I told him I couldn’t participate. But, I think now that the smoke has cleared, I feel like, for me having that gripe — not being fairly or properly represented — if they go out of their way to find somebody who has an ability to fairly and properly represent the culture in Jay-Z, I can’t complain about that.” Check out the clip up top for his FULL thoughts, as he had a little bit MORE to say about JD, and let us know if you agree.
