Rapper and businessman Shawn Carter says being successful doesn't necessarily mean you’re a bad person.
In Philadelphia to announce a new music festival, Jay-Z sat down with CNN’s Poppy Harlow to discuss a number of broader issues, including where the U.S. economic system needs work, and where it's doing just fine. (h/t The Reformed Broker).
“We have to be really clear about is America is built on free enterprise, so we don’t want to knock anyone for being successful in America, just the things that were happening were unjust and we should talk about that,” Jay-Z told Harlow. He also argued against anti-business generalizations. "Like you’re successful, you’re bad?" he asked.
The rapper, whose business empire includes a record label, a stake in the New Jersey Nets, nightclubs, sports bars and a clothing line, has also been affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett in the past. They even did an interview together on their approaches to business for Forbes in 2010.
But Jay-Z's comments may more closely mirror those recently made by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, a man mired in controversy since the bank admitted a $2 billion trading loss last week.
“Acting like everyone who's been successful is bad and that everyone who is rich is bad – I just don't get it,” Dimon said at an investor conference last December.