Jay Z purchased a $4.5 million Jean-Michel Basquiat piece titled “Mecca,” according to The New York Post.
The piece features the Empire State Building, as per The Post.
In July, Jay Z purchased a painting of Jean-Michel Basquiat from Swizz Beatz. Beatz painted a portrait of Basquiat on the hood of a luxury vehicle and sold it to Jay Z for an undisclosed amount. The money from the sale reportedly went to charity, as per complex.com.
Basquiat passed away of a heroin overdose in 1988. He was 27.
Jay Z has rapped about Jean-Michel Basquiat on various selections.
On 2010’s “Most Kingz,” Jay Z rapped about being inspired by Basquiat’s paintings.
“Inspired by Basquiat,” Jay Z rhymes on the track. “My chariot’s on fire.”
On 2013’s “Picasso Baby,” Jay Z also references the painter.
“It ain’t hard to tell,” Jay Z raps. “I’m the new Jean-Michel.”
During the same selection, Jay Z also raps about having a Basquiat piece in his kitchen.
In August, Jay Z spoke about his appreciation and connection to the arts.
“When art started becoming part of the galleries, it became a separation between culture and even in Hip Hop, people were almost like, ‘Art is too bourgeois,'” Jay Z said in HBO’s Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film. “We are artists. We’re alike. We’re cousins. That’s where it’s really exciting for me, bringing the worlds back together.”
During the same television special, Jay Z also spoke about how he views his performances as an art.
“Concerts are pretty much performance art,” Jay said. “The venues change. Just by nature of the venues, the performance changes. If you’re in a smaller venue, it’s a bit more intimate so you get to feel the energy of the people…In a concert, especially in a large concert, all that energy comes to you. What do you do with that energy?”
RELATED: Jay-Z Premieres “Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film” On HBO
It seems like the only way for their kind to make a legitimate income is to learn to play basketball, football, or rap. Rapping is seemingly a copout for these people since they let anyone get on the microphone nowadays, even a brain dead test tube baby. If they won’t apply for food stamps like they’re supposed to, then they take the easy way out. Instead of working a regular 9-to-5 job or attending college & earning a degree, these lazy & shiftless people grab a pen & paper and spit garbage over clich, hard-knocking beats. I bet you all didn’t know that rap was invented by a white man by the name of Mel Gibson. That’s right, the actor. One day, as he was perfecting his craft in high school, a gang of blacks cornered him in an alley & jumped him. One of those suspects by the name of Kool Herc, took his rhyme book & used it to create the global phenomenon that is known as hip hop. So you see, Lord Jamar, white people aren’t the guests in hip hop – black people are. Or rather, they’re the crooks who stole hip hop & made it into a pipe dream where everyone can pick up a pen & bust out a rhyme.
Get the fuck of OUR site bitch spewing ya racism n shit smh! This is (HIPHOP) dx not a Black vs White forum you trolling idiot get a life .
Honkie boy hiphop was created n started in New York by afrika bamaaataa
Hey all jokes aside, I love all my brothers and sisters. My best friends & neighbors are black. But most of them are your atypical lazy, shiftless bastards that can’t hold a job & decide to rap for a living. And the fact of the matter is, they’re absolutely terrible. I try to tell them that they should earn their GED & find real work instead of chasing a dream that will never happen. They’ll be living on their mother’s couches for the rest of their natural born lives. It’s pathetic the way they try to leech off their parents & ask for support so they can start their “careers” in rap.
* bambaataa
Jamacians started Hiphop –
Kool Herc…
And is Hov about all you complained about Mr. Pitfall?
I’m a white fan of hip hop and have been for 20 years.. I get on these sites to stay up on new talent and see what the old talent is up to… and it blows my fucking mind when I see racist shit like this on the comments.. I mean, wtf are you even doing on this site if that’s how you feel? You just like to feel good at getting a response? Or do you really go online to seek out ways to spew racist bullshit?
I am in no way racist. I pay my taxes, give turkeys to the poor blacks like the commenters above me. I love their kind, but sometimes you just have to question their choices in life, like listening to that black african congo jungle noise (aka rap) and making babies out of wedlock:)
Man, show the art he bought so I can comment about how he wasted 4.5 milli
He hasn’t wasted a single cent, this is one of the most fail-proof investment. The only question is how much you can make it when you about to sell it, as such paintings’ price tend to rise in a slow, but steady manner. Even if Jay going to sell it for 6 million like decade later, that’s still a bargain.
What a fucking idiot! Niggas in the hood got 2/3 jobs to survive and this arogant nigga spends 4,5 mil????
I mean im broke and no record label wants to sign me. They say im to old and im only can play the sidekick
what Kenneth answered I cant believe that someone able to profit $8285 in one month on the computer. have a peek at this website………www.jobs39.com
hey suckers
Always knew Jay-Z was a fruitcake faggot rapper.
gangs are gay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvRGVUsln6E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQDrRBB_MtU
Asshole, that money would’ve been better saving five pointz. Money grabbing race traitors are just as bad as whites.
agreed
Just as bad as whites?some of the greatest bombers have been white so why u talkin bout whites like we all the same collective? Idiot
before I looked at the receipt ov $9951, I didnt believe that my friends brother woz like they say really bringing home money in their spare time from there computar.. there friends cousin started doing this for only about twentey months and just now paid for the morgage on their apartment and got themselves a Mercedes-Benz S-class. read more… http://www.Fb39.com
When he said he shed a tear for Jay-Z I scheme he was just be sarcastic. This guy has way more substance than most of the so called rappers out there today
This isn’t a good time for the art world. They’re losing money left and right, so whatever Jay did was nothing more than a tax write off.
Kool Herc was actually Canadian like Drake.
This nigg3r above needs to retire
I respect it.