‘Here You Are Trying to be Something That You’re Not’: Stephon Marbury Doesn’t Believe In Jay-Z’s Activism

Although many people in the Black community have applauded Jay-Z over the years for his philanthropic efforts, whether it’s seeking criminal justice reform or social justice, not everyone is a fan of the rapper’s activism. Former NBA star Stephon Marbury is one of those non-fans. 

During an Aug. 27 interview on “Heavy on Lakers” with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, the former athlete discussed his almost two-decade-long feud with Jay that launched after the rapper mentioned Marbury in his 2003 single “La-La-La (Excuse Me Miss Again).” Jay referenced an incident in which the athlete was robbed of $150K worth of jewelry three years before. “Don’t confuse me with Marbury out this b—ch. Run up on me at the light you might lose your life,” Jay rapped. 

However, the former New York Knicks player said his strife with the rapper initially started over a woman and ultimately led Jay to reference Marbury on his track. The 43-year-old recalled dancing at a club with a woman who later told him that Jay was mad at him for dancing with her. Marbury is now claiming that Jay-Z is pretending to be someone that he is not. 

“I look at Jay-Z, and I say, ‘Wow, here you are trying to be something that you’re not,’” Marbury expressed around the 30-minute mark of the interview. He continued, “You’re not an advocate for Black people, you sold drugs to Black people, and you rapped about it and talked about it. How do you do that? Like, I’m trying to figure that part out. Like, you can’t make that right. This ain’t snitching, this ain’t telling on nobody, you told on yourself already. You already told people what it is that you do and how you do it and how you feel about what you’re doing. So, how are you rapping about something that you did? I’m confused. I don’t know.”

The two-time NBA All-Star — who conducted the interview from China, where he has been living since 2010 as first a player and then a coach in the Chinese Basketball Association — went further about his discontent with Jay, claiming that the rapper sold drugs to pregnant women and accusing the Grammy winner of creating crack babies that killed their grandparents.

“You sold drugs to people where you’re from, Jay-Z, in Brooklyn in Marcy [projects], you got them on crack — whatever it is cocaine whatever it is that you were selling to them. Whatever you say, you was ‘cooking up,’ that’s what you did,” Marbury said. “So now, you got your people high. You sold drugs to people that was pregnant. Now you created crack babies — these same babies that are going out killing grandparents. … I’m confused. But that’s what it is. That’s what happened.”

No word on what sparked Marbury’s tirade, and it’s unlikely that Jay will publicly address the situation. Check out the full interview down below. 

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