Arrested Development Slam Jay-Z's Drug Past

Alternative hip hop outfit Arrested Development have taken aim at iconic rapper and mogul Jay-Z in a recent interview with TheMusic.

Discussing one of the band's newest tracks My Reflection, frontman Todd Thomas aka Speech, elaborated on the meaning behind the lyrics “If Jay-Z is Jehovah then I'm the anti-Christ /And if making mad dough is living, I'm the anti-life.”

“I actually like Jay-Z, but the truth is there's more viewpoints to it. Sell drugs, get ahead by selling drugs, start your label by selling drugs, then once you've made your money from selling drugs and you've got a nice record label and you buy some nice cars, then you really blow up and be an international mogul and just brag about all your riches while the rest of us all squalor in the mud. That's not my version of hip hop.”

Thomas continued, claiming that the hip hop superstar's message had clouded some people's perception on what the music genre is actually about.

“To me my reflection is, 'Gosh Jay-Z, you're rich! But what about the people that decided not to sell drugs to make their living?' I think people have forgotten the perspective of when you're selling drugs, you're selling drugs to the same community you're in, so you're killing families. That's why to me the song Reflection is like, 'What about the rest of us who ain't living like that?' I've done well, but I'm not living like Jay-Z by no stretch. I still take out my garbage every Thursday. So this record talks about some of the other viewpoints that get left behind in the present day hip hop population.”