15 April 2007

50 Cent & Jewish Lawyers

By now, many people are aware of 50 Cent's recent comments on the radio (on Hot 97 [here in New York]) where he mentions Jewish lawyers:
50 Cent: When it comes to civil, you don't gotta worry about the G-Unit, worry about the Je-Je-Je-Jew-Unit. They're the real goon squad. And when the lawyers come out, you gon' see what it is. I don't pay nobody but the lawyers.
Miss Jones: And I need a real good, aggressive one because these little ?pinny-anny? lawyers I've been biggin' up and dealin' wit' - all they wanna do is walk in the courtroom with $2500 suits to overcompensate for their swagger they do not have.
While this has only been discussed in the J-Blogosphere (to the best of my knowledge) on Jewschool and by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, most of the blogosphere discussion of this is on celebrity, hip-hop, and music blogs (no, I'm not going to bother linking to the dozens of various sites where this is discussed, but you can click here for a search). Most blogs discussing this issue touch upon it only surficially, claiming 50 Cent to be somehow anti-semitic. I'm going to wholeheartedly agree with Reb Shmuley on this where he states, "I think Jews will perhaps take offense to the comment, but I take no offense to it whatsoever." He goes on to state
It’s an acknowledgment of the Jewish Community’s emphasis on learning and knowledge, and of the law. The term ‘Jew Unit’ has the connotation of respectable legal experts…and I welcome it. In general, we have to minimize the whole ‘culture of offense’ here in America, where people sit around, waiting to be offended. There is real racism and real anti-semitism in America but we cheapen both terms by finding such examples where they don’t exist.
It's beautiful.
Firstly, I agree that 50 was not trying to be anti-semitic, but, if anything, trying to praise his legal counsel. Moreover, this quote is not the first of rappers rapping about Jewish lawyers (albeit in a positive way) (I would be interested in reading an article one of these days as to how Jews are represented and/or referenced in hip-hop - an interesting nexus of cultures.), so it's not such a surprise.
In a related vein, when I went to pick up the engagement ring (both to pick it out and to pick it up), I was pleasantly surprised at the numbers of Jews involved in the industry. There was some sense of pride of Jews being highly represented in such a lucrative field that occurred to me. I figure, similarly, too, here with Jewish lawyers - it's little surprise or secret that there are a lot of Jews in the legal field, as well as in the entertainment business.

8 comments:

Soccer Dad said...

Interesting, I defended Michael Ray Robertson similarly.

Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) said...

There's the original "[If I Was A] Rich Girl" song, by Lady Saw, which not only is inspired by "If I Were A Rich Man" from Fiddler On The Roof, but also includes a whole niggun-y nai nai nai section.

miriam said...

the "nigun" is, in fact, hatikva.

Shmilda said...

You were surprised at how Jewish 47th Street is?

uriyo said...

The phrase by Miss Jones which the transcript surrounded with question marks is probably penny-ante, meaning small-time.

Unknown said...

Hi

Please consider writing news pieces or an op-ed for Jewrusalem: Israeli Uncensored News. We strive to present different views and opinions while rejecting political correctness. Ideally, we try to make the news "smart and funny." Thus, your input is very welcome.

Best,
Alex
www.jewrusalem.net/en

Anonymous said...

Once again, the jew lawyers sell their souls to the devil. It doesn't seem to matter that they're making millions off of defending these scum bag rappers who are responsible for young kids killing each other and treating women badly. Just goes to prove that Jews have no conscience. Plain and simple.

Unknown said...

I AGREE