Cornel West is a fan of hip-hop, but he’s not a fan of Jay-Z. He tells the University of Buffalo’s Spectrum, “Guys like Talib Kweli and Lupe Fiasco rap messages and have something to say. Now Jay-Z is on the radio and he’s talented, but he’s just not at the level he used to be at on Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint. The genius is still there, but there’s no more motivation.” The Princeton University professor — who released his hip-hop disc Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations in 2007 — adds, “When I was making my album, they said if I made a catchy and booty-shaking single, they’d play it. But that’s not what music should be about, especially the popular songs on the radio.”
