JAY-Z sees dollar signs in a cartoon character, “Jaybo”, that is a play on a racist name “Sambo”. The 48-year-old rap honcho wants to trademark the cartoon character Jaybo that was featured in his music video for the single “The Story of O.J.”
JAY-Z envisions his fans purchasing sweatshirts and hoodies featuring the cartoon character painted in blackface and droopy eyes.
WENN.com reports JAY-Z has filed paperwork to trademark the minstrel character Jaybo, which is similar to the blackface actors in minstrel shows in the 1800s.
via WENN.com — The hip-hop star, real name Shawn Carter, worked with director Mark Romanek via Anonymous Content, and multimedia agency The Mill, to create the award-winning animated music video.
Jaybo is a play on the name “Sambo” from the racist 1899 children’s book The Story of Little Black Sambo. The rebooted character draws on other equally problematic minstrel animations, where many racist African-American stereotypes that continue to pervade modern culture originated from.
According to editors at TMZ, the 4:44 rapper’s company, S. Carter Enterprises is now planning to create products including T-shirts, sweaters, hats, blankets, pillows, dinnerware, mugs, cocktail shakers and thermal containers, featuring the controversial character.
Previously, Jay explained that the track was about the nature of success and seeing the bigger picture.
“The Story of OJ is really a song about we as a culture, having a plan, how we’re gonna push this forward (sic),” the rapper explained in an interview on iHeart Radio last year (17). “We all make money, and then we all lose money, as artists especially. But how, when you have some type of success, to transform that into something bigger.”
