When I first got the press release stating that Jay-Z was calling for a Boycott of Cristal my first thoughts were, "I can think of 10,000 other ways that he can use his influence". I have a lot of questions about this whole situation. I guess you could say that I have “reasonable doubt” because the campaign seems poorly orchestrated and the “facts” have really traveled word of mouth. I wanted to find out where Jay-Z was at with this new political anti-Cristal stance. In the official press release from the pr Agency that he hired to handle this matter. Spokesperson Ron Berkowitz stated that “Jay-Z is available for interview on this topic. Please send all requests to Ron Berkowitz Ron[at]BerkCommunications.com” Included was his telephone number 212-889-5755 at BerkCommunications".

When I saw that, I jumped on the phone and called Berk Communications and spoke to a few assistants because Berk was in a meeting, I figured he and Jay were strategizing. I figured that I would follow up with an email to let them know, ”yo don’t forget about me”. To get ahead of the game I figured that I would hit Jay’s folks with a brief set of questions that I had come up with so that they wouldn’t be blindsided because it could only help them once they understood where my inquiry was coming from. So I sent another email with a list of what my questions were.

"Greetings Jay Z/Sean Carter

1. This position that you have taken against Cristal- is it from the angle of Jay-Z (rapper) (who clowns foes like Prodigy) or are you speaking as Sean Carter (Def Jam President) (Who has the Hewlett Packard Commercial showing his organization flow) on this issue of a Cristal Boycott?

1a. How did you become aware of the comments coming from the folks over at Cristal? (I asked this because I don’t think Jay read them for himself in the Economist judging from the statement he released).

2. Have you used your connections in rap music to get other rappers to either diss Cristal on record or issue statements calling for a boycott? Also if your Def Jam artist like Young Jeezy, Tru Life had a track giving Cristal props as you did on your Hardknock Life hit record, how would you handle it?

3. We know that Oprah hinted that she likes your music although she didn’t say explicitly if it was on her Ipod, we know that all walks of life listen to hip hop Do you think that the folks over at Cristal have personally listened to your music or if they have personally seen the videos with Cristal from you or any rappers? (Just curious as to if this has any personal resonance with you)

4.You said you see the comments about Cristal as racist, however Cristal executives never mention race in their comments about Hip Hop, they specifically say “we cant stop people from buying it” did you interpret that “people” to mean African Americans and Latino’s – can you be more specific in how you view that as being racist ?

5. Since I can’t afford Cristal and most rap fans can’t either, this boycott will be conducted by a small but very influential group, thus is the boycott simply intended to send a lesson to brands that you can’t talk recklessly about rap artist?"

I then received a response saying:

"Hi Bruce, I am sorry to inform you that due to an overwhelming amount of requests Jay-Z will not be doing any interviews as of now regarding the Cristal controversy. The press release that we issued yesterday regarding the matter is going to speak for Jay –Z and his opinion on the topic. Thank you for your interest on this matter, and I will contact you if anything changes. Best Regards, Melanie McHugh."

I would have taken it personal but Hip Hop Business man, Clyde over at ProHipHop.com said he received the exact same response.

I assumed that Jay was re-thinking his angle as Cristal Fired back with a press release. But by the next week Jay was confirming his decision with statements personally and through his PR agency. Stating he intends to stand by his decision last week to pull the drink from his 40/40 Clubs in Manhattan and Atlantic City.

“The response from our customers at 40/40 has been incredible,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “This weekend, we sold more bottles of Krug and Perrier Jouet than [ever] and we expect that trend to continue. They are great products and we are glad they have embraced us with open arms.”

Jay-Z spokesman Ron Berkowitz added, “You can bet that Cristal will not be in Jay’s lyrics on Sunday. As you know Jay will be performing at a sold out Concert whereby less than 1% of the audience expected to attend can actually afford Cristal. The concert will celebrate the 10th anniversary of his classic album, “Reasonable Doubt,” on Sunday. Jay will change the lyrics of Cristal-endorsing songs from “Reasonable Doubt” - “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” “Dead Presidents,” “Feelin’ It” and “Brooklyn’s Finest” - when he performs them at Radio City Music Hall. What he will replace it with, only Jay-Z knows. Maybe he can plug Dame Dash's Armadale Vodka but whatever he decides is fine. The fuel that moves this Hip-hop boycott is fueled on spin and misinterpretation of statements. Cristal managing director said he viewed his association with the hip-hop world with “curiosity and serenity” and followed it up with a another somewhat dubious statement, “We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.” Either way the terms are elitist but so is a purchase of Cristal.

When Jay says it has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the ‘Hip-Hop’ culture as ‘unwelcome attention, ”It says to me, he never read the article before he decided on a boycott because Rouzand never said that. His comments are elitist we all know that but racist, nope. In fact poor people are seeking an affiliation with Cristal because Cristal is expensive not because they love the taste of what some say is a fine champagne (I can’t afford it, so I will rely on word of mouth that it is a fine drink).

Some might feel that Cristal doesn’t like rappers, because the company is tired of watching their product being poured on the floor, poured on naked girls, spit out in video instead of held in a glass in the hand of a Czar which is what they had in mind. One thing is for sure they probably puked when they saw Kimora Lee Simons giving herself a pedicure with it. In an internet story that has been flying around cyber space we see Russell Simmons wife treating it as a foot shampoo. What she is really trying to convey is how “rich she is, that she can waste Cristal on her feet“. It’s elitist stuff just like this boycott.

The full passage states - Kimora Lee Simmons Gets a $1,312.50 A Bottle Pedicure New York — Kimora Lee Simmons, the estranged wife of multi millionaire businessman and rap mogul, Russell Simmons allegedly told reporters yesterday while seemingly intoxicated, received a pedicure in five bottles of 1957 Cristal valued at $1312.50 a bottle wearing a Chanel Satin Suit. “I am happy and wished that Russell and I departed years ago. “Russell and I had outgrown one another years ago and the little blue pill did not help our sex life.” she said. “This is off the record, oh hell you can report it, Russell was awful in bed!!!…We will continue our business relationship and we will both be active in our kids lives, but the romance is what…over!!!

Ok now we can see in the image that she did get a Cristal pedicure but if you believe that she told an anonymous cameraman or reporter that impotency stuff about Russell Simmons then you are just gullible and you probably think that a Cristal Boycott is something that represents your interest and diss toward hip hop is a diss of you as an African American, but on the other hands, many Hip-hop fans are expressomg a “Reasonable doubt” that any of this makes any difference to Hip-hop at all.

The views and opinions expressed herein by the author do not necessarily represent the opinions or position of Playahata.com.