Edd’s MANtra: Jay-Z Gives Up The B Word (UPDATED)

Well, Blue Ivy Carter, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s precious baby girl, has been with us for a couple of weeks now – and people have been talking about her until they’re blue in the face.

For example, there have been about 10 dozen blogs dedicated to “decoding” the name Blue Ivy. The consensus seems to be:

Blue = Jay’s Blueprint album series (Blueprints 1-3)

Ivy = Roman numeral 4 is IV. Jay was born Dec. 4, Bey was born Sept. 4, they were married on 4/4/2008 and of course, Bey’s latest album is titled 4. And check out the “IV” on Jay’s ring finger in the picture above.

That means Blue Ivy is really The Blueprint 4. I sure hope they didn’t name a human being after a bunch of CDs. But knowing my good buddy Blu Cantrell, she probably thinks the baby is named after her. Playa please.

But recently I stumbled across one really interesting story, in which Jay has vowed to stop using the word b*tch. Check out this poem dedicated to his daughter:

Before I got in the game, made a change, and got rich, I didn’t think hard about using the word b*tch.
I rapped, I flipped it, I sold it, I lived it now with my daughter in this world I curse those that give it.
I never realized while on the fast track that I’d give riddance to the word b*tch, to leave her innocence in tact.
No man will degrade her, or call her name. I’m so focused on your future, the degradation has passed.
I wish you wealth, health and insight. Forever young you may pass. Blue Ivy Carter, my angel.

That’s a pretty dramatic transformation from the guy who once said, “Me give my heart to a woman?/Not for nothin’, never happen/I’ll be forever mackin’.” I think the newly mature Jay-Z is great for hip hop. Let’s be real – the hip hop generation is getting older, we can’t be waiting on calls from AARP while slinging rocks and holdin’ down the block. Besides, degrading women is so 1993. It’s time to move on.

Of course, Jay’s new mantra means we may have heard the last of songs like “99 Problems” and “Is That Yo B*tch,” but we’ll live. Gotta grow up sometime.

UPDATE: BUT WAIT!

Guess it was too good to be true. From xxlmag.com:

“That poem and story are fake,” Jay-Z told the New York Daily News.

Well that’s disappointing. However, my point still remains. Hopefully Blue Ivy will help Daddy-Z mature, and, in turn, steer the industry in a much more positive direction. It’s high time hip hop grew up.