Following the release of his long-awaited debut album A Written Testimony, Jay Electronica found himself ruffling feathers for a variety of different reasons. While Joe Budden was displeased in a perceived lack of effort from the acclaimed lyricist, Hot 97 host Peter Rosenberg wasn’t entirely thrilled about some of Jay’s bars on “Ghost Of Soulja Slim,” which he felt were antisemitic in nature.
A few days ago, Rosenberg hit Twitter to voice his concerns with Electronica’s “Synagogue Of Satan” line, admitting that he felt offended as a Jewish hip-hop head. Electronica seemed unfazed by Rosenberg’s offense, going so far as to invite him to stage a public discourse about the topic. And while that particular tete-a-tete has yet to manifest, Rosenberg did make time to address the tense Twitter exchange during Ebro In The Morning.
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Explaining that he felt compelled to speak up in the face of an increasingly vocal anti-Jewish sentiment, Rosenberg reveals that many Jewish fans had reached out about the lyric. Following the exchange, however, he felt that few were willing to stand in his corner; instead he found himself accused of “selective outrage.” Ebro interjects with his take on “the Synagogue of Satan,” explaining that the term derives from those “faking” Jewishness and using it for nefarious means. Rosenberg claps back, stating that “to act like that is a significant portion of Jews is crazy.”
Circling back to the lyrics, Rosenberg doubles down that they were “dangerous, especially in today’s climate.” He also implores anyone attempting to gatekeep his feelings to fall back. “Please don’t tell me as a Jew whose mother was born in a displaced person’s camp after the holocaust, don’t tell me what I should be offended about,” he says. “This isn’t about my place in hip-hop…If Jay wants to speak about it, he said you want to have a forum? We have a forum every day, my G. Anytime. I’m not saying I hate the guy and we can’t have a conversation, of course we can. But I have the right to express that those words are hurtful.”
