Watch Jay Z explain why the War on Drugs is 'an epic fail'

Jay Z calls the War on Drugs an epic fail.

(Image credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

published 15 September 2016

Rapper Shawn Carter — better known as Jay Z — has collaborated with artist Molly Crabapple on a short film for The New York Times. "Part history lesson about the war on drugs and part vision statement," the piece demands to know why African-Americans go to prison for drugs while white people profit off them.

"Even though white people used and sold crack more than black people, somehow it was black people who went to prison," Jay Z explains as Crabapple illustrates his words. Jay Z, himself a former drug dealer, added that "the media ignored actual data to this day. Crack is still talked about as a black problem."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.