Ari Melber dedicated a recent segment of his MSNBC show on the US’s “war on drugs” to breaking down Jay-Z’s verse on DJ Khaled’s new album, GOD DID. In the segment, Melber discussed the “draconian” drug laws in the US, how enforcement of those laws is applied unfairly, as well as Jay-Z’s marijuana company.

Discussing Jay’s lyric, “I left the dope game with my record clean, huh/I turned the cocaína into champagne, huh,” Melber explains that the legendary New York rapper is making reference to his past experience selling drugs as well as Jesus turning water into wine.

Ari Melber
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From there he delves into the hypocrisy of alcohol being legal while marijuana remains illegal.

“There’s nothing automatically legitimate about wine or champagne,” Melber explained. “It was criminally punished during prohibition, a policy that ultimately fueled gangs and violence, and was the only constitutional amendment ever to be reversed because both parties determined that prohibition was a messy failure.”

Melber also references the pharmaceutical industry taking in billions of dollars worth of profit by the sale of addictive painkillers like OxyCotin.

Jay-Z’s marijuana company, Monogram, is also brought up, showing how he has operated on both sides of the law when it comes to selling drugs. Jay launched the line of cannabis products back in 2020.

Check out Melber’s segment on Jay-Z below, as well as the song, “GOD DID,” below.