This 2001 Jay-Z track contains a Shakespeare reference that is not uttered by Jay himself, but rather featured rapper Eminem. On his verse, Eminem compares his artistry to that of the legendary playwright; he raps, “See, I’m a poet to some, a regular modern day Shakespeare.” Eminem calls upon Shakespeare to legitimize his talent to his critics, who dismiss his art as overly vulgar. Yet it is significant that Eminem, a white rapper, declares Shakespeare-level genius points while Jay-Z, a black rapper, does not; this points to the white rapper’s freedom to associate himself with such cultural authorities (Hansen 229).
Some rap critics believe that this line is more than just self-aggrandizement, likening Eminem’s persona in the track to that of the mischievous and witty Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Anthony Bozza writes, “In a hip-hop edition of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in which rappers or their personas were the players, Puck, the comedy’s fairy instigator, could be no one but Slim Shady . . . Slim Shady is like Shakespeare’s Fool: the character who darts across the plot to tip the audience to truths unseen . . . He may annoy or illuminate, but he won’t be ignored.” (Bozza 67). Yet whether Eminem is evoking Shakespeare to prove his abilities as a lyricist or to depict himself as a bothersome yet captivating truth-teller, in both cases he is using Shakespeare to make himself more authoritative, trustworthy and compelling—all qualities that come by alluding to the Bard himself.
