Jay Z sparks black rights storm at Norway's Tidal
A race storm probably wasn’t the first thing staff at Spotify-rival WiMP expected when it was bought and renamed Tidal earlier this year, but that’s what happened when Jay Z and Beyonce, the US music duo behind the purchase, dropped in to the office.
The Twitter storm appears to have started when pictures of the Tidal HQ were shared by Beyoncé, and then tweeted on by her followers.
#Tidal http://t.co/R7XVLrCBmZ pic.twitter.com/Deks6vty8I
— Beyoncé Titan (@BeyonceTitan) May 26, 2015
Black blogger and YouTube star Xavier D’Leau was not impressed by Tidal's near-universally white staff, given Jay Z's recent call for black people to help lift each other up. He let his 75,000 Twitter followers know.
Can you (not) see what I see? https://t.co/IxL0tLyERj
— Xavier D'Leau (@XavierDLeau) May 26, 2015
"WE DONT SUPPORT EACH OTHER" -takes picture with no black staff-
— Xavier D'Leau (@XavierDLeau) May 26, 2015
Then Saeed Jones, a New York poet who moonlights as literary editor at Buzzfeed, picked up on it.
Wait, hold up… Is Jay-Z the only black person working at #Tidal? LOL. (H/T @XavierDLeau) pic.twitter.com/tfPpCYkHcm
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) May 26, 2015
After that, things started to go a little crazy.
there's no POC on staff. and especially no Black women. almost all white men. embarrassing. #blackgirlindigital https://t.co/EzcuNaFkZr
— Mrs. Carter Show. (@elledub_1920) May 26, 2015
:
Jay Z really went with the whole "you don't want black people to succeed" thing with a staff that looks like this pic.twitter.com/jIyJHVZGmo
— David D. (@DavidDTSS) May 26, 2015
Jay Z fans were the first to start a backlash.
Take your black ass to Norway and fill out a application https://t.co/uPw8nN1oU7
— JayZ-Fansite (@HOVNATION) May 27, 2015
Once the row came to the notice of the UK's Daily Mail, Norway's hordes of anti-immigrant trolls weighed in.
Many just wanted to point out that Tidal is based in Norway, and that with roughly 80,000 inhabitants of African origin, only about 1.5 percent of Norwegians are black. (In fact, if you look at Tidal's staff, it's far from universally ethnic Norwegian).
Others were more vituperative.
@elledub_1920 Are you a moron? NOrwegians are white people, that's why they are white. Stop looking for #racism everywhere you #idiot
— FMH Addict (@FMHAddict) May 29, 2015
@elledub_1920 Norway is not a nation in Africa.
— Mr. Sam Coco (@mrsamcoco) May 29, 2015
who knew that Norwegians can be so enraged? i'm just a black girl who had some thoughts. damn.
— Mrs. Carter Show. (@elledub_1920) May 29, 2015
And wasn't the only stir Jay Z and Beyoncé caused during their surprise visit to Oslo on Tuesday. Here's a video of them being mobbed by screaming fans.
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#Tidal http://t.co/R7XVLrCBmZ pic.twitter.com/Deks6vty8I
— Beyoncé Titan (@BeyonceTitan) May 26, 2015
Can you (not) see what I see? https://t.co/IxL0tLyERj
— Xavier D'Leau (@XavierDLeau) May 26, 2015
"WE DONT SUPPORT EACH OTHER" -takes picture with no black staff-
— Xavier D'Leau (@XavierDLeau) May 26, 2015
Wait, hold up… Is Jay-Z the only black person working at #Tidal? LOL. (H/T @XavierDLeau) pic.twitter.com/tfPpCYkHcm
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) May 26, 2015
there's no POC on staff. and especially no Black women. almost all white men. embarrassing. #blackgirlindigital https://t.co/EzcuNaFkZr
— Mrs. Carter Show. (@elledub_1920) May 26, 2015
:
Jay Z really went with the whole "you don't want black people to succeed" thing with a staff that looks like this pic.twitter.com/jIyJHVZGmo
— David D. (@DavidDTSS) May 26, 2015
Jay Z fans were the first to start a backlash.
Take your black ass to Norway and fill out a application https://t.co/uPw8nN1oU7
— JayZ-Fansite (@HOVNATION) May 27, 2015
Once the row came to the notice of the UK's Daily Mail, Norway's hordes of anti-immigrant trolls weighed in.
Many just wanted to point out that Tidal is based in Norway, and that with roughly 80,000 inhabitants of African origin, only about 1.5 percent of Norwegians are black. (In fact, if you look at Tidal's staff, it's far from universally ethnic Norwegian).
Others were more vituperative.
@elledub_1920 Are you a moron? NOrwegians are white people, that's why they are white. Stop looking for #racism everywhere you #idiot
— FMH Addict (@FMHAddict) May 29, 2015
@elledub_1920 Norway is not a nation in Africa.
— Mr. Sam Coco (@mrsamcoco) May 29, 2015
who knew that Norwegians can be so enraged? i'm just a black girl who had some thoughts. damn.
— Mrs. Carter Show. (@elledub_1920) May 29, 2015
And wasn't the only stir Jay Z and Beyoncé caused during their surprise visit to Oslo on Tuesday. Here's a video of them being mobbed by screaming fans.
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