Obama Pays Tribute To Jay-Z As He Enters Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

Shawn Corey Carter, popularly known as Jay Z was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday in a star-studded ceremony with US former president in attendance.

The 23-time Grammy award winner joins the list of solo rappers to be included in the hall of fame alongside Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., and LL Cool J.

In Obama's remark, he spoke on how Jay-Z's music has helped him in his life and even during his presidential regime.

"I've turned to Jay-Z's words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery," Obama said, according to footage of the speech posted to social media.

"Today Jay-Z is one of the most renowned artists in history and an embodiment of the American dream, a dream he has helped make real for other young people like him."

"So let me be one of the first to welcome home the kid from Marcy houses ... as an official Rock and Roll Hall of Famer," he continued.

Well, it would not be the first time Obama heaped praise on the rapper neither do we think it would be the last.

In 2017, The first Black president paid him tribute when Jay-Z became the first-ever rapper to enter the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he said "I'm pretty sure I'm still the only President to listen to Jay-Z's music in the Oval Office".

The formal induction was done by Legendary American comedian, Dave Chapelle who though has come under some controversial comments after performing transphobic material in a new Netflix special.

"I'm honoured that I got a chance to know you," Chappelle said, according to a transcript of the remarks posted by Rolling Stone. "You embody Black excellence, how great we can be."

In attendance were Beyonce (Jay-Z's wife), DJ Khaled, Sean Combs, Usher, Rihanna, Pharrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Ed Sheeran, Chris Rock, Trevor Noah, Lin-Manuel Miranda, H.E.R., LeBron James, Common and John Legend, among others, Variety.com reports.

"[We] were told hip-hop was a fad," Jay-Z said in his acceptance speech. "Much like punk rock, it gave us this anti-culture, this subgenre. And there were heroes in it." After the ceremony, the rapper tweeted, "Thank you to everyone in that video package, I'm definitely gonna cry in the car."

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony airs in full on November 20th on HBO.