Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance won big at the Emmys Sunday night when they both took home awards for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. And their acceptance speeches definitely had mainstream media buzzing, trying to figure out what the (blank) they were talking about.
Brown took home the Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series/movie for The People v. O.J. Simpson and praised his wife: "Contrary to popular belief, I got the hottest chick in the game rockin' my chain," he said, referencing Jay Z's "Public Service Announcement" from The Black Album.
And Vance, who won the Emmy for best actor in a limited series/movie, kept the Jay Z references going when it came to his wife, Angela Bassett: "Last but not least, to the woman who rocks my chain—thank you, Angela Bassett; this one's for you, girl."
Of course, those of us who are aligned with hip-hop culture and rap music knew exactly who they were quoting, but others, not so much:
"The hottest new way," Entertainment Weekly tweeted.
Yeah, by “new,” they obviously didn't know that Jay Z said that more than 10 years ago.
And then there's the Hollywood Reporter:
They actually wrote an "explainer" for a Jay Z lyric. I'm sure Beyoncé and Jay Z were somewhere looking like:
And so were most people on Twitter:
One thing that's certain: Either mainstream media outlets need to hire younger and more black "hip" people to run their social media, or they just need to have faster Google fingers.