Jay-Z on Race: "We're More Alike Than We're Separate"

Since Jay-Z's debut album was released in 1996, this rapper and mogul has played a major role in the evolution of hip hop. He's seen the music, as well as its fans, change over the decades, and today, Jay-Z says he has strong opinions about the cultural impact of the genre.

"I think that hip hop has done more for racial relations than most cultural icons," he says. "Save Martin Luther King, because his dream speech we realize[d] when President Obama got elected. But, the impact of the music, you know, this music didn't only influence kids from urban areas. It influenced people all around the world."

Jay-Z says it's difficult to teach a child to be racist if he or she looks up to artists like Snoop Dogg. "Before people partied in separate clubs. There were hip hop clubs and there were techno clubs," he says. "Now people party together, and once you have people partying, dancing, and singing along to the same music, then conversations naturally happen after that."

Watch as Jay-Z shares more ways hip hop has changed the world.

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