After 24 years, a former music executive cleared billionaire mogul Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter’s name regarding a 1999 stabbing.
On May 20, Lance “Un” Rivera, the victim of the crime, revealed prosecutors wrongfully convicted JAY-Z for it. During his interview with VladTV, Rivera recalled the unfortunate 1999 incident. Vlad shared the Grammy Award-winning rapper had a listening party the day before his Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter album release.
Afterward, he attended another event thrown for Q-Tip at the KitKatClub in New York. At the party, both JAY-Z and Rivera were there. Vlad alleged people accused the former exec of leaking the Brooklyn native’s project the month prior. Rivera stated a bunch of people surrounded him at the party. The record producer noted someone stabbed him and hit his head with a champagne bottle.
Before then, he and JAY-Z had a brief conversation. “You broke my heart,” Rivera alleged JAY-Z repeatedly told him. He then informed Vlad that he was unaware of how rumors began swirling that the “Empire State Of Mind” songwriter assaulted him. “If anybody knows JAY-Z, JAY-Z’s a nice guy, right? He’s an artist. [JAY-Z is] a poet. He’s gifted, and it’s never been his history,” Rivera continued.
“If JAY-Z had stabbed me, y’all wouldn’t have gotten The Black album. Because through my whole history, I’m an eye for an eye type of guy,” he added. “Unfortunately, I got stabbed that night. But the reality is… Nas… on ‘Ether’ talked about the incident.”
On the track Rivera referenced, Nas rapped JAY-Z took the fall for a friend. After the incident, the 53-year-old businessman turned himself into the New York Police Department. Although he maintained his innocence, authorities arrested JAY-Z for felony assault charges. Following a lengthy legal battle, JAY-Z pled guilty in 2001 and received three years probation.