Moonlight

## Song by Jay-Z

"**Moonlight**" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z, released as the eighth track from his thirteenth studio album *4:44* (2017). It samples the 1995 song "Fu-Gee-La" by Fugees, and includes audio from the 2017 Oscars mix-up, where *Moonlight* won Best Picture, though *La La Land* was mistakenly declared the winner instead.

## Background

In the track-by-track commentary to iHeartRadio, Jay stated: "The hook is 'We stuck in La La Land/Even if we win, we gonna lose.' It's like a subtle nod to *La La Land* winning the Oscar, and then having to give it to *Moonlight*. It's really a commentary on the culture and where we're going." *Vanity Fair* analyzed this particular lyric, "seems [to function] on two levels: on one hand, his comment about the hook seems to imply an optimism about the progress society has continued to make as to which artists it recognizes. On the other, as the lyric says, 'Even when we win, we gon' lose.'"

## Music video

### Background

The official music video, directed by Alan Yang, premiered exclusively to Tidal on August 4, 2017, before being uploaded to YouTube on August 10. It is a parody of the American 90s situational comedy show *Friends*, remade with a Black cast. It references the Season Three episode, "The One Where No One's Read" (1996). Instead of the original theme song, it is replaced with the 1984 song "Friends" by Whodini. Hannibal Buress makes a cameo appearance as himself in which he calls the production "garbage."

Tessa Thompson, who played the role of Monica, said in Tidal's behind-the-scenes, "We wanted to have a conversation about diversity inclusion, which is something that is really ripe in the cultural conversation at this moment and I thought to do it in an artful way, to be able to do it with such talented cohorts and in a way that it's creative and open to interpretation could be so interesting, All of these classic television shows, these white television shows, where there's virtually no people of color represented and redoing all of the cast as people of color, I think it's really cool." Lakeith Stanfield, who portrayed Chandler, revealed that he never saw *Friends* before the visual's shoot. He remarked on *The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon*, "It was a learning experience for me. I was like 'Damn, this is white.'"

Yang revealed in an interview that he was allowed creative freedom with "very loose parameters," where he pitched the idea of *Friends*. He added, "'Friends' was not a racist show by any means. But there's something powerful about the real material. That's why it was really important for us to just do a shot-for-shot remake of that episode. There was no deviations at all. Part of what this film conveys is how far we've come as a culture in terms of representation and how far we still have to go. That's sort of just the jumping-off point for the whole thing."

### Critical reception

It was added to *Rolling Stone Australia*'s 2021 list for "100 Greatest Music Videos," where they said, "It's about having your achievements belittled, stolen, uncredited, eclipsed, snuffed out. And should the connection between that notion and *Moonlight* seem coincidental, the video ends on a voice-over of that infamous 2016 Best Picture Oscar botch. According to Yang, Jay-Z cried after reading the pitch. Once you see the final result, you can't blame him for tearing up."

*Vox* summarized, "[T]he music video makes it clear as Carmichael walks off the *Friends* set, settles onto a park bench, and looks up at the night sky to the tune of Warren Beatty accidentally announcing that *La La Land* won the Oscar for Best Picture, when it should've been rightful winner *Moonlight*'s moment. It's a bracing video that, yes, subverts the expectations that its initial jaunty *Friends* credits sequence purposefully sets." *Esquire* called it ""one of the most important music videos of the year," while *Huffpost* said it highlighted on "Hollywood's diversity problem."

*Essence* penned of the record's themes of "appropriation, culture and race," detailing how the visual leaves the audience with "thoughts of racial inequality and lack of opportunity for Black entertainers." *The Washington Post* wrote, "serves as a sort of meta-commentary on black representation in media and artistic ownership." *Vulture* said, "For Jay-Z's latest example of black excellence, he's re-cast *Friends* as a black parody turned horror movie about black exploitation." *Salon* observed, "One available interpretation here is that appearance and visibility in media does not always constitute full, meaningful representation. As the fictional Buress tells the fictional Carmichael, even his horrible role in a cruise-ship adaptation of "Pirates of the Caribbean" is perhaps better and more honest than this simple recasting of a white property."

### Cast

* Issa Rae as Rachel
* Tessa Thompson as Monica
* Tiffany Haddish as Phoebe
* Lakeith Stanfield as Chandler
* Lil Rel as Joey
* Jerrod Carmichael as Ross
* Jay-Z as Richard

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Intro]

Yeah, got a lil' cold

So bear with me

Yeah, yeah

[Chorus]

We stuck in La La Land

Even when we win, we gon' lose

We got the same fuckin' flows

I don't know who is who

We got the same fuckin' watch

She don't got time to choose

We stuck in La La Land

We got the same fuckin' moves

[Bridge]

Y'all fuck the same fuckin' chicks

I'm in the skrt with ya— yeah, right

I'm in the skrt with ya— cool story

I'm on the j— 'nough of this!

[Verse 1]

Look, I know killers, you no killer, huh?

Bathing Ape maybe not a gorilla, huh?

Glorified seat filler, huh?

Stop walkin' around like y'all made Thriller, huh?

Fake Dracos all in the videos

We show 'em, we shoot 'em in my city though

I don't post no threats on the Internet

I just pose a threat, blame Lenny S for that

I don't be on the 'Gram goin' ham

Givin' information to the pork, that's all spam

Please don't talk about guns that you ain't never gon' use

Y'all always tell on y'all self, I'm just so fuckin' confused

[Chorus]

Y'all stuck in La La Land

Even when we win, we gon' lose

Y'all got the same fuckin' flows

I don't know who is who

We got the same fuckin' watch

She don't got time to choose

We stuck in La La Land

We got the same fuckin' moves

[Verse 2]

Y'all n\*\*\*as still signin' deals? Still?

After all they done stole, for real?

After what they done to our Lauryn Hill?

And y'all n\*\*\*as is 'posed to be trill?

That's real talk when you behind on your taxes

And you pawned all your chains

And they run off with your masters

And took it to Beverly Hills while we in Calabasas

And my head is scratchin' 'cause that shit is backwards

That shit ain't right, Lucian is cool

But Lucian don't write, Doug ain't this tight

So fuck what we sellin', fuck is we makin'?

'Cause their grass is greener 'cause they always rakin' in mo'

[Outro]

Na-na-na-na

Nah, nah

## References

1. ↑ "Jay Z Breaks Down Meaning Behind Every Song on '4:44'". *Complex*. June 30, 2017.
2. ↑ Bradley, Laura (June 30, 2017). "Why Jay-Z Referenced the *Moonlight*/*La La Land* Oscar Fail in *4:44*". *Vanity Fair*.
3. ↑ Patten, Dominic (August 4, 2017). "Jay-Z Recasts 'Friends' with Black Actors + Nods to 'Moonlight' Best Picture Win". *Deadline*.
4. ↑ Penrose, Nerisha (August 4, 2017). "Issa Rae, Jerrod Carmichael & Hannibal Buress Star in JAY-Z's 'Friends'-Inspired Video for 'Moonlight'". *Billboard*.
5. ↑ "Lakeith Stanfield Never Saw "Friends" Until He Starred in Jay-Z's "Moonlight" Video". *HotNewHipHop*. December 2, 2019.
6. ↑ Nguyen, Hanh (August 11, 2017). "Alan Yang on Recreating 'Friends' for Jay-Z's 'Moonlight' Video, the Sneaky Camera Transitions and What's Next". *IndieWire*.
7. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Music Videos". *Rolling Stone Australia*. August 3, 2021.
8. ↑ Framke, Caroline (August 11, 2017). "The video for Jay-Z's “Moonlight” is an all-black Friends remake — until it's not". *Vox*.
9. ↑ Miller, Matt (August 11, 2017). "Jay-Z's Version of *Friends* Is One of the Most Important Music Videos of the Year". *Esquire*.
10. ↑ Bradley, Bill (August 5, 2017). "Jay-Z's Black 'Friends' Remake Is A Powerful Comment on Hollywood's Diversity Problem". *Huffpost*.
11. ↑ Mesidor, Sean (October 26, 2020). "Message: JAY-Z Didn't Remake a Black 'Friends' in the 'Moonlight' Video for Laughs". *Essence*.
12. ↑ Izadi, Elahe (August 6, 2017). "Jay-Z's 'Moonlight' Music Video Does More Than Simply Show 'Friends' with an All-Black Cast". *The Washington Post*.
13. ↑ Lockett, Dee (August 4, 2017). "Jay-Z's New Video Stars Issa Rae, Tiffany Haddish, Jerrod Carmichael, and More in a Black *Friends* Parody". *Vulture*.
14. ↑ Bell, Gabriel (August 11, 2017). "See Jay-Z's Self-Effacing, Necessary All-Black "Friends" Remake in Full". *Salon*.

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