Everybody loves The Book of Hov, right? The New York Times ignores those who noticed how the Brooklyn Public Library's sponcon disserved users

If you check Twitter and other social media, most commenters think the new Book of Hov Jay-Z tribute exhibit at Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library is fantastic, including memorabilia like tour photos, a replica of his studio, and interviews about all of his albums.

That's not surprising--he's a huge star, and worthy of a major exhibition. It's fascinating and well-executed sponcon, or sponsored content. (I'm just going by the coverage and online exhibit; I haven't been to the library yet.)

But should that exhibition dominate--and in some ways displace--a public library? Should that exhibition be more than a tribute produced and paid for by his company?

(I pointed out that there might be contradictions in a presentation that seems to ignore--or at least gloss over--Jay-Z's early career as a drug dealer, or his alliance with developers.)

Those questions were aired not in the major New York Times article that appeared online Thursday, July 14, How a Jay-Z Retrospective Took Over the Brooklyn Public Library, but in the online comments.

Which is why it was strange that the Times, in publishing that article two days later in a huge spread leading Saturday's Arts, chose not to even acknowledge them. It was all celebration of a spoon-fed (at least partial) scoop.

Carrying some water

Instead, the Times prints a self-serving explanation:

 “The Book of Hov,” which will run through the summer, might seem more at home at the Brooklyn Museum down the block. But by installing the showcase across eight zones of a functioning library, its architects are aiming to bring aspirational celebrity extravagance to a free public haven just a few miles from the Marcy Houses where Jay-Z grew up. 

“Jay belongs to the people,” [Roc Nation's Desiree] Perez said. “It’s a place that feels comfortable. It’s not intimidating. A lot of people go to the museum, but a lot of people don’t.”

See, there's money involved:

The library had initially pitched Jay-Z as an honoree for its annual fund-raising gala. But when its chief executive, Linda E. Johnson — the wife of another Jay-Z ally, the developer Bruce Ratner — floated the idea to Perez of Roc Nation, the pair pivoted.

“I just asked her, ‘How big is the library?’” Perez recalled. “And when she said 350,000 square feet, I couldn’t believe it.”

Throughout the pandemic, Perez and Roc Nation had been plotting to display artifacts that conveyed Jay-Z’s influence across music, business and broader culture, including the pallets’ worth of master recordings he had regained ownership of over the years.

“That archive belongs in Brooklyn,” said Johnson, who oversaw the merger of the Brooklyn Public Library and Brooklyn Historical Society.

She's leaving the impression that the archive should be permanently in Brooklyn rather than, as it seems, presented for about two months.

Well, now, it's a deal:

While the valuables will require additional security, Brooklyn Public Library was not paying for any of the production for the show, she added. “Roc Nation is doing a lot for us financially,” Johnson said, including a substantial donation tied to the gala in October, when Jay-Z and his mother, Gloria Carter, will be honored.

Some comments

The top "Reader Pick" warns about a "shrine" to Jay-Z:

Unpopular opinion: the library shouldn't be used as an amusement park or shrine to Jay-Z. At the risk of sounding crotchety, I've been using the library nearly every day for weeks to study for the July Bar Exam. Now, overnight, the library has become inundated with crowds drawn by instagram and musical exhibits. The new exhibit is admittedly impressive and engaging. I just think it's a bit imperious of Roc Nation to seize and occupy the only free public space with wifi and study carrels in this area, to say nothing of interfering with the professional and civic resources and support the librarians provide. Surely there were better-suited venues?

The next questions the Times's claim this was all a surprise:

If you think Jay’s organization would risk something this public, with all the risk of backlash and public outrage, without their boss’s FULL cooperation and consent, then I’ve got a bridge for sale at the foot of Flatbush Ave. This is an advertisement pure and simple.

The next calls it "well executed" but "questionable::

a lot of folks in my neighborhood thought this was something to do with the 50 Years of Hip Hop celebrations around the city but no, just some "sponsored content" aka an advertisement for a billionaire. well executed but still a questionable choice for the library with the fingerprints of a real estate developer all over it.

The next points out how service was compromised:

I think the library administration should have handled this differently, with sensitivity to the fact that it's a working library branch (the main, in fact) which is there to serve the public. My middle school kid lugged a bunch of books to return there this week, only to find that not only was the library closed unexpectedly but all the book drops had been removed (I assume because they would ruin the photo op aesthetics, or some overzealous security guard thought they were a risk to Jay-Z). There were several frustrated library patrons milling around that day... a signboard out front said partial closures and directed people to the side entrances, and when we trekked to those there were other signs saying the library was closed completely, with closures extended over several days. Why not keep the other areas and entrances of the library open? And external book drops should always be available. I feel for the people who had passport and IDNYC office appointments (hard to get and booked weeks in advance), who were apparently incorrectly turned away by security guards.

Another pointed to the Ratner link--he's a former business partner but, yes, an ally:

This seems to me like a conflict of interest on the part of BPL CEO Linda Johnson. Her husband, Bruce Ratner, is a business partner of Jay-Z's. Even though Roc Nation paid for the exhibit and will be making a donation, BPL security staff still worked overtime, public space was disrupted, the library was shut down, and Linda Johnson threw a secretive and exclusive star-studded party...in order to surprise Jay-Z? The exhibit is neat but in my opinion it unnecessarily interrupted public library function while also having close ties to the CEO's personal social and financial interests.

Another pointed to an active development controversy in which Jay-Z is seeking business advantage:

There should have been mention here that Jay-Z's entity is one of the groups seeking to develop the NYC casino.

There was a defense:

As a native of Brooklyn living far away from it these days, with no particular resonance from the very successful career of Jay-Z, I’m a bit puzzled by the reaction from some of the commenters. Support of one’s local public library is, as my mom might have said, a mitzvah. A philanthropic event wrapped in the celebration of a native-born success in any of the arts appear to me to be beyond question. Kudos to Roc Nation and the others behind this event. Helping the wonderful Brooklyn Public Library, a place regarded with happiness by almost everyone who ever walked into any of its branches over decades of enlightenment, is a very good thing. And celebrating the work of a major talent from the neighborhood in which the library resides makes it doubly good.

And another:

Amazing to see this pulled together for a man that has done so much for the Brooklyn community. I think people don't truly understand the impact Jigga has had on blue collar New Yorkers and hip-hop over the decades. Most will still put his brand of hip hop as all-time and rightfully so. This temporary installation at BPL seems very fitting.

One commenter pointed to another contradiction, the content:

Our family, including our young children, visits our local library weekly. So I’m a bit defensive when it comes to public libraries. Jay-Z is the “Godfather” of a genre whose constitutive ingredients are the promotion of violence, misogyny, and conspicuous greed. Fine. It’s music. It’s entertainment. But he owes none of his success to books or education. He and his wife have paid some lip service to charity but considering their vast wealth and influence it’s a bit paltry. Surely there are countless others, whose struggles were great but overcame adversity through learning and can celebrate the written word

I don't think the latter is completely on point, but it does point to some contradictions.