Ten years of pump fakes finally came to an end this past Friday as Jay Electronica released his long-awaited debut album, A Written Testimony. With an appearance from Jay-Z on eight of the album’s ten songs, fans were in for a treat that may have made the album’s wait worth it after all. But not everyone is happy with it. Hot 97 radio show host, Peter Rosenberg, took to Twitter to reveal why he took offense to some of the lines from A Written Testimony.
"My feet might fail me, my heart might ail me
The synagogues of Satan might accuse or jail me"Not feeling this bar from Jay Electronica and I know I'm not the only person who felt a way about it .
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) March 14, 2020
"My feet might fail me, my heart might ail me
The synagogues of Satan might accuse or jail me"Not feeling this bar from Jay Electronica and I know I'm not the only person who felt a way about it .
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) March 14, 2020
As a Jew it puts me in a bad position. I can ignore the fact that I instantly felt a pang of discomfort and offense and basically sell out my culture or I can be accused of being the "Jewish media" hating on this man. But it's how I felt. The line offended me.
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) March 14, 2020
Rosenberg said that his issues were with Jay Electronica’s use of the words “the synagogues of Satan” on the song “Ghost of Soulja.” The host actually cited the wrong song, quoting a line from 2014’s “Better in Tune with the Infinite.” Regardless of which song was at fault, Rosenberg said its use put him in a “bad position,” saying he was offended: “I can ignore the fact that I instantly felt a pang of discomfort and offense and basically sell out my culture or I can be accused of being the ‘Jewish media’ hating on this man.”
Apologies I quoted the wrong song … when I googled "Synagogue of Satan" — I mistakenly assumed Jay only said it once… this is the second time … the line this time is "The synagogue of Satan want me to hang by my collar" . lol my bad..songs dope besides that cringe though
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) March 14, 2020
Electronica soon took to Twitter to address Rosenberg’s complaints. According to Complex, in a string of tweets, some of which were later deleted, he began by confronting Rosenberg on his choice to speak on “Better in Tune With the Infinite,” a song that is nearly six years old.
We sat down in an interview before and talked about my stance in these matters and it’s there for anyone to go pull up. we’re you offended then? then you quoted better in tune w the infinite which was released in 2014 so what #AWrittenTestimony made you go back and listen to BITWTI and you were retro offended? if you have a problem w the term Synagouge of Satan, don’t take it up w me, take it up w the writers of the New Testament. Don’t play w me Peter, i ain’t the one. and you know this. i come in peace and i go in peace. let’s keep it that way.
https://twitter.com/JayElectronica/status/1239036639260762112
https://twitter.com/JayElectronica/status/1239037999502901250
https://twitter.com/JayElectronica/status/1239037999502901250
Electronica then declared that he “stands on every single word I said” on the new album, asking Rosenberg to stay quiet until he invited him to discuss the topic in a public forum. Rosenberg then said he has “a public forum everyday if you ever want to talk,” and also pointed out that he was not the only person offended by Electronica’s words.
Check out the back and forth between Rosenberg and Electronica in the tweets above.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misnamed Peter Rosenberg as Paul Rosenberg. The post has since been updated. Uproxx regrets the error.
A Written Testimony is out now via Roc Nation. Get it here.
