Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Before video leaked of an altercation between Solange Knowles and her brother-in-law, Jay-Z, we’d seen nothing but good things from them. In fact, they had an endearing relationship, with Jay-Z stepping into the role of “cool uncle” to Solange’s now nine-year-old son, Daniel Julez Smith, Jr., and “big brother” to the indie R’n’B singer herself.
Before the Met Gala incident, Solange referred to Jay-Z as family in no uncertain terms.
“I grew up in a house with five women and just my dad, so he is like a brother I never had,” she said in Now Magazine last year.
In another interview in September, Solange talked about meeting Jay-Z for the first time when she was 13 before he and her sister had even dated. The two were seated together on the plane while Solange leafed through her rapper Nas’ records, so Jay-Z gave her the nickname ‘Private School Thug’. Asked whether she thought Nas or Jay-Z were better musicians, she simply stated her tastes have evolved.
“Jay and I have our own sister-brotherly relationship, we talk about music a lot, we talk about art a lot,” she said. “That’s my brother.”
Jay-Z’s public relationship with Solange’s son, who is commonly referred to as Julez, has been nothing but sweet. At the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, when Run This Town won Jay-Z, Kanye West and Rihanna an award for Best Rap/Song Collaboration, Jay-Z and Rihanna took a tuxedoed Julez up with them onto stage. Rihanna picked Julez up and asked him if he had anything he wanted to say, and he offered a polite “No, thanks,” earning a laugh from the charmed crowd.
“Julez is going to enjoy seeing that when he’s 13 :),” Solange tweeted afterwards.
It wasn’t the first time Jay-Z offered his nephew a taste of fame. In 2012, he introduced the young boy to Miami Heat star player, LeBron James. James gave Julez his headband, arm guard and sneakers, enough mementoes to make grown adults weep with envy.
Once again, Solange took to Twitter afterwards and thanked Lebron for making Julez’s “day, week, month”.
“He has a permanent smile. Very, very kind of you,” she added, though she didn’t mention Jay-Z.
tabloid! Staff
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
