Jay-Z Lyrics Come Up for Debate in Florida Legislature

One would think that Democrats would have the advantage when it comes to correctly quoting Jay-Z lyrics. Apparently that's not the case up in Tallahassee. Dean Cannon, the Republican Speaker of the House, corrected Democratic Rep. Alan B. Williams for misquoting a Jay-Z song today on the House floor...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

March 8, 2012

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One would think that Democrats would have the advantage when it comes to correctly quoting Jay-Z lyrics. Apparently that's not the case up in Tallahassee. Dean Cannon, the Republican Speaker of the House, corrected Democratic Rep. Alan B. Williams for misquoting a Jay-Z song today on the House floor.

The House was discussing the an amendment to a bill related to what type of evidence can be considered in a criminal case. Rep. Williams opposed the amendment, and evoked a famous passage from Jay-Z's classic "99 Problems."

Via the Washington Free Beacon:

REP. ALAN B. WILLIAMS: To go even further, you think about a wise businessman. He even said he knows his rights. And Jay-Z...I think Jay-Z said it best and I'm going to quote for you. "I know my rights and you're going to need a warrant for that." And he even went further, "Aren't you sharp as a tack, are you a lawyer or something?" Members, when you look at it, support this. If you support Jay-Z, support this amendment. Thank you.

SPEAKER DEAN CANNON: I must respectfully disagree with a correction, Rep. Williams. In the song, it was the officer who said, "Aren't you sharp as a tack?" or something. "You should try for lawyer or something," so I got you on that. It's an unspoken rule, if you're going to invoke Jay-Z, you must get the lyrics correct. I'm not sure Jay-Z would support this amendment.

Both were actually sort of right, and sort of wrong. Williams got the exact lyrics correct, but Cannon was correct in attributing the "Aren't you sharp as a tack..." portion to the police officer, not Hova.

In case you're wondering, Jay-Z did once rap he felt like a Black Republican, but his voter ID actually seems to be Democrat. He campaigned for Obama in 2008, and plans to do so again in 2012.

And, because you're just going to search for "99 Problems" on Spotify anyway, here's the video:

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