JAY-Z On Bringing Black Faces to Life in Biblical Times for ‘The Book of Clarence’ (Yes, We Did Exist)

Born storyteller JAY-Z has brought us all The Book of Clarence, a biblical comedy-drama film about a man named Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) who’s on a bold path to deliver a better life for himself and his family. It’s a journey that JAY-Z , who co-produced the film, understands intimately.

“I relate to this character. Like you said, it’s almost autobiographical— you want to make something in yourself,” he shares with EBONY.

For Clarence, who’s been watching his twin brother Thomas get accolades as a discipline of the Messiah, it’s about establishing his belief that he is worthy of greatness. “That delayed his faith, and I’ve had experience with that,” JAY-Z shares. 

“You want to be around your loved ones. Clarence has this love for this girl and wants to show her that he can be something in life. And when you leave, you want to leave a mark, like, I’ve done this. Clarence was always a good guy … this is not a redemption tale. He’s always been a good guy from the beginning. He just wanted to be seen, and he wanted to make something of himself.”

The “isms” that often try to roadblock our paths to greatness, like classism and racism, are also explored in the film. “It just shows you this is old as time. Prejudice and all those things existed way before, maybe even in a more openly fashion than the times that we’re living in,” JAY-Z theorizes. “When you show it in a historical form, it gives way to how ridiculous it is.”

This is all a part of how JAY-Z tells stories, by exploring how ordinary people are extraordinary in their own right.

“That’s a beautiful way to say it, and you can attribute that line to me, thank you very much,” he jokes before adding with ultimate wisdom, “If we got rich characters and we find the story, let’s tell the story.”

JAY-Z and The Book of Clarence director Jeymes Samuel first did that in their 2019 film, The Harder They Fall. The duo is dedicated to showing the Black community in times when people seem to think we didn’t exist.

“These are real people, like, what did they do? Where did they dance? Where did they sleep? What did they wear,” JAY-Z asks, adding how important it is to showcase our life in that moment. 

While some of The Book of Clarence’s details are steeped in the creation of Samuel’s mind, “We took a real situation, and we create fantasy, we create storyline and entertainment, but the underlying theme, for at least for our first two films is that we existed during these times,” JAY-Z says. “And when you get to tell that story, it’s just a win, win, win, win, win, win on top of everything else.”

The Book of Clarence is now playing in theaters.

The post JAY-Z On Bringing Black Faces to Life in Biblical Times for ‘The Book of Clarence’ (Yes, We Did Exist) appeared first on EBONY.