It was over a decade ago when Lil Mama’s innocuous attempt to show her New York pride turned into career suicide. At the height of her career, Lil Mama stormed the stage during Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ performance of “Empire State Of Mind” where she crossed her arms as she posed next to Jay-Z and turned into a meme forever.
Alicia Keys recently recalled Jay-Z’s initial reaction after the incident, claiming that Jay-Z was the furthest bit from impressed by Lil Mama’s actions. Lil Mama later stated that she never received a response from either party after she reached out to apologize.
Last night, Jay-Z made a very rare appearance on Spaces with Alicia Keys where he finally addressed the situation. All is forgiven, according to HOV. “Of course, of course. Don’t do that,” Jay said after he was asked if he forgave Lil Mama. “That’s our sister, man. We love her. I wouldn’t recommend people jumping on other people’s stage but, you know, we don’t wish her no harm. That’s corny.”
Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images
“She’s a New Yorker, you know what I’m sayin’? She got excited, so you know, things happen and of course, of course, we love her,” he continued. “Yes, she’s forgiven. And It’s all love… And she was coming from a place of love. It may have been a little too excited but she came from a place of love.”
The clip, of course, circulated back to Lil Mama who reacted to finally being forgiven by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys publicly after all of the years.
“I appreciate hearing this portion of last nights conversation. This has always been my stance , Love. Love for both my big brother, big sister and my city. It brings clarity to all of us as a community to actually hear these words from our legendary leaders in music,” she wrote. “Thanks #JayZ and @aliciakeys for using your voices in this conversation . Hopefully we can have one together soon.”
Check the clip below.