It received three nominations at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video.
[4] The video uses a style similar to the Censored Eleven cartoons, depicting several well-known stereotypes associated with African Americans.
O. J. Simpson (the song's namesake) is featured saying the line, "I'm not black, I'm O.J.," a reference to the idea that wealth, notoriety, and fame can transcend race.
"[8] Hadley Freeman penned an article in The Guardian stating that the song "repeats a racist trope about Jewish people" and that "it can’t just be laughed off as a compliment.
"[10] An Anti-Defamation League representative told Rolling Stone that they do not believe Jay-Z’s intent was to promote antisemitism but that they were "concerned that this lyric could feed into preconceived notions about Jews and alleged Jewish ‘control’ of the banks and finance.”[11][10] Jay-Z said on the Rap Radar podcast referring to the imagery in the video in relation to the controversial lyric: "It’s hard for me to take that serious, because I exaggerated every black image in the world.