Jay-Z has 99 problems, and an illegitimate son could become another one.
A New Jersey man who has been claiming that the rapper is his father hopes the state’s Supreme Court will one day help him in his paternity quest. Rymir Satterthwaite first set out 10 years ago to prove that Jay, real name Shawn Carter, is his biological father.
But the 30-year-old has been unable to get over one major hurdle: getting the billionaire mogul to take a DNA test. The aspiring emcee is convinced that Jay’s star power and resources have helped him evade the legal system throughout this unresolved matter.
As a result, he hopes the motion he filed in February with the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Supreme Court will finally stop the Tidal owner from evading the test. The filing asks that case documents dating back to 2012 be unsealed so that Satterthwaithe can receive due process.
A previous motion was rejected by the court. But, at this time, a decision has not been determined by the appellate division.
An attorney for the rapper issued a statement to the outlet addressing Satterthwaithe’s latest efforts. It reads: “The allegations have been previously reviewed thoroughly by the courts and have been refuted. I am sure that will be the outcome of whatever filings Mr. Satterthwaite is may be currently considering.”
The alleged “lovechild,” however, is committed to seeing this process through. “This is not going to be over until justice is served,” he told The Daily Mail. “I just want to live my life and, when it is all said and done, I hope that Jay-Z would want to be a part of my life, if that is God’s will. I won’t stop fighting for this until I win.”
Satterthwaithe claims his late mother, Wanda Satterthwaithe, confided in him that she had a sexual relationship in 1996 with Jay-Z, then 22 years old. At the time of the alleged fling, she was 16 years old.
Shortly after, she reconnected with her high-school sweetheart, Robert Graves, and learned she was pregnant. Despite telling Graves the child was his, she apparently always knew it was untrue.
As her health began to decline in 2010, Graves took a genetic test, proving he was not the boy’s father. In 2011, Lillie Coley, Satterthwaithe’s godmother, took over efforts to prove Jay-Z had fathered Wanda’s child. They have appeared before a judge at least twice, each time ending with a dismissal.
Every year since 2017, Coley and Satterthwaithe have filed civil violations in relation to the legal matter. Last year, Satterthwaithe spoke out about the ongoing court battle in a YouTube video. “There is a lot of fraud and collusion that has been going on,” he claimed.
His complaints to New Jersey’s elected officials and Judicial Conduct Board include claims of being treated unfairly in court while going up against the Grammy winner’s legal team, as well as accusations of Jay-Z’s attorneys subverting standard legal procedures to help him evade taking a DNA test.
Jay seemingly addressed the claims on his and Beyoncé’s joint album, “The Carters.” On the track titled “Heard About Us,” he rapped: “For the thousandth time, the kid ain’t mine / Online they call me dad, kiddingly / You’re not supposed to take this dad thing literally.”
