Rap mogul Jay Z, pictured with wife Beyonce, has labelled the war on drugs ‘an epic fail’. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris.

In a four-minute video published by The New York Times, Jay Z speaks openly about the drug problem in America.

The 99 Problems rapper said “young men like me who hustled became the sole villain and drug addicts lacked moral fortitude” when strict drug laws were introduced in the 80s, in the four-minute clip posted on nytimes.com.

He suggests treatment of drug dealers is hypocritical given that states like Colorado have legalised marijuana.

Rapper Jay Z, pictured with Beyonce, often references his drug dealing past in his music.Source:Supplied

The hugely successful rapper, whose real name is Shawn Carter, blames mandatory minimum sentencing in part for the sharp rise in the US prison population.

He said the prison population had blown out to more than two million during the so-called drug war.

“There were more than 1.5 million drug arrests in 2014,” he said in the New York Times clip.

“More than 80 per cent were for possession only. Almost half were for marijuana. People were finally talking about addiction to harder drugs as a health crisis.”

Jay Z has frequently rapped about his past as a crack cocaine dealer. He wrote the script for the video, narrating it as it is set to a series of illustrations.