Real Music People

The rapper has finally did it! For the first time in his career, Jay-Z got a number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with his song “Empire State of Mind”. Congratulations are in order, especially considering this is a man who spends his time occupied with his various businesses and helping other artists launch their careers. Jay-Z proved that all you need is a heap load of money and influence and you can turn the musical sphere all the way around… you couldn’t do that with talent. Jay-Z is probably in for one hell of a party and Beyonce must be so happy for him… even though she herself might have been vying for the achievement.

Rihanna’s comeback seems to be in full swing as the singer made a surprise appearance at Jay-Z’s concert at UCLA last Sunday. The performance marks the first time in a very long time that the Barbadian singer sang live. And mind you, she sounded absolutely amazing. Rihanna took the stage just in time for her collaboration with the rapper on ‘Run This Town’. Rihanna also had a solo performance of her new song ‘Hard’. That should get her comeback going. I just think that she still needs to up the ante regarding her new music because her singles are mediocre at best.

The music video for Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ featuring Alicia Keys recently premiered. The video was shot in New York City’s Harlem, Times Square and around Ground Zero on October 1. The song, which is an ode to the rapper’s and singer’s native New York City, features a sampling of ‘Love on a Two-Way Street’ by The Moments. The video was directed by Hype Williams. Just the names of the two entertainers and the directors are enough proof to say that the video is hot but watching the video itself is an even greater experience. I absolutely love it!

The extremely successful rapper recently brought to light that he would in the past utterly crush his nephews at video games. Sadly, Jay-Z has lost this wonderful talent, as the singer himself admits: “My nephews didn’t beat me their entire lives, until now. They can destroy me now. I would never let them win because that meant they controlled the household, so I would just beat them mercilessly.” Right, control the house, beat them mercilessly? Is Jay-Z trying to transmit something more here… is he trying to get rid of some excess guilt because a few interesting ideas certainly come to mind.

And they will not be the only ones, numerous other artists including Green Day, Tokio Hotel and others will be present at the MTV Europe Music Awards, a show that will be hosted by Katy Perry, as a source relates: “Katy – who hosted the awards in style last year as she rode on a giant chapstick and cherries and dazzled with her costume changes – is the only artist ever to be asked to host two successive shows in the 15-year history of the MTV Europe Music Awards.” But it’s between Robbie Williams and Jay-Z that the real battle will be given because both of them are candidates for the best male award: who will it be, the psychologically challenged British pop star or the powerful enterprising rap mogul? Or should we all just settle for Bob who works down at the convenience store?

Cast members from the Tony Award winning musical ‘In the Heights’ Kyle Beltran, Karen Olivo and Lin-Manuel Miranda sang their own rendition of Jay-Z’s hit song ‘Run this Town’ featuring Rihanna and Kanye West. The video is a creative introduction for the first national tour cast of ‘In the Heights’ which kicks off on Tuesday, October 27 at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Tampa, Florida. Thanks to the TV show ‘Glee’, musical stars doing covers of mainstream music seems to be a growing trend. I like their versions though and sometimes even better than I like the originals.

The rapper is in search of a new partner with which to broaden his musical horizons… and he doesn’t want just anybody, no, Jay-Z wants to go co-op with Liam Gallagher from Oasis, and for some mighty fine reasons, as the rapper himself admits: “I hear Snoop Dogg might be teaming up with Noel. If that’s the case then I would love to work with Liam. Their music is tight and I think we could blend our styles well. When I teamed up with Linkin Park nobody expected that to work but we made a massive success of it. The same could happen with Liam. When you have two artists like us in a room just throwing about ideas you come up with something brilliant fairly easily. I don’t know what he is up to now but he can give me a call.” You cannot read this and not think of that old folk-tale of the imitation-obsessed lad that jumps into a well after his “source of inspiration”. Jay-Z seems to have a very special connection to Snoop Dogg’s actions.

2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards Nominees:

Kanye West Leads 2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards Nominations With Nine

Full List of Nominees:

Best Hip-Hop Collaboration

“Pop Champagne,” Jim Jones & Ron Browz featuring Juelz Santana
“Mrs. Officer,” Lil Wayne featuring Bobby Valentino
“Magnificent,” Rick Ross featuring John Legend
“Live Your Life,” T.I. featuring Rihanna
“Put On,” Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West

Best Live Performer
Busta Rhymes
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
T.I.
Kanye West

Lyricist of the Year
Drake
Eminem
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
Kanye West

Video Director of the Year
Gil Green
Anthony Mandler
Mr. Boomtown
Chris Robinson
Hype Williams

Producer of the Year
Ron Browz
Cool & Dre
Tha Bizness
T-Pain
Kanye West

Track of the Year
“Day “N” Nite,” Kid Cudi
“D.O.A. (Death of Auto Tune),” Jay-Z
“Every Girl – Young Money,” Lil Wayne, Drake, Jae Mills, Gudda Gudda & Mack Maine
“Live Your Life,” T.I. featuring Rihanna
“Turn My Swag On,” Soulja Boy Tell’em

CD of the Year
“Relapse,” Eminem
“The Renaissance,” Q-Tip
“Paper Trail,” T.I.
“808s & Heartbreak,” Kanye West
“The Recession,” Young Jeezy

Rookie of the Year
B.O.B.
Dorrough
Drake
Kid Cudi
Wale

Best Hip-Hop Video
“Ice Cream Paint Job,” Dorrough – Ice Cream Paint Job
“We Made You,” Eminem – We Made You
“D.O.A. (Death of Auto Tune),” Jay-Z
“Day “N” Nite,” Kid Cudi
“Live Your Life,” T.I. featuring Rihanna

MVP of the Year
Drake
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
T.I.
Kanye West

DJ of the Year
DJ AM
DJ Drama
DJ Khaled
DJ Tony Neal
DJ Greg Street

Hustler of the Year
Diddy
Drake
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
Kanye West

Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip-Hop Style)
Jay-Z
Kid Cudi
Lil Wayne
Soulja Boy Tell’em
Kanye West

Best Hip-Hop Blog Site
All Hip Hop
Nah Right
SOHH
This Is 50
World Star Hip Hop

People’s Champ (Viewers Choice)
“Ice Cream Paint Job,” Dorrough
“Throw It In The Bag,” Fabolous featuring The-Dream
“Day ‘N’ Nite,” Kid Cudi
“Turn My Swag On,” Soulja Boy Tell’em
“Amazing,” Kanye West featuring Young Jeezy

Everyone may still be upset at what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs but there’s a network which isn’t – BET. The rapper received nine nominations for the fourth annual BET Hip Hop Awards which will air on October 27th. Kanye leads in the nominations with Jay-Z and Lil Wayne following with seven nods each and TI having six nods. People may not be happy with Kanye as a person but they sure are happy with his music. This time, I bet he can hog the spotlight and ruin his image without having to hurt someone else in turn.

Rapper Jay-Z has said he “never wanted to be famous”.

Jay-Z, who who has just gone to number one with his single Run This Town with Rihanna and Kanye West, told British Now magazine: “No, I just wanted to make my first album Reasonable Doubt. Then I thought about getting into the business side of music. I was a reluctant rapper.”

The 39-year-old, who thinks music was a way of escaping things when he was growing up, just wanted a job when he was younger.

He added: “I never wanted to be a superstar – I just wanted a job like most people.”

Source: Splash News

Jay-Z has topped the UK singles chart with new track Run This Town.

The rapper has beaten the Sugababes to the top spot.

Jay-Z’s new song, which features Rihanna and Kanye West, is his first number one in the UK.

Run This Town is the first single from the 39-year-old’s new album The Blueprint 3.

Source: Splash News

Rapper Jay-Z is set to play a one off gig at the Roundhouse London.

The hip-hop star is going to perform the eagerly anticipated solo concert at London’s famous Roundhouse venue in Camden.

The 39-year-old will play on September 17 for a small crowd of 3,500.

The singer will perform some of his new tracks from his new album The Blueprint 3 at the gig.

A spokesperson from the promoters of the gig, Live Nation, said: “It will be an intimate show and there may well be some special guests.”

Jay-Z, who is married to singer Beyonce, will also play a charity concert in New York’s Madison Square Gardens on September 11 in remembrance of all the victims of 9/11.

The spokesman added: “The London show is just a few days after the 9/11 anniversary and the special concert he is holding at Madison Square Gardens. The anniversary is obviously something that is very close to his heart as a New Yorker.”

Source: Splash News

Jay-Z’s bodyguard was charged with a crime for last weekend’s tripod-tossing fight with a local TV reporter in Croatia. Law enforcement sources say that the rapper’s bodyguard has been charged with destroying personal property and assault, based on a complaint filed by the reporter who got into a scuffle with Jay and Beyonce’s entourage that night. Video of the incident actually surfaced on the internet showing the whole confrontation, including the part where the reporter throws his camera sticks at Jay-Z’s bodyguard and the bodyguard threw the tripod into the sea. Police are trying to track down the hired muscle for questioning regarding the incident.

There’s a new trailer that recently came out for the video of Rihanna, Kanye West and Jay-Z’s new song ‘Run This Town’. Jay-Z said “The song is about evolution and the progress. You start out as a new artist and you make your way into the game. You climb that mountain and you get to the top and you put your flag down. This is us putting our flag down. This is Roc Nation. Pledge your allegiance. You’ve got to put your flag at the top of the mountain and say we run this town.” The trio of singers and rappers will perform the song on NBC’s The Jay Leno Show on September 14. It’s also being said that they will also perform a day before the show at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Oprah Winfrey was in a lather over Jay-Z.

Winfrey gushed about the rapper in a recent radio call. “Jay-Z is my new best friend!” she said while giving an interview to her best friend Gayle King.

“He was so charming and delightful — and he smelled so good,” the talk show queen said.

“It’s the kind of thing where you hug a guy and the scent is sort of buried in them. When we went to the second location I could still smell him on me. It was like, ‘Oh my, this is wonderful!’”

Hip-hop artist Jay-Z is also a perfumer who has produced a scent called Rocawear 9 IX to be launched next month.

Source: Splash News

Rihanna will be making her comeback performance on the premiere night of NBC’s The Jay Leno Show on September 14. This will be her first ever performance ever since she was assaulted back in February. The 21-year old Barbadian singer, along with rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, will perform ‘Run This Town’ from Jay-Z’s new album ‘The Blueprint 3’ which will hit stores on September 11. E! also reports that The Jay Leno show is close to securing Tom Cruise to participate in his new segment ‘The Green Car Challenger’ wherein celebrities race each other in alternative-fuel vehicles. That sounds interesting.

The rapper was recently placed at the top of the so-called “Power 30” list by the hip hop magazine The Source. It seems that Jay-Z got this distinction due to the fact that he is an industry leader and a top business man. Also featured on the list were Diddy, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and so on. Still, it cannot be said that Jay-Z is a leader in the industry, but more likely that he is an industry all by himself… well, as any self-respecting rapper seems to have to be these days. But Jay-Z probably makes more money a year that the GDP of a small country… well, a small, slightly under-developed country.

The rapper is apparently negotiating a deal with WMG/Atlantic about making his own record label. Supposedly this deal will make him virtually unstoppable. A source said the following about Jay-Z’s expansion plans: “Jay’s deal with Live Nation is massive. But if he were to cut a deal with WMG/Atlantic, he’d make even more headlines. Jay-Z, Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles are all brand names. They’re the industry’s heavy hitters, and the combination would bring them a lot of attention. They would be unstoppable. Jay himself is the most successful rapper-turned-businessman out there.” Maybe this is why so many have not been able to perform lately… Jay-Z probably hired some voodoo people to put a halt to their activities while he makes his big break. Still, I am puzzled: what kind of a rapper is Jay-Z anyway if he doesn’t have his own record label yet?

It’s official – Jay-Z has left his long time label, Def Jam Records. The rapper confirmed the news that he’s left the record company which he’s been so involved with for the past several years. Jay-Z says that his time at Def Jam has been “a unique and fulfilling experience.” The rapper did not give the real reason as to why he chose to leave though. However, Jay-Z still owes Def Jam one more record. You better be expecting a “Best Of” CD to be coming out soon under Jay-Z’s name. It will probably have some previously unreleased tracks on there but unlikely to have something new from the rapper.

Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton has reportedly been teaching Beyonce how to drive like a professional.

The 24-year-old world champion has been showing Beyonce, 27, and rapper hubby Jay-Z, 39, around the track after they arrived at the Cannes Film Festival.

The couple has been supporting Beyonce’s younger sister Solange Knowles after she performed at the VIP Rooms.

An insider said: "Beyonce’s so excited to be learning from him. And Jay’s even worse. He’s ready to put on his helmet and get in the fast lane himself."

Source: Splash News