The troubled voting state of Florida got some last minute encouragement from rappers Jay-Z and Diddy over the weekend. During a ‘Last Chance for Change’ rally on Sunday at Florida Memorial University, the duo told voters not to be discouraged by long lines at polling places. Music executive Kevin Liles also pointed out that fans have endured long lines for CDs and Jordans so why not endure long lines to vote and make a change. Hip hop mogul and singer Mary J. Blige were also in attendance showing their support to the now President-elect Barack Obama. This election has proven to be moving for young voters with record-breaking young voter registration and record-breaking early voting.
Shakir Stewart, the man who took Jay-Z’s place as head Vice President of Def Jam Records was found dead this past weekend in his Georgia home. Stewart was best known for signing artists such as Rick Ross and Young Jeezy. He stepped in Jay-Z’s shoes shortly after he stepped down from the job last December. The cause of death is still under investigation but several rumors are going around that he committed suicide but nothing is confirmed. However, a Cobb County Police Detective says that Stewart was taken to an Atlanta hospital after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Marietta, Georgia home.
The next time any of you start saying a little prayer, would you mind saying one for Jay-Z too? The times have really gotten hard over in London and the rap mogul can’t find any clubs that are willing to pay his host fee of $45,000. The London Paper says that Jay has already lowered his fee to $15,000 but there are still no takers. It really is a hard knock life. And yet they still pay for Amy Winehouse to appear for them even though it’s pretty much a lost cause. If they had saved whatever they paid her then maybe Jay would have gotten some gigs.
Plane crash survivor DJ AM is coming back huge! I think he may even trump Britney Spears! The celebrity DJ has just been announced to be appearing on tour with Jay-Z. AM even joined the rap mogul recently at the Hollywood Palladium for their first appearance together. It served as his first public performance since last month’s tragic plane crash. The DJ said “He’s the greatest rapper in the world. This is the biggest thing that’s happened in my career.” Rock the tunes hard AM! We believe in you! But don’t forget to take care of yourself while you’re on the road.
Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter was recently awarded with a Global Leadership Award by the United Nations at a gala in New York City. The rapper has done lots of work to bring clean water to Africa through the Water for Life campaign. Noticeably absent from the event was Beyonce. I wonder what prevented the singer from seeing her hubby pick up the award. Getting an award from the UN is a pretty big deal. You would think that she would have been there showing full support. I wonder where she was at. She better have a good excuse or we might start to think that they’re having trouble.
According to reports, Jay-Z and his partners are selling their 40/40 Club in Las Vegas for an undisclosed amount. The rapper and his crew only opened the club in January of this year! That certainly didn’t last long. There was no reason given as to why they decided to sell the Vegas branch but Jay-Z did issue a statement about it saying “The sale is a great business decision; we are delighted. We look forward to expanding the brand even further to Chicago and Tokyo.” I think it’s just his indirect way of saying that the Vegas branch sucked big time and it was best for him to just make some money off a sale than shell out more to keep it in business.
Hip hop is one rich industry. According to Forbes, in the last year alone, Jay-Z released a platinum album and signed a $150 million deal with Live Nation for a 10-year contract. But that pales in comparison to 50 Cent who, after taxes, took in over $100 million when his stake in the high-calorie Vitamin Water was bought by Coca-Cola. In total, 50 raked in over $150 million in just 12 months – double what Jay-Z made last year. So 50 comes in first on the list of richest hip hop artists for 2008. Jay-Z comes in second. Diddy comes in third for the second year in a row after raking in $35 million from all his revenue streams. Kanye West came in fourth with $30 million.
The divas of hip hop are reuniting as reports say that Jay-Z is set to work with both Kanye West and Timbaland on sessions for his new album. And here you thought he was retiring already. Early reports say that Jay-Z’s new stuff was going to be produced solely by Timbo but the hip hop star has revealed that the sessions are more of a musical competition between his peers. Jay says “I’m a person that works off music. If Timbaland makes 10 great tracks then he produces the album, if Kanye West makes 10 great tracks then he produces the album; if he makes three, I’ll take three. I let the music dictate the direction. You know I love Timbaland, he is like a brother to me, but until the music is done it’s premature.”
It looks like Ticketmaster is about to get some serious competition as Live Nation, the owners and promoters of music venues all over the globe as well as the group that gave Jay-Z and Madonna their $100 million contracts, will be launching its own ticketing arm once its contract with Ticketmaster expires at the end of the year. A little competition is always good for both the consumers and the producers. But then again, at the end of the day, Live Nation is still a corporation. Sooner or later, they’re going to suck the life out of us too much like every other corporation does.
Timbaland got married on a private island in Aruba last weekend but don’t think that the rapper and mega producer went all out with the fancy stuff. Spies at the wedding site says that the music mogul’s wedding, which the hotel called the code name of ‘Heaven on Earth’, actually featured open mic karaoke and $50,000 worth of flowers. If you compare that to Mariah’s weddings, it’s practically peanuts. Oprah, Madonna, Missy Elliott, Beyonce, Jay-Z and Prince were said to be invited but there’s no official word on just who actually showed. What, Justin Timberlake wasn’t invited? I was kind of imagining him as the wedding singer.
Jay-Z and Beyonce could be teaming up for a duet this summer.
The married couple are rumored to appear on stage together at the O2 Wireless Festival in London, just one week after the rapper controversially headlines Glastonbury. A source said: “Jay-Z is planning a spectacle to end of spectacles. He knows all eyes will be on him when he headlines Glastonbury but he’s actually planning on whipping up something special for Wireless too. He’s been talking to Beyonce about getting her on stage.’
The hip-hop star, who teamed up with Beyonce for her worldwide smash hit ‘Crazy In Love’ and ’03 Bonnie and Clyde’, is also planning to fly in a huge string section and orchestra for the Hyde Park concert.
Since being announced as a Glastonbury headliner, Jay-Z has been criticized by rock royalty, including Oasis star Noel Gallagher, who insists a hip-hop act should not top the bill at the event.
Jay Z has praised the rhyming skills of Kanye West.
Last month MTV bosses voted Chicago rapper Kanye top of a list of “Hottest MCs In The Game” and now New York man Jay has shown his love.
Jay, real-name Shawn Carter, told MTV: “He’s a complete package now, he’s working on his craft as an MC.” He explained: “In the beginning, his flow wasn’t as tight His flow was lacking in my opinion.”
Aside from his razor-sharp rhyming skills, Jay is keen to highlight West’s lyrical talent.
He said: “The hooks were incredible and the lyrics - he really takes a lot of pride in what he writes. That happiness is seeing his evolution from the first album to now.”
Jay-Z wants $100 million to launch his own record label.
The hip-hop mogul, who recently quit his role as president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Def Jam Recordings, is reportedly asking music labels for the mammoth investment for new project Carter Music Group, but has so far seen his demands dismissed.
A source told the New York Post newspaper: ‘Jay-Z is asking for way too much. He wants a label to give him $100 million for the Carter Music Group and provide for overhead, development and digital investment. It’s crazy. He wants the label to basically be his venture capital fund – but unlike a venture capital, they won’t get 50 per cent.’
A venture capital fund involves the investment of money into smaller companies, which are often thought to carry more risk.
A representative for the ’99 Problems’ rapper branded the reports nothing more than ‘rumours’. Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, left Def Jam late last year amid claims he wasn’t making enough money.
Last year, Jay-Z was named the second highest earning musician in the world by business bible Forbes magazine, with annual earnings of $83 million. His other business interests include owning a series of 40/40 sports bars across the US, and a stake in the New Jersey Nets basketball team.
Jay-Z has retired from hip hop and came out of retirement about three times already. He’s also just retired from the record exec racket a few months ago. But as his track record goes, he’s coming out of retirement from that too.
Rush & Molloy report that the rap mogul could be on his way back to starting his own label again. This time, with a guy who used to be his rival. He and Lyor Cohen of Warner Music are in talks about putting together the Carter Music Group which is a reference to Jay-Z’s real name of Shawn Carter.
Rapper Pimp C’s cause of death has just been revealed. It seems that the rapper died as a result of a pre-existing condition of sleep apnea, combined with an elevated amount of prescription codeine in his blood. According to spokesperson Ed Winter of the LA County Coroner’s office, his Pimp C’s death has been ruled accidental.
33-year old Chad ‘Pimp C’ Butler was one half of the rap duo UGK, best known for appearing on the Jay-Z track ‘Big Pimpin’ in 200 and more recently with Outkast on the song ‘International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)’. Pimp C was found dead in his bed at the Mondrian Hotel in Hollywood last month.
Jay-Z is in trouble! Sources are saying that Jay-Z’s new 40/40 club in Las Vegas did not pass their inspection. Just what does that mean for the club? Well, the venue won’t open as previously planned which throws a curveball to the rapper and entrepreneur.
A source familiar with the situation says that “Unless Jay-Z and his team miraculously come up with certain licenses and certificates by Sunday, then they won’t be able to go on with their New Year’s Eve party plans”. He and his team may also have to refund all tickets for the opening which would add even more costs.
It’s been swirling around the rumor mill for a while now and it has finally been proven to be true. Rapper/entrepreneur Jay-Z is stepping down as president/CEO of Def Jam Records after 3 years with the label.
Jay-Z announced it on Christmas eve saying “It’s really about trying to invest in the future, trying to invest in maybe coming up with a new model. Because going in hard making records with artists and throwing those records into a system that’s flawed is not exciting for me. It’s not the music; people ingest music the same way. It’s just that the model of selling CDs has changed. So doing things the typical way is not in the best interests of anyone and not exciting for me. My whole thing is, how do we invest in the future? If everyone is committed to doing that, then I’m sure there’s a deal to be made.”
Remember the ‘Grey Album’? It’s the one where Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse took Jay-Z and mashed it up with the Beatles and became one of the most downloaded bootlegs of all time. Now, a DC-based DJ named DJ Doc Rok has made a CD which mixed Jay-Z’s new album ‘American Gangster’ with some classic Led Zeppelin tracks. It’s a pretty cool mix.
Jay-Z is proving to be one hot commodity for these remixes. And it’s not just with new bands like he did with Linkin Park. Even when you mix his stuff in with some of the best known classics, it still turns out great.
After the success of her album, a lot of people have predicted that Amy Winehouse would be the queen of the Grammy’s. And when the nominations were announced on Thursday morning, that’s what the rest of the world thought too. Wino scored the most nominations for a female with 6 nods. It’s good to know that despite all the trouble in her life, something good can still happen to Wino.Kanye West actually came out with the most nods, with 8. Five acts received 5 nods each – the Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and T-Pain. In a bit of an upset, favorites like Fergie and Mika only scored a nomination each.
After a rollercoaster ride of emotions, rapper Kanye West finally buried his mother, Dr. Donda West, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma earlier this week.
The ceremony was held at the True Vine Ministry church which could hold up to 2,500 people. The funeral was attended by members of the music industry as reported by AccessHollywood.com. Beyonce and Jay-Z attended the services where John Legend and Anita Baker performed in honor of Donda.
Kanye reportedly broke down inside the church as he was giving his eulogy and talking about his mother. He said, he wanted her to not “rest in peace, but rest in paradise.”
It’s always annoying when a rapper says that he’s retired then comes back only to retire again and then come back again. But in Jay-Z’s case, no one should care as long as he’s number 1.
The rapper may have flashed two fingers when he passed paparazzi on his way to TRL on Monday. But as of the middle of the week, he hit number 1. As it was projected by music insiders last week, his American Gangster-inspired album took the top spot on the Billboard charts and knocked the Eagles down a notch.
Congratulations to Jay-Z. This is his 10th #1 album!
When you’ve built up a back catalog of eight studio albums and walk the earth as one of the biggest, most high-profile artists of the ’90s and 2000s, you’re bound to get some mixed signals from those who pay attention to you.
While several tracks connected to specific scenes are also rooted in productions trading in the regal grit that made up so much ’70s soul, the album is not a straight narrative, broken up by tracks like the boom-clap of “Hello Brooklyn” (produced by Bigg D) and the glitzed-out pair of “I Know” (a half-icing Neptunes layer cake) and “Ignorant Shit” (where Just Blaze transforms the Isleys’ quiet storm staple “Between the Sheets” into a high-gloss anthem). And while Jay mentions American Gangster and protagonist Frank Lucas directly, and intersperses some tracks with dialogue, the connection does not overshadow the album. It’s not like he’s yelling “Shaft’s Big Score 2K7!” or “Leonard Part Six, Part Two!” It’s all as natural as Scarface riffing off Scarface.
And that might be the most common complaint about the album — it’s really just another case of Jay-Z being Jay-Z, albeit with different presentation. Unless you know each verse from Reasonable Doubt through Kingdom Come, it might sound like he’s dealing with no variation on well-worn themes, the exact same thoughts and emotions, that make up older tracks about his past as a drug dealer — the rise, the arrogance, the conflictedness, the fall, and all stages in-between. One could say that’s not really saying much, but regardless of context, this is a very good Jay-Z album. He is, for the most part, doing what he has done before: what he does best.
Jay-Z, that one-time retired now very much back-with-a-vengeance rapper who holds as arm candy that divalicious diva herself Beyonce Knowles formerly of Destiny’s Child before she broke free into a solo career, is going on tour and you had better believe that you are not going to want to miss out on seeing him perform live!
Highlights of this mega-brand performer’s touring schedule include gigs at such locales as the House of Blues in both West Hollywood, California on November 6 and in Chicago, Illinois on November 7 and Rams Head Live! in Baltimore, Maryland on November 9 as well as Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York on November 11, and the Fillmore - TLA in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 12.
You had better believe that you are not going to want to miss out on this chance to see this rapper-entity do his thing live so get yourself tickets today.
