Jay-Z Lowering Club Appearance Fees?
Folks are saying Jay-Z couldn't get a club appearance fee while in London this weekend, even aftering lowering the price!
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Folks are saying Jay-Z couldn't get a club appearance fee while in London this weekend, even aftering lowering the price!
Yesterday Palazzo casino officials announced the closing of the 40/40 Club after less than a year.
The lease is being sold to the Sands Club and that's the end of Jay-Z's Sinatra in Vegas phase. At least until he gets booked for an extended run somewhere.
Given recent eyewitness reports from people I trust, it wasn't that special a place anyway.
Via: Corporate Takeover
Crave is reporting that Motorola has "JayZ" headphones on the way. You can download the FCC filing at their site and, yes, it's JayZ not Jay-Z.
Legal proceedings to follow unless that's an intentional misspelling to throw people off from the wily folks at Motorola.
Nevertheless, despite the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, this doesn't seem like a good idea in light of 50 Cent's suit against Taco Bell for attempting to leverage his name in their ads.
By the way, many people are reporting these as "Jay-Z" headphones rather than "JayZ" headphones because they didn't bother to check the originating blog or the available document which is the basis for this claim.
Jay-Z's officially working on The Blueprint 3, his last album on Def Jam, and the only producer we're hearing about is Kanye West.
But even though this may be a bit upsetting for Timbaland, given Jay-Z's work ethic, The Blueprint 3 should be here for Christmas.
And since Jay-Z is still boosting Armand Scampagne, I'm looking forward to seeing that Ace of Spades back in the game Stateside.
But I'm joking about the sponsorship. I don't think Armand could afford it.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
ProHipHop Coverage of Armand de Brignac Champagne
The Rocawear Premium Collection has launched its marketing campaign though Jay-Z was previewing it on the Heart of the City Tour:
"According to sources within the company, Jay hasn't been this closely involved with the line for a number of seasons. The results are evident, especially with the new sleek, mature look of the men’s collection."
Not only did Jay-Z's UK sales go up in the wake of his Glastonbury performance, with five singles potentially reentering the UK singles chart, but his appearance also boosted Oasis' sales. Jay-Z's opening rendition of Oasis single Wonderwall may put that track back in the top 100.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z Pulls Off Glastonbury
Jay-Z shows why he's Jay-Z at Glastonbury where the crowd are said to have known the words. I really had my doubts about how his appearance would go over but he started with good humor and apparently gave a great show.
Over at VidRap:
Jay-Z Live @ Glastonbury: Wonderwall, American Boy Remix, Amy Winehouse Bonus
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z & Oasis Post-Glastonbury Sales Up
According to the NY Times, Jay-Z is in the process of finalizing a "roughly $150 million package" with Live Nation that will include the creation of "Roc Nation":
"As part of the arrangement, Live Nation would finance the start-up of a venture that would be an umbrella for his outside projects, which are expected to include his own label, music publishing, and talent consulting and managing. Live Nation is expected to contribute $5 million a year in overhead for five years, with another $25 million available to finance Jay-Z's acquisitions or investments, according to people in the music industry briefed on the agreement. The venture, to be called Roc Nation, will split profits with Live Nation."
"The overall package for Jay-Z also includes an upfront payment of $25 million, a general advance of $25 million that includes fees for his current tour, and advance payment of $10 million an album for a minimum of three albums during the deal's 10-year term, these people said. A series of other payments adding up to about $20 million is included in exchange for certain publishing, licensing and other rights."
That's truly big news for both Live Nation, who want as complete a deal as possible with established artists, and for Jay-Z, who joins Madonna and U2 as Live Nation partners, though Jay-Z's deal is much more extensive and reflects his own wide-ranging enterprises:
"Michael Cohl, Live Nation's chairman...cited Jay-Z's forays into a host of other businesses as a model for Live Nation. 'What he's done has kind of mirrored what we want to do and where we think we're going.'"
Cohl's statement is a reminder that hip hop business artists have long been exploring the new terrain of the music industry by going far beyond record sales as a primary basis for financial success. However rap's mixed success with live performance is the biggest missing piece at present.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Will Jay-Z Pull a Madonna w/Live Nation?
Madonna/Live Nation Deal: Industry Restructuring, Not Revolution, Threat to Small Firms & New Artists
Jay-Z is appearing in a campaign for Fendi and the Lagerfeld crew is providing security at the photo shoots!
I hesitated to post this Page 6 rumor about Jay-Z asking for too much for his own label but Rizoh did, so, according to an "insider":
"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 labels to basically be his venture capital fund — but unlike a venture cap, they won't get 50 percent. This is not the '90s anymore."
Hey, remember when Jay-Z made his deal with the U.N. to promote his tour and album if he signed off on water as an issue of concern?
At least Russell Simmons, who I think got Jay-Z started on this one, stayed with the issue.
I swear I did not know that Jay-Z was still acting like his Cristal boycott was effective when I gathered some of the evidence for its failure.
But while looking for some info related to the Armand disaster, I came upon this great recent coverage:
"A year and a half after Jay-Z called for a boycott of Cristal, the luxury brand produced by maker Louis Roederer, 'I guarantee they got what they wanted,' he said.
The rap megastar told Vegas Confidential on Sunday that Cristal's business in the rap and hip-hop community 'is definitely not where it was. Drastically. They really don't want our business.'...
Stung by what he considered racism, Jay-Z has replaced Cristal in his three upscale 40/40 Clubs with Armand de Brignac's Ace of Spades, Dom Perignon and Krug."
I guess that math works if you leave P Diddy out of the equation.
Update:
Since the Cristal boycott evoked a lot of emotional response and support at the time, I should point out that I supported the boycott when
Eskay originally called it. I also made some quite obvious suggestions to make the boycott effective rather than symbolic and was quite disappointed when Jay-Z immediately stepped back from an actual leadership role by not following through with promised interviews to the media [not just bloggers].
At the end of the day, Jay-Z is much more Michael Jordan than Barack Obama. If that's not clear enough, I feel that his actions have generally showed us that, though he can be quite inspiring in his own way, he is not a political leader and hoping for Jay-Z to play that role effectively will only lead to disappointment.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
P. Diddy's Back w/Cristal, Jay-Z's Still w/Armand & the Luxury Market Doesn't Seem to Care
ProHipHop Coverage & Analysis of Jay-Z's Cristal Boycott
In the wake of Jay-Z's Cristal champagne "boycott" of June 2006, which quickly became an opportunity for other companies to court rappers and for people who couldn't afford Cristal to express their outrage, I suggested that the tactically limited boycott might not have a seriously negative effect on Cristal champagne or on Champagne Louis Roederer, the French makers of Cristal. In fact, I believed that it might actually be a positive move for Roederer to disconnect from overt associations with hip hop.
This view was taken as rather preposterous by other hip hop bloggers, all apparently with little direct knowledge of the luxury market, who just couldn't wrap their heads around the idea that an association with hip hop might be bad for a luxury brand.
Soon thereafter my suggestions found support from experts including industry researchers such as Richard Woodard:
"Richard Woodard, contributor to industry bible www.just-drinks.com, is researching a major report on the premium champagne market. He says: 'Cristal has almost got to the point where it has a downmarket image. It gets looked down upon because of all that gangsta rap stuff. Frankly, a lot of wealthy people don't want to identify themselves with that culture.'"
And in a widely quoted piece from Advertising Age it was suggested that other brands might benefit though Cristal was unlikedly to suffer:
"Rapper and Def Jam Records President Jay-Z's much-hyped boycott of Cristal isn't likely to cost the vintage champagne brand any dead presidents, according to beverage industry experts."
According to documents available from the Luxury Institute, in late 2006 Cristal champagne was rated the number 2 brand after Dom Perignon, a position it held again in early 2008.
Though the Luxury Institute did not have a 2005 survey for comparison, no mention is made of the hip hop boycott nor is there a suggestion that the boycott affected rich people's judgment.
A variety of signs suggest that Roederer's larger operations felt no sting.
From the fall of 2006 through today, Roederer has continued to expand with the acquisition of wine properties worldwide, the ongoing consideration of new acquisitions in such seemingly unlikely locations as England and long-term investments in their U.S. facilities.
Though I'm still working on accessing actual sales figures with the help of J. Jesus Ruiz and hope to find out more specifically if Cristal saw any negative effects at all, I do find it significant that P. Diddy has left the boycott behind.
In preparation for the recent Super Bowl festivities:
"Nearly every last bottle of Cristal in the state of Arizona has been snatched up on behalf of music mogul P. Diddy, who is hosting a blowout bash tonight at Club Axis/Radius, organizers say. 'He's hoarding all of it,' the distributor for the AZ Wine Co. told The Post. 'Cristal is hard to get anyway, but with the Super Bowl in town, it's impossible.'
Club organizers say they hope the 100 bottles now on hand are enough. 'I have been stockpiling all year for the Super Bowl, and especially for the P. Diddy block party,' said Jeff O'Neil, general manager of Axis/Radius.
VIPs at the event will be able to buy Diddy's stash of Cristal at $800 a popped cork."
So Diddy's back with Cristal, whether they like it or not, and Jay-Z is now associated with a lesser product, Armand de Brignac champagne, via product placements in the videos for Show Me What You Got and Blue Magic plus a 40/40 Club photo opp with Beyonce.
You may recall that Armand de Brignac is a champagne that was introduced in a fraudulent manner to the American market for which it was designed. Apparently they're trying again, though the champagne is not getting good reviews and I was informed in December by a Wikipedia editor that someone who appeared to be an associate of the U.S. distributors was attempting to game Wikipedia in 2007 as they had in 2006.
Though this may seem like ancient history to some, it's another great example of how easy it is to pierce the veils of hip hop business fantasy by simply paying attention to the details, not being swayed by widely held assumptions without supporting evidence and checking back at a later date. Think what could happen if full-time business journalists took hip hop seriously enough to regularly follow through with their superior resources.
But that vision takes us back to the realms of fantasy where rappers and hip hop "businessmen" would be held accountable for their boastful claims of realness and success. Till then, enjoy the Emperor's New Streetwear!
Comments to: clyde(at)prohiphop(dot)com
Previously at ProHipHop:
ProHipHop Coverage & Analysis of Jay-Z's Cristal Boycott
ProHipHop Coverage of Armand de Brignac Champagne
After the 2007 acquisition of Steve Stoute's Translation Consulting and Brand Imaging by the Interpublic Group, rumors that Stoute and Jay-Z were forming an independent marketing venture of some sort seemed kind of strange.
Like Stoute told Black Enterprise:
"When you step up to the plate and become a part of a public company, it requires a change in financial reporting. This puts me in a space now that is very heavy in terms of scrutiny and responsibility to financial partners who are very serious about their business."
Beyond the issue of financial reports, a lot would be expected of Stoute in such an operation, so the news from the NY Times that Jay-Z and Steve Stoute's newly formed Translation Advertising "will be part of Translation Consultation and Brand Imaging" makes a lot more sense than an independent project.
More details from the NY Times:
"Interpublic will own 49 percent of Translation Advertising. The majority stake will be owned by Mr. Stoute, 37, and Jay-Z, 38, who will be the co-chairmen."
Concerning Jay-Z's role:
"Mr. Carter said his role at Translation Advertising would be to offer his creative and entrepreneurial ideas. Mr. Stoute described it as not "day-to-day operations" but rather "using his eye, his taste, his understanding of the culture."...Mr. Carter's work as an endorser in ads will be independent of what he does for Translation Advertising."
The great thing about these guys is, depending on the setting, they can claim the ability to reach African-Americans, youth or a more general mass market and essentially do the same kinds of things they're already doing.
On a side note, I find the use of multicultural as a synonym for non-white kind of annoying since the concept of whiteness is itself an awkward umbrella for multiple cultures and ethnicities. If you want to get multicultural, explore the diversity of all cultures and subcultures, don't just find a new label for market segmentation and/or targeting by race and ethnicity.
Over at HustleKnockin':
HustleKnockin' asks Nina DiSesa, McCann Erickson chairman some pointed questions including:
"How many GM agencies still treat their 'sister' ethnic shops as assistants forcing them to simply translate GM ideas for ethnic consumers?"
Wait, there's more:
Hustle Knockin' on Translation Advertising
The NY Times has more on Jay-Z's departure from Def Jam and mentions in passing the possibility of a Madonna-type deal with Live Nation's new Artist Nation division.
Such a possibility makes a lot of sense though Jay-Z seems fairly comfortable overseeing his own interests however they intersect with corporate structures. Guess the rumor mill will be churning with possibilities of what'$ next. Of course, he does still have an album or two on the contract for Roc-A-Fella but one step does lead to another.
Update:
Going with Artist Nation does make a huge amount of sense. Jay-Z's so good at doing Jay-Z that he really just needs structures that support that, not structures for A&R, artist development or anything else that a Jay-Z would not need.
Now that he's gotten an incredibly profitable education at Def Jam, he's got to have a sense of the big picture beyond what most artists ever achieve. If he combined Artist Nation's services with his own branded entertainment company, he's set to maximize his career as an entertainer while pursuing such projects as J Hotels, the 40/40 Club chain and related business endeavors with other partners and companies.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z Quits Def Jam Presidency, Still On Roc-A-Fella
Jay-Z: J Hotels, Def Jam Deal, Branded Entertainment Co.
Jay-Z Rumors ARE News: Contract Negotiations in Flux
Jay-Z is leaving the Def Jam presidency when his contract resigns.
He will still record for Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Will Jay-Z Pull a Madonna w/Live Nation?
Jay-Z: J Hotels, Def Jam Deal, Branded Entertainment Co.
Jay-Z Rumors ARE News: Contract Negotiations in Flux
Jay-Z and partners in J Hotels have purchased a wee bit of property in Manhattan to build their first something when they decide what:
The total cost to buy the mid-block parcel and the air rights was $66 million. Options being considered for the site include an art gallery building or a high-end hotel. They have the potential to go to about 12 stories.
Jay-Z says the Def Jam negotiations are about whether or not it's the right thing for him to be doing. Obviously money is involved but he's got plenty and he isn't going to take more if things aren't working out. That's a nice position to be in during a negotiation.
Update:
Jay-Z and Steve Stoute are forming a branded entertainment company though Stoute is already running one.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Will Jay-Z Pull a Madonna w/Live Nation?
Jay-Z Quits Def Jam Presidency, Still On Roc-A-Fella
Jay-Z Rumors ARE News: Contract Negotiations in Flux
Jay-Z to Perform in Las Vegas New Year's Weekend
Jay-Z's hitting Las Vegas for a Saturday, December 29th performance of American Gangster.
Tickets go on sale Saturday via Ticketmaster.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Kenwood Vineyards Lounge to Open w/Vegas 40/40 Club
Jay-Z is said to be in contract negotiations with Universal Music which may have broken down over "excessive" demands from Jay-Z.
According to a "source":
He wanted big, big money that was way out of sync with the realities of today's record business...People have lost count of how many times he's come out of retirement...Everybody knows he's not around the office much. Everybody at Universal loves him, but they can't justify paying him the money he wants when so many people have been laid off.
Overpaid executives are a common theme across industries and music industry execs recently received a very special "open letter for CEOs to ignore" suggesting they start with personal pay cuts.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Will Jay-Z Pull a Madonna w/Live Nation?
Jay-Z Quits Def Jam Presidency, Still On Roc-A-Fella
Jay-Z: J Hotels, Def Jam Deal, Branded Entertainment Co.
I don't even know what to think about De-Haven Irby's attacks on Jay-Z but I know the only YouTube video of his I watched was him going on and on about what he was going to prove in future videos and that's as far as I got.
But his campaign's getting him some attention with an interview in New York magazine and opportunities to monetize his tale supposedly in the works.
MTV News Interviews Jay-Z
On writing lyrics, Jay-Z says, do as I say, not as I do.
Jay-Z also says he stopped writing at Reasonable Doubt. Interestingly enough, all the hardcore Jay-Z fans I know and respect seriously wish for something else at that level. Could there be a connection?
Given that context, for Jay-Z/Def Jam to withold American Gangster from iTunes and then present it as an artistic choice is a bit ridiculous, though plenty are willing to buy in.
Jermaine Dupri does a nice job of revealing how he thinks on the matter and he's got some good points that are totally undermined by objective reality.
For example:
Back in the day when people were excited about a record coming out we'd put out a single to get the ball going and if we sold a lot of singles that was an indication we'd sell a lot of albums. But we'd cut the single off a few weeks before the album came out to get people to wait and let the excitement build. When I put out Kris Kross we did that. We sold two million singles, then we stopped. Eventually we sold eight million albums!
Did consumers complain? Maybe so. But at what point does any business care when a consumer complains about the money? Why do people not care how we - the people who make music - eat? If they just want the single, they gotta get the album. That was how life was.
That was how life was and now it's not. Doh!
Even back in the 80s, when albums were still supposed to be somewhat album-like, the most common complaint I heard and personally expressed was that most of the time when one bought an album because of a great single, odds were that the album would suck.
But we were stuck. That's how life was. Now it's not.
Hip hop has become a singles sport and the music industry has exploited that to the max. But trying to save the album by restricting singles sales rather than bothering to write down your lyrics so maybe they can get a little deeper isn't gonna work when everybody can see this isn't about art, it's about commerce, and such moves are holding actions so folks like Jermaine Dupri and Jay-Z can skim as much cream as possible before the ship sinks.
Hey, maybe the real problem is that Jay-Z doesn't put out great singles anymore?
But his timing remains awesome. If he had released American Gangster a week earlier and gotten the same sales, he'd have debuted at no. 2 with 425,000 sold behind the Eagles no. 1 with 711,000 sold.
But he'd still beat Britney Spears!
Jay-Z Live In Brooklyn
More soon on one of hip hop's greatest self-promoters, Jay-Z.
Jay-Z - Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)
Looks like I'll finally be back to fullsteam tomorrow. No more outside writing assignments. No more tai chi modeling auditions (that was yesterday afternoon, wish me luck!), no more of that stuff.
Till then. Enjoy Jay-Z's song of success.
Good luck seeing Jay-Z on tour. He's in the process of perfecting the role of the performing artist who appears just long enough to produce a decent concert dvd.
Update:
AllHipHop has more on the tour.
Hype Williams makes a gorgeous video for Blue Magic and Jay-Z gives Armand de Brignac Champagne a lovely product placement.
Here we go again!
By the way, I actually talked to Armand CEO Brett Berish a while back. He basically said what I'd already read in the papers. My jaw dropped further with every soundbite as I literally became speechless. Didn't seem worth mentioning at the time.
Armand has a beautiful new website as well.
Background:
ProHipHop Coverage of Armand de Brignac Champagne
Real Talk NY has the streaming audio of Jay-Z's new single Roc Boys plus audio of a conference call with Jay-Z.
Nah Right has a downloadable version of Roc Boys.
Further Reputable Vendors:
The Rap Up
1xtralarge
Sit Down Stand Up
Further ProHipHop Coverage:
Listening Session w/Jay-Z, Next Single: Roc Boys
Jay-Z - Classic Albums: Reasonable Doubt DVD
From Amazon's Product Description:
"Reasonable Doubt" was his debut album and is still considered by many to be his finest achievement. A much harder hitting and edgy record than his later more polished and pop orientated releases it announced to the world that a new rap star had arrived. This latest addition to the Classic Albums series sees Jay-Z take us back through the whole creative process behind this stunning first release.
The Classic Albums: Reasonable Doubt DVD starring Jay-Z is set for release October 30.
Jay-Z - American Gangster
Eskay describes an American Gangster listening session with Jay-Z providing a "track by track breakdown of everything I was about to hear". Sounds like a trip to say the least.
Some highlights:
The album plays out like a film. Every track represents a a different period in the progression of the hustler. The next single, "Roc Boys," which should be leaking any day now, is the celebratory "your name on the blimp" period.
This sh*t is actually more soulful than The Blueprint. Word to Marvin.
He damn sure does have the movie on continuous loop on a TV in the studio.
The "Blue Magic" video is shot, edited and ready to go. Jay said he’s not ready to let it go yet.
He said he wants to shoot a movie to accompany the album (which accompanies a movie).
Wow. So stay tuned for Roc Boys and that Blue Magic video followed by the album itself in about a month.
Updates:
More from Popwatch.
Looks like the publicists are all over Wikipedia these days.
AllHipHop's Chuck Creekmur has lots to say about Friday night.
Further ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z's Roc Boys Drops; Plus, Conference Call Audio
Timbaland speaks on Jay-Z and American Gangster:
"He wants me to do the next single...He just does it for fun. We talked about [his next album]. He says it's just a hobby, ain't nothing else to do. When a person tells you that, what you supposed to say? 'You crazy'? He said, 'I don't wait for nothing. I'm there. I'm doing it for the love of music.' What am I supposed to say? 'You wack for doing it'? ... That's another thing: It could hurt him or it could make him be not the legend he is. That's the only thing I'm scared of for my friend."
MissInfo questions the idea of Jay-Z's involvement with American Gangster as a "spontaneous whim" and leaves it at that. The actual details of how Jay-Z's album came about will probably never be revealed but I like the idea of this being a spontaneous project. I think part of the problem with Kingdom Come is that it all seemed so calculated it was hard to appreciate.
If Jay-Z really does walk in and drop lyrics and he really has the power we all believe he has then why couldn't he do this? I think it fits him much better than Kingdom Come plus it allows him to relive his own fantasies of being a criminal kingpin. It could easily enhance his reputation and that's a chance worth taking.
Timbaland had this to say about why the needs of the Mosley Music Group will keep him from producing the entirety of Missy Elliott's next album:
"I probably won't do the whole thing 'cause I gotta get my own thing up and poppin'...I had to do partial and try to oversee it the best way I can for her. But I can't make Atlantic a ton of money and leave Mosley Music with nothing. That don't make logical sense. Missy is my sister, but I got a family: Nelly [Furtado], Keri [Hilson], One Republic. If I don't function, then they don't function and they can't get their careers off...
"These are all my people I'm putting out," he added about his label. "Up-and-coming stars that are gonna keep me laying low for a minute so I can chill out and take a vacation. I went on one for the first time in 15 years. I wanna take more. While they are working, I can chill out and collect the money. ... Well, not collect the money, just be involved as a daddy figure — 'Nah, do this. Change this' — like I used to be."
According to Billboard, Jay-Z's Blue Magic is this year's highest debut by a rap single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at no. 35.
Actually the quote is:
Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, on which Jay-Z has the year's [something missing here, ed.] debut by a rap single with "Blue Magic" at No. 35.
So I'm going with "highest" until something better comes along.
They really buried that nugget way down in the top 10 article. Don't they know that Jay-Z Fever is again spreading the land?
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z's Blue Magic (Trailer) Video Featuring Pharrell
Status Ain't Hood has an interesting review of an early screening of American Gangster that considers it as a rap movie due both to Jay-Z's sudden attachment to the project and to a variety of elements within the movie itself. It works well as a review theme but also speaks to the incredible power of Jay-Z.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z to Release American Gangster Concept Album, Future With Def Jam Uncertain
IS LL COOL J GOING TO BATTLE JAY-Z?
Via illjeezy:
I don’t think anybody mentions names, but I think I smell a challenge coming down the line from Mr. Cool J. LL vs Jay-Z? That would be very interesting. Lets face it, LL has vanquished every foe he’s faced. Jay-Z has bodied almost everybody as well. Anyway, Blok TV got with LL at the AHH Fashion show during AHH Week 2007.
The seeming Jay-Z reference comes at the end of this short video and relates to LL's feeling that Jay-Z wasn't so helpful as Def Jam president & CEO with the Todd Smith release.
Eskay seems to find that a bit weak and, though LL Cool J did repeatedly express such concerns, they do seem like a stretch for the makings of a new beef-based marketing campaign.
Background:
Here's some background info from Miss Info.
Jay-Z f/Pharrell - Blue Magic (Trailer)
This video is described as a "trailer" for Blue Magic, the first single off Jay-Z's upcoming American Gangster album. The fact that I'm posting it shows that I have totally capitulated to a breaking news, celebrity watch model, fitting for coverage featuring a Kanye/50 faceoff followed by a Jay-Z concept album [with the Jena 6 for human interest]. Enjoy!
Update:
Apparently this is a trailer for the actual video for which they were shooting Friday night.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z - Blue Magic f/Pharrell Williams [Video]
Jay-Z's Blue Magic Highest[?] Debut by a Rap Single
Bloggers raining links:
Notes from a Different Kitchen
Nah Right
MissInfo.tv
The Smoking Section
The Rap Up
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
It's Official: Jay-Z's American Gangster Album Due Nov. 6
Jay-Z to Release American Gangster Concept Album, Future With Def Jam Uncertain
From the press release officially announcing Jay-Z's upcoming American Gangster album:
On November 6, Roc-A-Fella Records and JAY-Z will release the new album AMERICAN GANGSTER. Separate from the official motion picture soundtrack, this collection of all-new original material is a musical journey and lyrical interpretation of snapshots from the upcoming motion picture American Gangster, which pairs Oscar(R) winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Based on the true story of criminal mastermind Frank Lucas, who came up from the streets of New York in the '70s, the film is produced by Academy Award(R)-winning producer Brian Grazer and directed and produced by Ridley Scott. It opens on November 2.
The conceptual, full body of work from the new album balances the line between pure entertainment and real life. JAY-Z draws upon past experiences, speaking to the harsh reality of the drug trade still taking place in our nation's cities. While not glorifying the Frank Lucas story, JAY-Z articulates the lure of a gangster's life and stands as an example of one who chose to leave those streets behind to go on and become one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time.
Throughout AMERICAN GANGSTER, JAY-Z brings the audience into a world rich in familial relationships, hustling and the lasting effects of drugs on a community. Through its musical tone, the album complements the story as told in the major motion picture release.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Jay-Z to Release American Gangster Concept Album, Future With Def Jam Uncertain
American Gangster: New Denzel Movie, New Jay-Z Album
Trailer for American Gangster Starring Denzel Washington
The mystery of the new Jay-Z album and its relationship to the upcoming movie American Gangster has been resolved by an article in the NY Times:
Jay-Z, the rap superstar and president of Def Jam Records, has quietly returned to the studio to record an album of new songs inspired by the forthcoming movie "American Gangster," his first "concept" album and second CD in less than a year.
The album, which his label plans to release in early November, came together over the past few weeks after Jay-Z was shown the film, directed by Ridley Scott, in which Denzel Washington portrays Frank Lucas, a early 1970s Harlem heroin kingpin.
Jay-Z's not in the movie and though an older song of his has turned up on the trailer it's unclear whether he's on the actual soundtrack or not though it sounds like they're open to chopping things up given the unsteady history of the American Gangster movie. Def Jam is releasing the official soundtrack as well with music by the Staple Singer, Bobby Womack and Sam & Dave.
Apparently Jay-Z gets to go down memory lane when he was a big drug dealer [on earlier albums], or dealt on the corner for big fish, whatever. He also gets to align himself with a major criminal who snitched yet disassociate himself from that element of Frank Lucas' past in a song off the new album called No Hook:
Please don't compare me to other rappers. Compare me to trappers.
I'm more Frank Lucas than Ludacris. And Lude is my dude, I ain't trying to dis.
Just like Frank Lucas is cool, but I ain't tryin' to snitch.
I'm-a follow the rules, no matter how much time I'm-a get.
I'm-a live and die with the decisions that I'm-a pick.
I'm sure it's exactly the kind of thing Jay-Z's audience will eat up.
When asked about his relationship with Def Jam:
In the interview he deflected questions about his future. "I would love to work it out" and stay at Def Jam, he said, but he added that he was wavering and would do some "soul-searching" after finishing the album.
Bringing his issues out in the open with Def Jam is a big statement for Jay-Z who usually keeps these kinds of things quiet till it's time to move.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
It's Official: Jay-Z's American Gangster Album Due Nov. 6
American Gangster: New Denzel Movie, New Jay-Z Album
The announcement that the Iconix Brand Group will buy Rocawear for $204 million plus possible performance-based stock bonuses is big news for the urban fashion industry. It's also big news for Jay-Z who will continue with Rocawear as "chief creative officer":
Rocawear co-founder Jay-Z will be in charge of all product development, marketing and licensing for Rocawear. Jay-Z's senior management team in licensing, marketing and product development will also join Iconix. He will retain his stake in the operating company that manufactures all of the Rocawear men's apparel and his two partners in that business, Alex Bize and Norton Cher, will continue to run that company and enter into a long-term license agreement with Iconix for the core young men's apparel category.
Beyond staying with the company, Jay-Z's getting another one:
As part of the transaction, Iconix will also enter into a separate equal joint venture with Shawn Carter to establish a new brand management and licensing company that will identify brands to be acquired and/or developed across a broad spectrum of consumer product categories using the Iconix model. The first brand will involve Jay-Z and will be an eponymous luxury brand called "Shawn Carter Collection" which will debut in 2008.
That's called building an empire!
Iconix Brand Group's holdings include Candie's, London Fog and Mossimo.
The sale of the naming right for the Brooklyn Nets' Arena to Barkley's, an old British bank, has been met with uproar from activists due to the bank's history of involvement with such massive [big business] tragedies as the Slave Trade, the Holocaust and Apartheid.
I wonder what folks would be saying if it was Ford or IBM? I'm not as up on Ford but they had no problems doing business with the Nazis, just like many companies of that time. Of course, IBM created the accounting systems that made the Holocaust possible and created the pass system used in South Africa during Apartheid.
I'm not excusing Barclay's or attacking activists. I think that history is a good wedge to use in this particular community struggle about which I don't know a lot of details. But, the reality is, if you're going to take money from companies that are that old, you're connecting with a brutal corporate history at almost every point.
So as a rich black man with ties to the street, even if those ties seem more historical than current, how does one deal with such an issue? In Jay-Z's case this is familiar territory, just don't say nothin':
Jay-Z ... who owns less than one percent of the team, has declined to comment. His rep told TMZ that there would be no statement given or action taken by Carter.
As a minority investor in every sense of the word, one might consider excusing Jay if he wasn't such a powerful marketing tool for the Nets. But when one looks at the pattern, one has to wonder what's going on here.
Aztek Escobar is exposed as a fraud and simply disappears from the Roc La Familia universe without comment. Jay-Z released tracks with Escobar and he has nothing to say!
Armand de Brignac champagne is exposed as a fraud and Jay-Z has no comment after debuting the beverage in a music video and then providing a photo opp [end of post] at the 40/40 Club.
After getting a powerful response to his announcement of a Cristal boycott, Jay-Z responded with nothing.
I guess he's taking the Michael Jordan route to corporate social responsibility. Remember one of those times when Nike got heat for sweatshops and MJ finally felt he had to respond? He said, Nike told me it's all good, so it's all good.
Besides, as Jay-Z pointed out, "rap music has done more for racial equality than any other personality or element has done". So f*ck Nelson Mandela and let's stack those dollars!
Brandweek's Kenneth Hein looks at Jay-Z's Cherry Coke deal in which both Jay-Z and Rocawear are involved:
Jay-Z will play a hand in all aspects of the fruit-flavored soda's relaunch, ranging from the look of the new can to the TV commercials and even co-producing and appearing at the brand's Feb. 7 launch at New York's Fashion Week. Cherry Coke Zero, its diet sibling, will also debut...
TV, radio, print and Internet ads are being created in conjunction with Jay-Z, Rocawear and 72 and Sunny, El Segundo, Calif. Much like the Bud Select ads, a Jay-Z song will serve as the soundtrack, although the artist isn't expected to appear in the executions.
However, Hein also points to the possibility of Jay-Z overextending his reach:
It remains to be seen how such a tie-in will be received as Jay-Z's varied business interests have recently been hitting consumers at a fast and furious pace. Some observers are wondering if he is reaching Snoop Dogg-like levels of overexposure...
"The more brands he fronts, the less the strategic power each of the individual appearances have," said Lucian James, CEO at marketing consultancy Agenda, San Francisco.
Of course, some of the brands for which he fronts have a certain built-in redundancy so the problems of overextension might not be Jay-Z's:
Even with his influence late in the year, Bud Select's shipments were down about 8% last year, per Beer Marketer's Insights, West Nyack, N.Y.
And the fact that Hein says this deal is a "coup" for Coke, rather than for Jay-Z, says a lot about both U.S. corporate interest in Jay-Z's endorsement and his own growing status as a powerful American brand with global reach.
No, it's not the most important topic since we've already established that Armand de Brignac is a newly conceived beverage swaddled in deceptive clothing whose association with Jay-Z assures that the rubes will be spending hundreds on a champagne of dubious lineage.
But since it looks like the whole drama will be eked out bit by bit, I think a continually updated list of all ProHipHop coverage is in order for future reference. Most recent at the top:
Jay-Z's Blueprint 3: Sponsored by Armand Champagne?
Brett Berish & Armand's Ace of Spades at Jay-Z & Lebron James' Two Kings Dinner
P. Diddy's Back w/Cristal, Jay-Z's Still w/Armand & the Luxury Market Doesn't Seem to Care
Jay-Z Brings Back "That Ace of Spades": Armand de Brignac Champagne
Cattier Champagne Importers Confirm Details of the Armand de Brignac Deception
From Armand de Brignac Back To Champagne Cattier
Armand de Brignac's Lies Undergoing Wikipedia Revisions
Further Obsessive Coverage of Armand Champagne
Cattier, Makers of Armand de Brignac, Begins To Emerge
Solving The Puzzle Of The Lying Liars Who Brought Us Armand de Brignac Champagne
3 Vodka Behind Armand de Brignac Champagne's Jay-Z Video Campaign
Questions Raised Regarding Armand de Brignac Champagne, Jermaine Dupri & Jay-Z
Armand de Brignac Champagne Embraces Jay-Z
And if you want to tie all this into the Cristal "boycott", please see:
ProHipHop Coverage & Analysis of Jay-Z's Cristal Boycott
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
I've been in touch with a representative of Elite Champagne Imports who
wanted to clarify the confusion that's arisen around the actual
relationship of Cattier and Armand. I'll be writing more about this
topic the last week of January and will also be updating misleading posts.
2008 Update:
P. Diddy's Back w/Cristal, Jay-Z's Still w/Armand & the Luxury Market Doesn't Seem to Care
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