December 11th, 2007
New Jay-Z Interview: Def Jam Contract Not About The Money
So from your perspective, do you think you’ll be at Def Jam next year?
Yeah, I think – I don’t know. Let me not even say that. I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. But seriously, it’s not about money. That’s really the last thing. Of course, as a person that does these type of things and puts his heart and soul into it – and it’s effective, as the Grammys would indicate – you want to be compensated for what you do. But it’s really not about money. It’s really about the future of the music business, and not wasting anyone’s time.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:58 am
BROOOOKLYN BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 11th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
yeah ok so then why did his bosses say his demands were excessive considering that they had already fired 30 people what else could it have been if it wasn’t about the money if he was cetain he still had the job he coulda said a simple yes instead of mumbling nonsence faggggggg
December 11th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
“It’s really about the future of the music business, and not wasting anyone’s time.”
Says the man who pulled American Gangsta off of Itunes.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
@3 yea b/c u buy a cd not 3 or 4 songs off tha cd dumbass
December 11th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
its about the money and the future of your music empire hova stop lying.
Now LL can stop picking on Jigga and he can pick on maybe jermaine dupree if he starts to run defjam lol
December 11th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
i bet LL is real tight he aint get nominated for a grammy this year
the proof is in the production-defjams job is to make hits and be ahead of the pack. if defjam had a terrible year than jayz shouldnt be re-signed but they had a great year, a really great year, 26 grammy nominations, show me the money.
u can argue all that LL, method man,redman, roots, promotions shit all you want.
those 26 nominations means they doing a good job, not jayz the whole defjam. i dont see why anyone would mess wit that, u never know if u dont re-sign jayz those artist that are carrying defjam might not be happy, dont rock that boat
December 11th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
The proof is in the pudding..make good music and the people will come, I don’t know what niggas is talking about but american gangster and kanye had the best music this year…only thing I don’t understand is he usinf freeway as tax right off, cause the album is going to do nothing,and the albums hot.
On another note ll put out garbage with his two singles. One with j lo of all people. Lol. Can’t blame jay z for that…well maybe for approving it,lol.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Well dickhead, why do you think people have been buying singles instead of whole albums?
December 11th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Def jam put out good music this year. Especially roc a fella. But are they using freeway for tax write off or what?
December 11th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
i wonder if jay knew he was leaving so he rushed the releases of freeway and beans… anyways i think defjam had a good year minus the older rappers like red, meth and ll.
they probably blaming jay for those flops.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
There are roughly 50 artists under that Def Jam umbrella and how many really, REALLY had a good year? 10 or less?
December 11th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Jay’s a good dude. He’s the best lyracist, rapper, mc out for the past 10 years and he’s a helluva business man – hence his fortune. #2 WTF? Did you not read the question when asked about the paper reports? He answered that – he said “no”. Also, layoffs were happening if he were there or not due to downloading of music.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
The only person he can take credit for is Rihanna and last I remembered, Def Jam was a rap label. Anyway, Neyo & Kanye were not signed by Jay. He’s not bringing anyone new to the table like that. Nas was already in the game. So was Fab. He has more L’s then W’s to me.
I like Jay as an artist but as a head of a label, nah I’m good.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
” But seriously, it’s not about money. That’s really the last thing.”
Kids, in this world if someone tells you it’s not about the money…. it’s about the money.
Whether it’s a sports star or celebrity.
REMEMBER IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
THANKS REALTALKNY. FOR CONTINUING TO SHOVE JAYZ AND BEYONCE DOWN OUR THROATS.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
AND THANK YOU NUM 14 FOR STEADY COMMENTING ON THEM..COULDN’T DO WITH OUT YOU MY DUDE
December 11th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
jay prolly be president again..but i dont get why he doesnt do rocafella on his own n be pres jus for the roc..that way artists wont blame him for they weak sales..u diiiig
December 11th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
@ 12. Jay doesn’t own Rocafella anymore. He and the rest of Gang Green sold their remaining 50 percent to Def Jam back in 04. Jay doesn’t own any label anymore.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Scratch 12, make that 17.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I don’t get it. Why would def jam let him go? isn’t he def jam. I think hes the only dude i listen to off of def jam and, majority of everyone else to.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
YEA , HONESTLY, THESE ARTIST THESE DAYS ARE SOOO LAZY, THEY DONT EVEN WORK ANYMORE THEY EXPECT EVERYTHANG TO BE GIVEN TO THEM AS SOON AS THEY GET THE DEAL AND STOP WORKING, AND THE EAZIEST THING TO DO IS BLAME JAY Z AS A EASY ROUTE BUT THEY NEED TO THINK OF A WAY TO PUSH THIER CAREER BY ANY MEANS RATHER THAN BI*TCHIN AND COMPLAININ
December 11th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
jay has tons of money i doubt if he dont stik wit defjam that wuld hurt his pockets..he needs to build up the roc n make it wut it once once but we kno it wuld never happen..but jay be trynna be the artist n prez be messin things up for other artists…when he shuld be payin full attention to freeway or beans project he doin vids for his album or doin shows…like he doesnt kno how to take the focus off himself to help his own artists out
December 11th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
yea u guys are absolutely right. jayz doesnt know whats he’s doing, he has no idea whats going on
ya’ll sound like idiots
they way the music biz is goin nowadays and for him to become a damn near brand name/household name. he knows exactly what he’s doing.
and as far as people complaining bout rappers this and rappers that and defjam being a rap label. in case u havent heard aint nobody spending money on these fake ass rappers anymore, they spit fairytales and expect you to come out-of-pocket for that shit. rappers flopped, r&b and kanye did very well this year. so these fake rappes only have their fellow rappers to blame for the low sales not jayz
December 11th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
@ 23. Excuses, excuses. Didn’t Fab, Juelz, TI, Luda and some others I maybe for forgetting go gold & platinum this year besides Kanye? The only reason rap music isn’t selling is not because of illegal downloading, but because its quality has gone drown dramatically. And the albums that ARE classics and deserve your money get…. NO PROMOTTTTTION!! And this inturn causes them to… FLOPPPPP!!
And another thing, people didn’t just wake up one sunday morning and realized that rappers are a bunch of entertainers embellishing shit or downright making it up. This is nothing new.
Class dismissed lol.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
@ Anon. In one of your comments you said Hov should only take credit for Rihanna cus he signed her so why should he take the blame for people who flopped cus he didnt sign them. It doesnt work like that if Kanye & neyo do good Hov should take some of the credit and if they flop he should take a fair SHARE of the blame aswell. Stop being a hyprocrite and controdicting yourself fool.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
so please anon tell me what classic albums came out under defjam that didnt get no promotion
i luv the way u kids throw that word classic around
everybody screaming bout promotion
i went to virgin megastore in union square the other day and they got the whole side windows covered in defjam album covers. from kanye to beans to freeway, the dream, fab, ghostface. i was mad surprised to see those album covers on display so big like that. jayz did his job, give that man an encore
December 11th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
IF IT AINT ABOUT THE MONEY THEN WHAT IS IT FOR? I LIKE JAY Z AS AN ARTIST BUT THIS DUDE GOT ALOT ISH MESSED UP….WHY WAS JOE BUDDEN DROPPED AGAIN??
December 11th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
@26. Wow, Virgin Megastore in Union Square. I wonder if that’s as effective as saaaay, I don’t know, maybe TV & Radio? National scale? Classic albums didn’t stop getting made in 1996. U kids? What’s next? Being told that I dance to Soulja Boy? GTFOH.
I think alot of people would agree that Big Doe Rehab & Free At Last were some pretty classic if not great albums that got slept on & are currently being slept on heavily.
@25. You’re right. He should take SOME credit for that. My point in THAT post was, Jay isn’t really bringing in any successful fresh talent like that to be allegedly asking for all the money he’s asking for. He’s not even doing much with the current talent. I honestly think, things would’ve gone the same way for Neyo & Rihanna if Jay wasn’t sitting in that chair. The only thing that would’ve probably changed was Jay being on Umbrella lol. They are the exception, not the rule.
Alot of people are rooting for Jay. I am too. The nigga is the Black Man’s American dream. Made something out of nothing. But I just believe they need to clean house and bring in some fresh faces behind the scenes.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
AND…
LA Reid is a vet & legend in the industry and was the one who appointed Jay to be President of Def Jam. So if Jay is that good, why is LA hesitant in paying the money he’s asking for? I mean, if the niggas has the midas touch, why not do everything in your power to keep him there?
December 11th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
I am a big Hov fan and I dont think he is doing that bad, there aint another label that can compete with Def Jam this year. If the negotations dont work out they have to get someone new that has a proven track record of finding talent and promoting well and not someone to only be the face of the label. It aint that easy to find someone like that.
You have to also put everything into perspective and look at the genre as a whole alot of people would agree that the albums we considered as classics this year havnt done well sales wise where as alot of the commercial stuff has and that aint only happen at Def Jam it has happend at a lot of other labels. We only look at Def Jam cus of who is president.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
The parties involved in the negotiations are the only ones who know what’s going on, what’s being negotiated and what not. So, how you gone say LA is hesitant in paying him the money. Exactly, you’re talking about what you don’t know. Jay does own Rocafella. I mean isn’t that the reason why Dame and the Silent guy were mad.
#2 you don’t comprehend well or you just didn’t read the full interview. He said the negotiations are still active (meaning nobody is stalling) and they’ll know the outcome in a few weeks that’s why there was no simple yes answer. That wasn’t any mumbling nonsense. He answered the question. AND His “bosses” didn’t say anything about any excessive demands. That was a story written by the New York Daily News. Nowhere in that article was there a quote from Doug Morris or L.A. Reid.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Isn’t that with all the news? None of us are never there when shit happens. We take what’s being reported and speculate until the truth comes out. Everything is hearsay. Isn’t that why words like “allegedly” are thrown around? Still doesn’t hurt to speculate.
Last I remembered, Jay and the rest sold their remaining half to Def Jam. Before that, Rocafella was owned by Island Def Jam (50 percent) and Jay, Dame, & Biggs (50 percent). Label got sold for 10 million and Jay became the president of Def Jam and was still able to run Rocafella though he did not own it anymore. I believe Dame was mad because he wanted more then the 10 million that was being offered.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Jay-Z still owns Roc-A-Fella he signed a distributional deal through Island Def Jam/Universal Musical Group. They had that Def Jam deal before Dame left before that it was an Independant label and also had a deal under Priority Records before Def Jam.