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So Much More 11 [2010]

2010-11-03T16:53:00.002-06:00

◊ Audio: Jay-Z & Willow Smith on Ryan Seacrest! // Jay-Z Speaks on signing Willow! [All Hip Hop]
◊ Yanks, JAY-Z to Launch Limited-Edition Co-Branded Merchandise
◊ Jay-Z performing at NY Basketball Festival [Thursday Night: Live Stream Here]
◊ Kanye: Power Remix ft. Jay-Z coming Friday!
◊ Pics: Jay-Z attends Bowling Party [via RapRadar]
◊ Pics: Kanye West & Jay-Z Power Dinner at Nello's [Rap-Up]
◊ Download: Hot Toddy Usher ft. Jay-Z [will be featured on Usher's Re-Release]
◊ Video: Affion Crocket's Jay-Z & Lebron Parody
◊ Jay-Z Slams Spirituality Accusations On Rick Ross 'FreeMason' [MTV]
    ----Behind The Scenes Pic // SNIPPET
◊ Jay-Z Nets Billboard in Knicks Backyard
◊ Jay & Bee Eat Out at Nello's
◊ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce attend UJA Federation
◊  Dr. Dre ft. Jay-Z "Under Pressure"
◊  Jay-Z Rolling Stone cover Excerpt [Issue in stores June 24]
◊ Start spreading the news: Sinatra's out at the Belmont Stakes.
◊ Download: Ultra ft. Swizz Beatz
◊ "Decoded" Book Set for November 2010 Release [thx to cheleny]
◊ Rick Ross was in awe of Jay-Z during "Teflon Don Studio Session

◊ Pics: Beyonce and Jay-Z Double Date with Will and Jada
◊ Jay-Z Breaks Bread With Billionaires Mayor Bloomberg And Nets Owner‎
◊ Jay-Z Leads 2010 BET Award Nominees!
◊ Pics: Jay and Bee Check out a Yankees Game!
◊ Jay-Z leads the pack with Number #1's among rappers!
◊ Watch Betty White's SNL Promo's
◊ Jay-Z and Will Smith-Funded 'Fela!' Snags 11 Tony Nods
◊ Drake Says Jay-Z Wasn't Immediately Sold On 'Over'
◊ Video: Rocawear Presents Everybody's Haitian PSA
◊ Pics: Jay and Bee at LAX [4/19] Word is they're in Hawaii!
◊ 'SNL': Betty White joined by Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon and ... Jay-Z
◊ Jay-Z's NYC Show Will 'Shut Everything Down,' Memphis Bleek Says [MTV]
◊ Beyonce, Jay-Z Make A Great Aunt and Uncle Team
◊ Jay-Z: President Obama Was Playing The Blueprint When I Called Him
◊ Jay-Z Wants To Shoot Two More Videos From Blueprint 3

◊ Rutgers symphony partners with Jay-Z for Super Bowl pre-game music video

◊ V Exclusive: “On To The Next One” Director Sets The Record Straight

◊ RAP RADAR: Snoop Confirms Jay-Z "I Wanna Rock" Remix
◊ Hot 97 Stream: Jay, Jeezy and Trey Songz will be on Angie Martinez Show Wednesday!
◊ Esquire: Why Jay-Z Is Everything We're Not
◊ Drake plans to light it up with Jay-Z
◊ AP names the Top 10 Albums of 2009
◊ The Best Songs of 2009, In Bigger Than The Sound
◊ EW names "The Blueprint" No. 2 Album of the Decade! See who's #1!
◊ Jay gets 5 Grammy Nominations! [Nominee List]

So Much More [11]

2010-01-12T17:36:00.001-07:00

Pics: On To The Next One Video Shoot

Jay-Z Adds Broadway to His List of Business Ventures

Empire State of Mind Pt. 2 to be ft. on Alicia's new album [MTV]

BP3 2010 Tour Dates (Tickets go on sale Friday, November 13)

Pics: Jay-Z on Much Music

◊ NYMag: Jay-Z on DJ Hero, ‘D.O.A.,’ and His Future Career As a Bar Mitzvah Performer

◊ Pics: Jay & Robin Thicke Studio Session

------(Jay-Z and Robin Thicke were spotted in the studio together in NYC this weekend. The two hit up Germano Studio to work on a song titled “Meiple” with a catchy tropical beat. For Robin’s album.)

◊ Backstage Pics: Cleveland Show [w/Lebron & Crew]

◊ Jay peforming at 2009 MTV EMA's

◊ Jay Performing at the 2009 AMA's So Vote For HIM!

◊ Cast Your Vote for Jay-Z for The 2009 American Music Awards!

◊ Jay and Jeezy To Shoot 'As Real As It Gets' Video [mtv]

◊ Jay-Z’s ‘Hottest MC’ Acceptance Speech

◊ MJ sung backup on "Girls, Girls, Girls"

◊ Video: Meet Jay-Z's Band *I've been waiting forever on this ish, thx neil*

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee arriving in Norway // View Video // Footage of Concert

◊ Jay-Z and Eminem spin a musical game out of DJ Hero [USA Today]

◊ MTV: Jay-Z Is The Hottest MC In The Game!

◊ On The Set Vol. 2: Jay-Z “Empire State Of Mind” Video

◊ Jay-Z featured on Diddy's new album "Last Train to Paris"

◊ T-Pain Apologizes To Jay-Z In New Song, 'More Careful'

◊ Jay-Z Greatest-Hits Album Planned; 'Crispy Benjamins' Mystery Explained

◊ Jay-Z, Alicia Keys Shoot 'Empire State Of Mind' Video Near Ground Zero

◊ On The Set 'Empire State of Mind'

◊ Jay-Z on the cover of NME Magazine

◊ BP3 Re-Release?

◊ BP3 charts at #2 this week! [Moved over a total of 900k]
◊ Jay-Z & Swizz Hit the Club Up [via @TheRealSwizz]
◊ Oprah Show: Inside Jay-Z's world: what you didn't see on TV!
◊ Three reasons why Jay-Z Continues to be a trending topic on Twitter [Charli got some shine lol] Shoutout to YN for putting it on RapRadar!
◊ Jay-Z Still Reigns on Billboard [#1 Again, 300k]
◊ Feature: Super Lyrical [XXL Ranks Jay-Z's Top 20 Verses]

◊ Jay-Z Earns 7 BET Hip Hop Award Nominations

◊ MusicOMH Interviews Jay-Z

◊ Exclusive Jay-Z Interview [Shortlist.com]

◊ Lil Mama's 'Adrenaline Rush' Took Over During Jay-Z's VMA Performance

◊ Scans: O Magazine Interview

◊ The BP3 Likely To Top Billboard 200

◊ Jay-Z Ranks #1 on Complex Mag's Top 100 Best Albums Of The 2000's!

◊ Jay-Z on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross – September 18, 2009

◊ Food For Thought: Conservations with Jay-Z airs 7 PM [9/10] re-airs at 12 A.M.

◊ Jay-Z Tops Singles Chart

◊ On Location Exclusive: Lunch With Jay-Z X Angie Martinez X Harry Allen X Stephen A. Smith

◊ Jay-Z's 'Blueprint 3' Release Date Moved To Sept. 8

◊ Catch Jay-Z on the Live Lounge Tour from Jo Whiley's house! [September 18th]

◊ Jay-Z FUSE Page [includes A.T.C. Press Conference, Articles, Quizzes]

◊ Food for Thought: Conversations with Jay-Z [BET Program w/ Jay-Z]

◊ XXL MAG FEATURE: Jay-Z, ‘Bout Me

◊ Jay-Z Designs Limited Edition Arthur Ashe Tennis Tee Shirt

◊ Article: The Magna Carter [The Guardian]

◊ Video: Drake describes working with Jay-Z

◊ Jay-Z's 9/11 Concert To Benefit Widows, Children Of Fallen Police, Firemen

◊ TV: Jay-Z on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday, August 28

◊ Jay-Z to hold 9/11 Benefit Concert at MSG

◊ RR Exclusive: Blueprint 3 Producers List (Confirmed)

◊ Video: Behind the Scenes: Oprah Interviews Jay-Z

◊ BP3 Tracklist [via Jay-Z.com]

◊ Pics: Jay at Kevin Liles Engagement Party

◊ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce enjoy a romantic dinner in NYC [8/11/09]

◊ Pics: Jay at Rocawear Event [8/10/09]

◊ OM F'ing G: Confirmed: Jay-Z Brings Oprah To Marcy

◊ Pics: Run This Town Video Shoot

◊ Jay-Z, Kanye, Rihanna to perform on Leno's Premiere Episode

◊ Pics: Jay filming Rocawear commercial with Spike Lee [Article]

◊ Rumor: Single Drops This Friday: "Run This Town" ft. Kanye, Rihanna

◊ Article: Jay-Z unveils latest Blueprint for success

◊ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce take a late night stroll *fixed*

◊ Jay tops Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings 2009 List

So Much More [10]

2009-08-12T19:06:00.002-06:00

◊ Jay Close to Book Deal with Spiegel & Grau

◊ Pic: Jay at DJ Cassidy's Birthday Party

◊ Video & Pics: Jay-Z in Beverly Hills

◊ Jay-Z's 'D.O.A.' Video Inspired By '70s Counterculture Movie

◊ Jay-Z Confirms Roc Nation Deals with Sony, Atlantic

◊ Jay to appear in Drake's "Best I Ever Had" video

◊ D.O.A. Video Shoot Today per Dream Hampton

◊ Jay-Z Enlists Drake for "Off That"

◊ Mr Hudson on Jay-Z Collabo: ‘It’s Bigger Than Big’

◊ What does T-Pain think of D.O.A.?

◊ Jay performing at BET Awards

◊ FRIDAY @ 9:00 Flex has some big Jay-Z news! HOT 97 Stream [Rap Radar Info]
---He's also supposed to appear on Angie's show sometime next week. Details Later.

◊ BP3 coming in September?

◊ Jay lands on Top 20 Album Sellers of the Decade

◊ Jay-Z and Eminem team up for DJ Hero Game

◊ Roc Nation on Sony?

◊ Kanye West Promises Jay-Z's 'Anti-Auto-Tune' Blueprint 3 Will Be 'Amazing'

◊ Cigar Aficionado Scans [props to cheleny]

◊ RR Exclusive: Jay-Z Confirms his Independence

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee in Barcelona

◊ Mr. Hudson works with Jay-Z on The Blueprint 3 [Video]

◊ Drake describes working with Jay [XXL]

◊ Pics: Jay at Lakers vs. Rockets Playoff Game
--- Jay leaving Fred Segal after doing some shopping on Melrose Avenue

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee Out and About This Weekend
------[Tribeca] [Shopping in Soho]

◊ Jay Covers the June Issue of Cigar Aficionado

◊ Pics: Jay-Z at Yankee Stadium

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee leaving Waverly Inn [4/13/09]

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee Lunching at Pastis and Visiting Roc Pop Shop

◊ Jay-Z's Secrets for Personal Success [BESTLIFE Magazine Article]

◊ Jay featured in Jadakiss Documentary [preview]

◊ Jay talks about Art, Wine, and Hanging with the Prez // Jay-Z's 6 Rules To Living Your Best Life

◊ Jay featured on April Issue of BEST LIFE Magazine

◊ Article: Jay Explains Blueprint 3 Delay [MTV]

ROC WITH ME NEWS POST

Roc With Me News Post [9]

2009-05-19T17:06:00.002-06:00

Previous Items from Roc With Me News Post

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee at NBA AllStar Game [2/15/08] via BeyonceWorld
------Additional Pictures

◊ Pics: Rocawear Retreat Party and Concert

◊ 3rd Annual Two Kings Dinner [Phoenix, Arizona]
---Article: Jay-Z and LeBron bash highlights All-Star Weekend scene

◊ Mesa Arts Academy gets 'All-Star' donation for music
------[PICS // VIDEO // ARTICLE]

◊ Jay speaks on Chris Brown & Rihanna Situation [People]
----[MTV Article/Video]

◊ Kanye West Says Jay-Z Got 'Best Hip-Hop Beats of All Time'

◊ Jay and Lebron make huge donation to Mesa Arts Academy/ Hosting 3rd Annual Kings Dinner
this weekend

◊ Pics: Jay at Cavs vs. Knicks Game [2/5/09]

-------- Lakers vs. Knicks Game [2/2/09]

◊ Article: Prelude to a Legacy

◊ ‘Swagga Like Us’ to Take Stage at Grammys

◊ AUDIO: "MONEY GOES"

◊ MTV: Jay taking his time with Blueprint 3

◊ Pics: Jay at Young Jeezy's Party at Love

◊ Pics: Jay partying at Love Nightclub in DC [Jan 16]

◊ Jay Performing at “The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration"

◊ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce at the Golden Globe Awards [Pics via BeyonceWorld]
------Leaving Katsuya

◊ Pics: New Years Party [BeyonceWorld Pictures]

◊ MORE St. Barts Vacation Pics [PART 1] // [PART 2]

◊ More Jay & Bee St. Barts Vacation Pics

◊ Jay-Z to Headline Weekend Inaugural Club Party

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee in St. Barts

◊ Pics: 2008 Rocawear Christmas Party [via WireImage]

◊ Jay-Z and Beyonce attend Contemporary Art Fair in Miami [12/4]

◊ Jay-Z and Beyonce at Cadellic Records Premiere NYC [12/1]

Jay featured in April Issue of Best Life Magazine

2009-03-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Jay-Z is featured on the upcoming April cover of BEST LIFE magazine:

He says: “I’m a mirror…If you’re cool with me, I’m cool with you, and the exchange starts. What you see is what you reflect. If you don’t like what you see, then you’ve done something. If I’m standoffish, that’s because you are.”

Jay-Z also talks about what was on his mind when he made Reasonable Doubt in 1996: “I made that album to impress my friends, so they would say, “Oh wow, look what you did!’ It was my first album on the label that we owned. I was like ‘Okay, what happens now?”

The issue hits newsstands on March 10th.

So Much More [8]

2009-02-05T16:40:00.003-07:00

This post contains item from the Roc With Me News Post [Oct. 2008-Nov 2008]

◊ Pics: Jay & Bee at Cavs vs. Knicks Game [11/25]

◊ Jay-Z and Coldplay team up for 3 UK Shows

◊ Sexiest Men Living: the entrepreneur

◊ Full Song/Tagged "I Do It For Hip Hop"

◊ Preview: Ludacris ft. Jay-Z, Nas "I Do It for Hip-Hop" [Video]

◊ Jay-Z Taking His Time with BluePrint 3, Kanye Explains // Dropping in February '09?

◊Video: StarPower at the Early Voting Lines // Block Obama Party [Philadephia]

◊ Documentary: IMAGINE... Jay-Z "I Came, I Saw, I Conquered" airs on BBC Oct. 28

◊ ColdPlay ft. Jay-Z "Lost" Remix [via NahRight]

◊ Pics: Jay-Z Attends Spirit of Life Awards

◊ Pics: Jay at Katsuya in LA

◊ Just Blaze And Fat Joe Dispell Rumors Of New Jay-Z Diss // Listen to the
track Here

◊ Beyonce Finally Opens Up About Marriage To Jay-Z

◊ M.I.A. ft. Jay-Z "Boyz" Remix // NO DJ

◊ Audio: Lick A Shot for Barack Obama

◊ Jay Cancels Pro-Obama Show Miami due to Illness :(

◊ Jay and Bee in MIA (Going Out to Lunch) // More Pics [via Sexy Sugah]

◊ Jay at Robin Thicke's Album Release Party

◊ Jay-Z to give free concerts in Detroit and Miami this weekend for Voter Registration

◊ Blueprint 3 Release Date: December 2?

◊ Jay-Z Statement On New StarRoc Label

◊ Jay-Z sued over "I Will Not Lose" Campaign

◊ Interview: Jay-Z Named One of 40 Most Influential New Yorkers

◊ Some Details Emerge about Jay's StarRoc Label [via NahRight]

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee attend Gala honoring Kevin Liles

◊ Jay-Z and StarGate join forces

◊ BET Hip Hop Awards Nominees List

◊ Download: Raphael Saadiq ft Jay-Z - Oh Girl (Remix)

◊ Download: Jay-Z ft. JadaKiss "We Run This"

◊ Jay-Z Playing October Shows With Lil Wayne, T.I. — But Not At The Same Time

◊ Concert Date: HOUSE OF BLUES PRESENTS JAY-Z [Oct. 16]

◊ Jay-Z Performing at PowerHouse in Philly Oct. 24

◊ Vote for Jay-Z at EMA's [Best Act Ever & Headliner Category]

So Much More [7]

2008-10-15T14:20:00.001-06:00

Previous Items from the Roc With Me "In Jay-Z News" Post ( August '08- June 2008)

◊ Jay-Z and Beyonce’s 40/40 Club to become new Palazzo race and sports book

◊ Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter and Partners to sell Las Vegas 40/40 Club

◊ Concert Date: Jay-Z will open renovated Hollywood Palladium on Oct. 15

◊ Pics: Jay & Bee Out In NYC

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee at J&R Music Fest

◊ Download: Cookin’ Soul’s OJAYZIS: Jay-Z vs OASIS (Mixtape)

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee leaving Waverly Inn

◊ Jay selling 50% of Vegas 40/40? [NY Post]

◊ Article: Backstage With Jay-Z (@ ThisDay Africa Rising festival)

◊ Pics: Jay and Beyonce outside of BLT Prime

◊ More News on BluePrint 3 from Mick Boogie

◊ More RocaWear Evolution Photos

◊ Jay-Z Drawing Up A New 'Blueprint' [8.8.08]

◊ Official Vibe Covers Revealed [You can check out the article @ Jay-Z Fanboard]

◊ Article/Video: Jay meets with Mayor Bloomberg // Starts Summer Streets Program

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee Out and About

◊ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce leaving the Spotted Pig

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee out in NYC

◊ Jay-Z ft. on the cover of Vibe's 15th Anniversary Juice Issue

◊ Jay-Z Sounds Off on New Album, Obama, Rock Festivals: “It’s a Special Time”

◊ Pics: Jay at Wrigley’s Gum Jingles Event

◊ Pics: Jay rocks his wedding band? (leaving his Manhattan apartment)

◊ Pics: Rocawear Ads (from the Fall Campaign)

◊ Pics: Jay & Kanye Ithaca, Manchester [7/24/08]

◊ Timbaland On Producing Jay-Z's Next LP: 'It'll Be A Monster'

◊ Article: World's Greatest [The Observer]

◊ Jay-Z Covers L'uomo Vogue (Italian Vogue)

◊ Jay-Z to perform at Africa Rising Festival in Nigeria // Jay-Z Headlining Festival

◊ 2008 European Tour Photo Album

◊ Pics: O2 Wireless Festival

◊ One of the "Coolest Brothers of All Time" [Ebony Magazine]

◊ Pics: Jay & GQ Host Dinner at Berkeley Square

◊ Pics: Jay-Z at Wimbledon

◊ Jay-Z Track Hopping // Listen to Jay's "American Boy" Freestyle (partially) // Lyrics

◊ Jay-Z Interview [Time Out London]

◊ June 27th Jay will be on Friday Night w/ Jonathan Ross [UK Show]

◊ Weezy didn't understand Jay's Mr. Carter Verse (funny sh*t; I saw him talking about this on
106 last week, dude looked like he wanted to cry LOL)

◊ Jay working on new songs with Swizzy!!! [Excerpt from MTV Article]

♥ Pics: Jay and Beyonce out for lunch at Bar Pitti [6.13.08]

♥ Pics: Jay and Julez Candid // Leaving La Esquina [6.12.08] (Jay-Z carried his nephew Daniel
to the car after a walk in Central Park with Beyonce's family yesterday.)

◊ Some stuff you just got to laugh at! This is the dude we're talking about here. SMH LOL

◊ Jay-Z lands on Forbes Celebrity 100 List

------More on The Celebrity 100

◊ Pics: More Jay Candids [6.7.08]

◊ Article: 'I know I got angels watching over me' [Irish Independent News]

◊ New Jay-Z "A Billi" (Hot 97 Rip) [Zshare]

◊ Pics: New Jay-Z Candids [6.4.08]

◊ Pics: Jay-Z out in NYC [According to Paps, he was cheering b/c Barack Obama got the
Democratic Presidental Nomination :) ] [6/3/08]

◊ Hip-Hop Photographer Jonathan Mannion Talks About Classic Shoot With Jay-Z

◊ Download "Mr. Carter" Lil' Wayne ft. Jay-Z off The Carter 3

◊ Kanye, Jay-Z Prove Hip-Hop Tours Can Be Big Business

◊ Pics: Jay-Z In NYC [5/27]

◊ The Corportate Takeover of Jay-Z [Article]

Jay-Z and Beyonce’s 40/40 Club to become new Palazzo race and sports book

2008-08-28T13:07:00.000-06:00

Jay-Z and Beyonce’s 40/40 Club to become new Palazzo race and sports book
By Robin Leach

It's official as of less than one hour ago that Sheldon Adelson's Palazzo resort hotel casino will take back hip-hop mogul Jay Z's 40/40 sports club and ultra lounge.

Luxe Life previously reported that the Las Vegas Sands parent corporation was buying Jay-Z's rights for $40-million -- although that figure is not mentioned in this morning's news (Click here for our exclusive report two weeks ago that the transaction was underway!)

Jay Z had opened the third of his 40/40 clubs at the Palazzo just before New Year's Eve eight months ago. He will keep his Manhattan and Atlantic City clubs operating normally but will join with his Palazzo partners in their expansion and merchandising licensing opportunities elsewhere globally. Luxe Life has learned that Jay-Z himself finalized the contracts during the weekend when he and Beyonce flew into Vegas to wrap-up the megabuck deal.

“The exceptional design and location of the 40/40 Club will enable our guests to access a very special race and sports book and restaurant environment in the Palazzo,” said Rob Goldstein, president and chief operating officer of the Palazzo. “By adding a complete gaming component to an already distinctive 24,000-square-foot space we will be able to create a very unique environment for our guests.” The Palazzo will add a specialty restaurant component -- not yet named -- to the new expanded sports book lounge.

The space currently occupied by the 40/40 Club is accessible at the street level off Las Vegas Boulevard or via escalators from the main Palazzo entrance. The lower level also features the recently opened Dal Toro Italian Café and Lamborghini Showroom just below Tao's new LAVO lounge, Moroccan-Mediterranean cuisine restaurant and intimate club that opened last night.

Source

Bloomberg Cites Jay-Z, Bicyclist

2008-08-07T12:11:00.001-06:00

Bloomberg Cites Jay-Z, Bicyclist

Michael Bloomberg showed off his knowledge of rap music at an event with Jay-Z this morning to discuss the city’s plan to close some streets in Manhattan to motorists.

A reporter at the Foley Square event prefaced a question to Jay-Z by noting that one of his songs describes how his mother taught him to ride a bike at a young age, and asked if he planned to participate in the program, which starts this Saturday.

“This is from, ‘Mother I Made It’?” asked Bloomberg, referencing the little-known song "Mother I Made It," which was never released as a single or music video, from a Jay-Z album called Kingdom Come.

“Yeah, I believe so,” said Jay-Z. He went on to say he rides a bike "throughout the city,” but declined to specify where. “I don’t’ want the guys with cameras to follow me, so I’ll tell you where after,” he said.

He didn’t, but Jay-Z did pose for photographs with a number of fans, including one man who kept yelling, “Jay-Z for President!” The rapper is supporting Barack Obama and even recorded a robo-call for him that played in Ohio before the primary.

Watch Video Below:

*props to cheleny*

Ebony: 25 Coolest Brothers of All Time

2008-07-03T15:45:00.001-06:00

For the first time ever, Ebony magazine presents not one, not two, but eight quintessential covers to celebrate the 25 coolest Black men of all time. Jay-Z, Barack Obama, Prince, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Marvin e, Muhammad Ali and Billy Dee Williams take center stage as they personify Black cool on the covers of this historic collector’s edition. From their sleek, debonair styles to their smooth-as-silk personas, these magnificent Black men have conveyed, captured, and conquered the quintessence of cool while making it appear effortless.

[Lyrics] Jay's "American Boy" Freestyle

2008-06-27T12:19:00.003-06:00

(props to Camzellio @ BWBoard)

...Would like to extend an invitation to you
We'd like to invite you to our family jewels...
Jewelry, I mean
Cause my jewels' tourmalines be guarded by the Queen...
London bridges are falling down
Not bridges, but britches when Jigga's in town
Ladies show me your knickers
I might let you take it if you don't tell the Mrs.
Quick, run 'fore the tabloids come
Hide from the night 'fore we end up in THE SUN
I'm just takin' the piss...unless you gone DO IT!

Watch Video Here

So Much More [6]

2008-06-27T11:52:00.002-06:00

Previous Items from the Roc With Me News Post (April 4- May 27)

◊ Leaving Hotel in Monte Carlo, Monaco

◊ Jay and Bee Out and About in Cannes

◊ Pics: Armand de Brignac Party in France

◊ Beyonce and Jay-Z's Scarsdale Diet

◊ Usher Recruits Fellow Newlywed Jay-Z For Marriage-Focused Track: '[At] Some Point In Life, You've Got To Grow Up'

◊ Pics: Jay-Z at NBA Draft Lottery // The Nets landed the 10th Pick in the NBA Draft.

◊ Download Usher "Best Thing" ft. Jay-Z

◊ Info on "Best Thing" w/ Usher [SOHH]

◊ Jay-Z to represent the Nets at the NBA Draft Lottery Tomorrow

◊ Jay Receives Nomination for Best Hip Hop Artist for '08 BET Awards

◊ Pics: Barclays Center Showroom Grand Opening Party [WireImage]
------No Nets Arena Yet, but Suites Are on Sale [NY Times]

◊ Pics: Jay and Beyonce @ Game 5 Celts vs. Cavs [5/14]

◊ Pic: Jay arriving at Butter Nightclub
------Pap. Video: Jay-Z & Diddy Ain't Crazy! [TMZ]

◊ Jay-Z Says 40/40 Vegas is fine [Las Vegas Review Journal]

◊ Jay-Z Responds to Glastonbury Controversy

◊ Pics: Jay-Z Afterparty at 40/40 Club [5/6/08]

◊ Jay-Z Establishes Trust Fund for Sean Bell's Children!

◊ Sources: Live Nation Clinches Jay-Z Deal

◊ Not meant to be a "diss"? (The Story Behind "Blow The Whistle")

◊ Blow The Whistle Freestyle

◊ Mariah ft. Jay-Z "Bye Bye" Remix

◊ LuxeLife tries to get the goods!

◊ Jay on Mariah's "Bye Bye" Remix + Info on the Usher Track

◊ Pics: Jay & Mary at Hollywood Bowl [They stepped it up another level]

◊ Pics: Jay at Parlor Sports Bar // Katsuya w/Usher ; Article [People Magazine]
------X17 Video: [1] Katsuya -lmao at the paps singing "Love In This Club". LA Paparrazi is CRAZY!
------Jay-Z Out In Hollywood with Usher! [Hollywood TV]

♥ Pics: Jay-Z & Beyonce hit up a Rockets game in Houston

◊ Pics: Jay-Z in NYC // Watch Pap. Video

♥ Wedding Designer Revealed

♥ People Reports: Beyonce and Jay-Z Are Married! Congrats!

♥ ET: Video of Jay arriving?

TMZ's BATTERY DIED!
Ha! Jay and Bee have the media on their Britney Spears game right now. TMZ is streaming outside of the location where Entertainment Tonight has reported that a "wedding" will take place. It's also been reported that this just might be a celebration of Jay's deal with Live Nation. Yes, I'm sitting here watching it. And yes, there's no sound. :P So far, all I've seen are black Escalades arriving and leaving.

◊ Jay-Z and Live Nation Alliance as New Model for Music Sales

◊ Pics: Jay arrives for taping of David Letterman [Show airs Friday, 4/4]

♥ Jay-Z and Beyonce take out marriage license [People Mag] I wouldn't usually post this but I get down with People, they're pretty reliable in my book. Someone pointed out this may be an April Fools joke lol...hmmm

Jay working on new songs with Swizzy

2008-06-17T19:02:00.001-06:00

Swizzy is also behind the new G-Unit record "Get Down" and is in the lab working on some brand-new Jay-Z songs. "I gave him the out-of-control Swizz," Beatz said of the tracks. "You'll see. Out of control! F--- — spazzin', out of control!"

Source: MTV

Hip-Hop Photographer Jonathan Mannion Talks About Classic Shoot With Jay-Z

2008-06-04T12:42:00.004-06:00

Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt
"I spoke to Damon Dash first [about shooting the album artwork], and he goes, 'All right, cool. Nice pictures. What are you going to charge me?' And I was like, 'I'll do it for 300 less than your lowest bid.' I was talking hundreds. ... I was like, 'Just let me do what I want to do, man. My vision.' I went with Jay on the creative stuff and had a whole list of things. Then he changed his title. I don't know if it's common knowledge, but it was originally going to be called Heir to the Throne. That was a title that was tossed around. Reasonable Doubt came around, and I came back with a whole other set of ideas. They styled themselves. I told them I didn't want the whole Versace, 'Scarface,' Miami Mafia drug-running kinda thing. I wanted the New York, the Brooklyn Mafia. Little Italy surveillance, the real business."

Source

So Much More [5]

2008-05-19T16:24:00.001-06:00

Previous Items from Roc With Me News Post

◊ Official Heart of the City Review Thread [JZFB]

◊ Jay-Z denies excessive money demands for label

◊ Ain't I [FULL/NO DJ]

◊ Hova joins the Hove lineup!

◊ Jay Requests Hova-Free Video; Director talks about "I Know" Video

◊ Pics: Jay and Bee leaving Waverly Inn

◊ Enter to win 2 floor tickets to HOTC Tour

◊ Pics: Jay at Cavs vs. Knicks Game

◊ Jay-Z and Linkin Park to play UK Show

◊ Thrid NYC Date Added for Heart of The City Tour

◊ Pics: Jay attends 9th Annual TJ Martell Family Day

◊ Movado ft. Jay-Z "On The Rock"(Rmx)

◊ NO TAG: Rick Ross ft. Jay-Z: Maybach Music [from Ross' new album Trilla]

◊ New Heart of The City Pre-Sale Dates/Info Added

◊ Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige sell out in several cities

Info on Best Thing w/Usher

2008-05-19T16:04:00.002-06:00

SOHH recently reviewed Usher's album. Below is their review of "Best Thing" ft. Jay-Z. The version without Jay-Z has leaked. Listen to it here.

10. "Best Thing" ft. Jay-Z (prod by. Jermaine Dupri) - Jay does his thing as expected - it's kinda funny to hear lines like "wrapped around our girls like pashminas" but I like the lyric "If I couldn't give a f.uck, how could I give a finger." Usher name drops real exes in this one - Eisha, Naomi, Chilli telling Tameka how when she left she took "the best thing" that ever happened to him.

People Magazine [Bee and Jay's Secret Wedding]

2008-04-11T21:58:00.001-06:00

So People gave their wedding the main cover story. So did Us Weekly. They have a little picture box on Star, InTouch, and OK! (I think). Since Star = Lame, InTouch = Extra Lame, OK = Umm...Semi-lame, I read those in the store. I actually purchased People because they're more credible in my book. 8-) I haven't bought a People Issue since I had a crush on Kobe Bryant #giggle#

I'll just list some things you might not have heard and that I thought were :-*. (Not saying it's all true but there was nothing that I > ::) at while reading it. lol)

The weekend before their wedding Jay's assisstant (?) Robin Broughton got married in Philly. Remember "Robin the bank"...listen to "My First Song". I've heard the name a couple of times and I have always wondered who the hell that was...must be him/her. His/Her wedding designer said they seemed "very much a couple in love, held hands and were all smiles" at Robin's wedding.

"The wedding was intimate, very emotional-lots of crying and really spirtual". UsWeekly said it was emotional too, her family was very emotional. So, I'm buying that. I can see that anyway especially with Bee. :'(

No maid of honor, no best man. Now, I believe this too. Some months ago I watched a Kelly video, it was a radio interview. I believe the interviewer asked her something about Jay and Beyonce and being a bridesmaid in their wedding and Kelly said "I don't think Beyonce will want bridesmaids...she'll just want to go and get it over it"...The last part I can't remember exactly what she said but I specifically remember her saying that about Beyonce not wanting bridesmaids. Kelly spills it all #giggle#

Bee looked beautiful in her wedding gown (voluminous white gown)

I'm sure you've heard everything about the orchids (70,000), it looked like a "palace, really pure, white wedding." In Us they said something about there were flowers hanging down from chandeliers and over the walls.

About the first dance: "There was a first dance, it was extremely emotional and beautifully orchestrated." They didn't say what the song was in People, but in USWeekly it was "September" by Earth, Wind, & Fire.

Seriously, I think June Ambrose was one of the sources lol. There is a quote in their about the wedding being "beautiful, gorgeous, opulent." That sh!t sound so much like June Ambrose to me. #laugh#

And then there was some rather nice stuff from a "friend" saying they were soulmates and why they click. "Jay is mature and quiet". Beyonce is a very gentle person. He takes good care of her, guides her but he's not overbearing about it."

Russell Simmons commented on how fantastic and exciting it was that they married.

And there was some interesting stuff about the number four from a numberologist. It said that four is a commitement number and "a '4' day is about a relationship being solid". And even 2002 (they year they started dating) = 4 and September and December are 4 months apart. ;)

I don't know if it was Star or InTouch...I think it was InTouch cause they're FOS. They made up some stuff about them getting married on the fourth had nothing to do with their bdays. A "friend" told them this. They picked the date to honor Martin Luther King's assasination. Umm...no! lol One of them seem like like they got their ish straight from Mediatakeout...Popeye's chicken. #dry#

So Much More [4]

2008-04-04T19:06:00.002-06:00

Items moved from Roc With Me News Post (April 4)

◊ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce leaving Bar Pitti

◊ Pics: 2nd Annual Two Kings Dinner in New Orleans (more added)
------Check Wireimage

◊ Pics: Jay-Z Hosts GQ Party at 40/40 Club (2/12/08)

◊ "I Know" continues to climb up R&B/Hip Hop Songs Chart

◊ Jay-Z Insists There's No Bad Blood Between Him And L.A. Reid: 'Everything Is Sweet'; Hov also dishes on his future endeavors: 'I got so many different options.'

◊ Jay-Z & Lebron James Host 2nd Annual Two Kings Dinner in New Orleans

◊ Heart of the City Tour: Jay-Z Fan Community (Presale Tickets Available NOW)

◊ A New Venture for Jay-Z, on Madison Avenue

◊ Jay among Top Earning African American Stars

◊ Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige going on Tour!! View dates! ◊ Fans react to Jay-Z Glastonbury headline announcement
------I had a feeling that was gonna happen even though I know nothing about Glastonbury? Sounds like the type of festival that somebody would be mad that the rapper guy is headlining. I'm just saying.

◊ Jay-Z still chills without Cristal

◊ Fan Pic: Jay @ UFC 81 in Vegas [2/2]; Jay at Rick Ross Bday Party in Miami (Jan. 28)

◊ Jay hosting Superbowl Party in Vegas?

(Jan 2008)
◊ Jay-Z Confirmed to headline Glastonbury Music Festival

◊ New Jay-Z Song Leaks -- Is Blueprint 3 In The Works? [MTV]

◊ NEW Jay-Z: "Ain't I" (From DJ Clue's new mixtape "I AM LEGEND") ;
------ LYRICS

◊ The entire Rocafella Roster did not get dropped! [Billboard]
------Wtf was peedi talking about? He losing it! lmao

◊ Next Video: "I Know" (According to Video Static, Philip Andelman is booked to shoot the video; I think it might be shot in the next couple of days or so, if it hasn't already.)

◊ Jay-Z Coming Out On Top In Latest Rap Battle: Playing Connect Four

◊ Supposed Reference Track for Tru Life recorded by Jay-Z

◊ Tidbit: Jay-Z and Beyonce Celebrate Cav's Larry Hughes Bday (South Beach)

♥ Scan: Ebony Magazine: Feb. 2008 (10 Hottest Couples)

Jay-Z Requests Hova-Free Video

2008-03-10T13:09:00.000-06:00

Jay-Z Requests Hova-Free Video

"She wants those heroin tracks," Jay-Z raps on "I Know" — and Pharrell Williams provided Jay with just that addictive of a beat.

"To me, that song sounded like heroin," Jay told us of the record. "That's what it sounded like to me. It sounded like somebody like Miles Davis was in a jazz club just high out his mind, just going off playing some of the most amazing freestyle music you ever heard. That's what it felt like. That's what happens with drugs. They don't pound you like that; they talk to you sweet. And that's the allure of it, and it pulls you in, and that's what was happening. The lyrics were harmless. It's like a love song, and so it was pulling you in. Pulling you in further and further until you've realized, now you're addicted to this drug. So that was the method behind why it sounds so sweet."

For the video, Hov pulled an "I Am Legend" but in reverse. While the producer of Will Smith's recent mega-hit film relied on him to carry the movie on his back, mostly without any human interaction, Jigga's latest video is propelled by the fact that Jay isn't in the clip at all. Hov recruited director Philip Andelman to carry out his vision. According to the lensman, the rap giant was a fan of his work on Lenny Kravitz's "Where Are We Running." And since Hov wouldn't be appearing in the clip himself, Andelman and company cast Kravitz's daughter, Zoe, to be the lead — but not after wracking his brain figuring out who would want to see a Jay-Z video without Jay-Z.

"At first, I thought it was going to be really challenging, because it was just daunting — the thought of holding your attention for three and a half minutes without Jay, because he's a huge presence normally," Andelman told us. "[But] from the get-go, Jay said it would be a distraction if he was in it. And I think he was really right. It winded up allowing us to tell a story."

The video is a series of scenes featuring Kravitz. Among them is a courtship with a young man; her walking aimlessly in lower Manhattan; and a club scene toward the end of the clip. For the most part, the images are dark, save for a few imposed special effects to light up the screen.

"I was just going off the beat of the song. It kind of sparkled. There's something light and airy about it," Andelman said. "But then there's this dark side of the song.

"It's like a Rubik's Cube on ecstasy," the director added. "I know it's bad to push the drug metaphor, but it's kind of funny. Zoe Kravitz is the girl in it, but we wanted to make it ambiguous as to whether it's one girl or four girls. No one can be 100 percent sure of what's going on [in the video]. They all have their own interpretations. And that's what makes it fun to me. It's like a riddle, and there's no right answer or wrong answers. It's like a three-and-a-half-minute head trip." ...

Mixtape Monday

So Much More [3]

2008-02-22T09:39:00.002-07:00

Taken from the Roc With Me News Post:

◊ Pics: Jay catches Ne-Yo show in Times Square

◊ Pics: At Emporio Armani Fashion Show (more, bigger ones later)
---Fall/Winter 2008/09 men's collections during Milan Fashion Week January 13

◊ Listen/Download DJ Green Lantern Sweet Remix [via RealTalkNy]

♥ Pics: Jay and Bee check out Versace Fashion Show in Milan [1/12/08]
------via BeyonceWorld

◊ Pics: Jay-Z Out in NYC [1/10/08]

♥ Pics: Out and About in Manhattan

♥ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce check out Sonics vs. Nets Game

◊ "I Know": Bubbling Under Hip Hop/R&B Singles [Billboard]
----Week of Jan. 19: #11

◊ Jay-Z: The End Or The Begininng? [Pt. 2] Hip Hop DX

◊ Jay-Z: The Prelude Pt. 1 [Hip Hop DX]

◊ Jay starting a record label with Apple ? (Some say yes, some say no)

◊ The Show [YN Review of Jay-Z @ The Pearl]

◊ Jay-Z Steps down as Def Jam President // *I was so hoping he would.

◊ Vegas Details [Luxe Life]

♥ Pics: Jay-Z and Beyonce enjoy Nets vs. Cavs game

◊ [PART 1] Jay-Z Talks Exit Rumors, Grammys, 360 Deals

◊ [PART 2] Jay-Z Talks Exit Rumors, Grammys, 360 Deals

◊ American Gangster reaches Platinum status! [Billboard Chart]

◊ Rolling Stones: The 100 Best Songs of 2007

◊ Jay-Z Closes $66 Million New York City Real Estate Deal

◊ Change The Game [Excerpts: Stop Smiling Magazine]

◊ Checking in With Jay-Z [Exclusive: The artist and Def Jam prez on his label's 26 Grammy nods and his ongoing contract]

◊ Jay-Z to perform at The Pearl in Las Vegas on December 29

------Tickets go on sale Sat. December 15 [Ticketmaster]

◊ Jay-Z Recieves 5 Grammy Nominations! Full list of nominations.

---Best Rap Album (KC), Best Rap Sung (SMWG) , *Best Rap Sung Collaboration, *Record of the Year, *Song of the Year [*Umbrella]

♥ Jay-Z Celebrates Birthday with Beyoncé in Paris [People Mag]

------Pics (leaving hotel or restaurant ?) Pap. Video (leaving Crazy Horse Cabaret)

◊ Video: Jay joins Kanye on stage in Manchester, UK [Part 1] [Part 2]

◊ [PT. 4] Jay-Z, Behind The Rhymes: Hov Explains How To Make An LP 'Tell A Great Story With The Music'

◊ Jay-Z Rigs a Slot Machine

◊ DL: R.O.C All-Stars: The Street Leek / Tracklisting [via Nahright]

◊ [PT. 3] Jay-Z, Behind The Rhymes: Hov Recalls Lyrical Showdown With Biggie

♥ Pics: Jay and Bee leaving The Spotted Pig *I believe Hov has stake in this restaurant.

◊ American Gangster pushes 87k this week.

◊ [PT. 2 ] Jay-Z, Behind The Rhymes: Hidden Britney Spears Reference Is Just One Trick Of Hov's Trade

◊ Jay appears on TRL Today!

◊ [PT. 1] Jay-Z Talks Lyric-Writing Process

◊ Rolling Stone Scans [credit to samedifference]

Jay-Z Video Premiere on TRL Next Week

2008-02-20T16:49:00.002-07:00

Girls Rule as TRL Kicks Off 'Spankin' New Ladies Week' February 25th-28th at 3:30-4:40pm (ET/PT)

Live Performances by Janet Jackson, Jordin Sparks, Taylor Swift, Sara Bareilles and Special Appearances by Ashlee Simpson, Ashanti and More...'Spankin' New Ladies Week' To Feature Jay-Z Video Premiere, First Look Videos From Ashanti, Kid Sister, Teyana Taylor, Kate Nash and a Sneak Peak From Snoop Dogg

NEW YORK, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV's Spankin' New Music Week is back! TRL will bring music fans "Spankin' New Ladies Week" beginning Monday, February 25th and join hosts Damien Fahey and Lyndsey Rodrigues as they celebrate the year's best female artists with live performances and behind-the-scenes first looks at new music videos from all your favorite artists. TRL airs Monday through Thursday from 3:30-4:30PM (ET/PT).

Source: PR Newswire

Jay-Z still chills without Cristal

2008-02-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Music mogul Jay-Z's war with a French champagne giant continues to bubble.

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."

Cristal, which has a cult following in the celebrity world, sells for $700 to $1,000 at many clubs in Las Vegas.

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 Pérignon and Krug.

Jay-Z, who was in town to watch the Super Bowl at 40/40 Las Vegas with his girlfriend Beyoncé, called for the boycott in June 2006 after Roederer's new managing director, Frédéric Rouzaud, told a British magazine, The Economist, that Cristal's popularity in the hip-hop community brought "unwelcome attention."

Rouzaud said the champagne producer viewed Cristal's association with rap "with curiosity and serenity."

When the newspaper asked whether he thought the association would harm the brand, he replied, 'that's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."

Las Vegas Review Journal

"Ain't I" Lyrics

2008-01-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

According to Entertainment Weekly, "Ain't I" was reportedly recorded for Timbaland's "Shock Value" album but didn't make the cut. The song is currently featured on DJ Clue's new mixtape "Dj Clue Desert Storm Radio 8 I am Legend", available here.

Lyrics Transcribed by Samedifference:

Ain't I

Ain't i?
I'm a
I'm a
I'm a
I'm a Hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
Your favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't I
I'm a Hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
Your favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't I
Ain't I

I'm still winning
And i'm nowhere near finished
Its just the first inning and i'm gunnin' for the pennant
And i been this
God made me, ya'll hate me
Ya'll athiests, ya'll safety is at risk
Its the return of the messiah, one and only Hov
No, i ain't God, but i been made in his mold
So when the story is told, let it be said
I refused to fold, i only fold bread
I stood for the peasants, i owed no debt
I represent the hood til' my dying breath
I took a pay cut to become an Exec
So the next muthaf*cka can earn his paycheck
And even though these niggas talk greasy bout me
Ask these niggas how they gone eat without me?
Ask these niggas if they want (?) involved
Even if they don't like me, they respect the God

I'm a Hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
Your favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't i
I'm a Hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
Your favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't i?

I'm hustler's poster child
I'm 'posed to style
I ain't got nothin' to prove
I'm 'posed to smile
I ain't insecure
Invested in a piece of Carol's Daughter
I'm in Sephora
Your bricks are insignificant to him
He's a grown man, you're an infant to him
I'm takin' baby Monday to Berg's, Ha!
I spent that on furniture!
Warhols on my hall's wall
I got Basquiats in the lobby of my spot
I'm so sophisticatedly hood
S. Carter cash, man, premium goods
Thousand dollars for the sneaks
Timbo on the track, 250 for the beat
G4 back and forth, til my flow cease
I spent a couple mil just to lose to The Heat

I'm a Hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
Your favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't i
I'm a Hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
Your favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i
Ain't i
Ain't i

Anything you aspire to acquire, i got
Any gun you say you fired, I shot
Any type of path, but now you eyeing my cellar
I guess its saying that's how i started Roc-a-Fella
Feds all fed up, D. E. A.
Can't tell the dirty money from a Rocawear sweater
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that, oh, never that
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that, oh, never that
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that, oh, never that
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that, oh, never that
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that, oh, never that
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that, oh, never that
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that, oh, never that
And i'm never ever
Going back, back
Oh never that

Whoever rat, he be doing it for practice, nigga
I'm in a 12-step program
I ain't touched drugs so long, i'm a sober man
I'm clean as a whistle, the fish all got away
I'm the king of all kings, its official
Uh, i'm a hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
You're favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i?
Ain't i?
Ain't i?
Well, ain't i?
I'm a hustler's hustler
A gangsta's gangsta
I'm a rapper's rapper
You're favorite, ain't i?
Ain't i?
Ain't i?
Ain't i?
Well, ain't i?

So Much More [2 ]

2008-01-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Previous Items from Roc With Me News Post (In Jay-Z News). Most of these items are from announcement of the release to late November.

◊ Jay to be featured on Celebrity Exposé: Rap Superstars
------- airs Tonight on MNTV @ 9 PM ET.

◊ Beanie Sigel ft. Jay-Z "Gutted" [The Solution in stores December 11]

◊ FULL Dead Presidents 3 [Zshare] DROPLESS EDIT via NahRight

◊ Davey D: When rapper Jay-Z talks about euros, people listen
------ Forbes Article

◊ Jay-Z and Beyonce attend Dr. Donda West's Funeral
------[ET Video] [Pics @ Corner of Beyonce]

◊ American Gangster pushes 131k this week. [Billboard]
------A little piece about Jay, Elvis, The Beatles

◊ A Good Album is More than Just a Collection of Singles (Article by Jermaine Dupri)

◊ "American Gangster" a cappella version to be released on December 4

◊ Jay-Z Wins Water Campaign Award

◊ AllHipHop speaks with Young Mel (Jay's nephew)

◊ Jay-Z Toasts American Gangster with Diddy, Nas [MTV]

◊ Jay-Z Teams With MSN To Air NYC Concert For Free [Hammerstein Ballroom]

◊ Jay-Z, Nas, and LeBron James Walk Into the Apollo [NY Mag]

------Pics @ Flickr (bigger), FilmMagic: Backstage Pics ~ Onstage

◊ And The Winner Is...Hov has the #1 album this week, his 10th #1 album. This ties him with Elvis for second place among artists with most #1's. Congrats!

◊ Jay-Z: The Rolling Stone Interview [Excerpt]

◊ I don't need no f*cking hook on this sh*t! [Mixtape Monday]

◊ R.I.P. to Donda West [Kanye's mom; God Bless!]

◊ Playing Young Hov // [After the Video]

◊ The Cat Who Got the Cream [Guardian UK]

◊ SIRIUS Satellite Radio to Broadcast Exclusive JAY-Z Concert from Current Tour

◊ Jay-Z — With Beanie, Diddy And J.D. — Rocks Hollywood At Tour Kickoff [MTV]

◊ 10th #1 Album On The Way!

◊ Scion, LLC Announces Acquisition of Artful Dodger Brand

◊ Tune in on Friday 11/9 to watch Jay on 106 & Park in Brooklyn!

◊ Come on Baby Rmx Saigon ft. Jay-Z

◊ Better Recognize [Sean C and LV (from The Hitmen) XXL Interview]

◊ Jay-Z Finds Himself at the Movies [New York Times]

◊ On and On: The Jigga Opinion [XXL]

◊ DJ Toomp talks about working on American Gangster [XXL]

◊ "Jay-Z Nation" to premiere on November 5th at 5 pm ET [SIRIUS Satellite Radio]

◊ Jay-Z's hard truths [LA Times]

◊ Da Roc Boys [XXL]

◊ How Jay-Z helped No I.D. find his groove [Entertainment Weekly]

◊ No ID [XXL Interview] // Jermaine Dupri [XXL Interview]

◊ New York Giants (Diddy on his involvement w/ A.G.) [XXL]

◊ XXL Analyze This: Ignorant Shit

◊ Tune in to see Jay-Z on the Late Show w/ David Lettermen Friday Nov. 2

◊ Jay-Z’s American Gangster Tour Sells Out in Under A Minute

◊ The Return of the Real King [Entertainment Weekly]

◊ Jay-Z, Lil Wayne Talk About Their First Joint Together; Jay Goes All American At NYC Gig
*sigh* *goes in corner and sheds a tear*

◊ Behind the Scenes: Jay-Z's 'American Gangster' CD cover shoot

◊ Jay-Z Wants to Tell You A Story [tapes VH1's Storytellers] Airs Nov. 8

----Pics at Filmmagic ; Beyonce Cheers Jay-Z

◊ Nas Reveals 'Crazy Joint' With Jay-Z

◊ Exclusive: Jay-Z Launches 'American Gangster Live' Tour

◊ XXL Article Preview: Jay-Z: I'll Still Kill (Part 2)

◊ Pics: Jay at American Gangster Premiere

◊ XXL Article Preview: Jay-Z: I'll Still Kill (Part 1)

◊ Pics: Jay at Neyo's Bday Party [10/17]

◊ XXL Cover [December Issue]

◊ Rolling Stone Article

◊ Diddy on working with Jay-Z again

◊ "Blue Magic" Hot Shot Debut on Billboard Hot 100

◊ Jay-Z Gangster Musings 2.0 [Interview w/All Hip Hop]

♠ Dead Presidents 3 (Snippet) via Nahright

♠ First Listen: Jay-Z's American Gangster [Blender Preview] Yes, another one!

♠ Jay-Z's American Gangster: A Guided Tour [MTV]

♠ Jay-Z: Manifest Destiny (The American Gangster Story) [All Hip Hop]

♠ Nah Right Preview

♠ American Gangster Preview [Vibe]

♠ In the studio: Jay-Z's 'American Gangster' [Entertainment Weekly Preview]

♥ Jay-Z and Beyonce leaving Bar Pitti [Watch Here]

♠ Uncontrollable Hustler’s Ambition [XXL Album Preview]

♠ JD on Jay-Z [from November issue of Vibe]

♠ Gangster Boogie [Michael Gonzales' American Gangster preview]

♠ Let That Bitch Breathe (I like that title ha) [YN, XXL Editor, speaks on American Gangster; cover coming soon]

♠ Preorder 'American Gangster' on Itunes! The tracklisting is not official.

♠ VH1 Classic Album: Reasonable Doubt airs Oct. 3 on VH1! Click HERE for more details.

♠ Jay and Just Blaze took over at 40/40 (Saturday night)! [Just's Recap]

♠ 'Blue Magic' best debut by a rap single this year!

◊ Can't Tell Me Nothing (Rocafella Rmx) Kanye ft. Beanie Sigel, Freeway [via Nahright]

◊ It's Official. Reasonable Doubt Classic Album DVD in stores October 30.

I'd like the concert too Hov, but I guess I'll have to wait another 10 years. lol

◊ American Gangster Album Cover??

◊Timbaland Helps Jay-Z with follow-up single?

◊ Pics from 'Blue Magic' Video Shoot / click here instead

◊Is Jay-Z the 'American Gangster'?

◊ Jay-Z and Rocawear Vying for Name-Rights to New Jersey Nets’ Arena

♥ Candids: Jay-Z and Beyonce in Soho

◊ For Jay-Z, Inspiration Arrives in a Movie!

-------A concept album (love the idea) and plus I love Denzel movies! American Gangster
Trailer

◊ New Jay Album Info!

◊ Inside Roc The Mic Studios -----Website Coming soon!

Roc Boys

2008-01-03T23:11:00.003-07:00

On The Trombone: Saunders Sermon Myspace

Kenneth Whalum III Myspace

Drummer: Tony Royster

DJ Neil Armstrong (HOTC Tour)

During American Gangster Tour: Shaun Carrington, Tony Russell, Shedrick Mitchell, Tony Royster, Keyon Harrold, Kenneth Whalum, Saunders Sermons, James Rosten, Florine Simpson, Cynthia Bermudez.

Jay-Z Sets Straight Beyonce Wedding Rumors At Super-Star Studded Premiere Of His 40/40 Club

2008-01-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

Jay-Z Sets Straight Beyonce Wedding Rumors At Super-Star Studded Premiere Of His 40/40 Club

For six days, music mogul hip-hop star Jay-Z and gorgeous galpal, Beyonce Knowles held hands and were literally inseparable on their Vegas visit—but not only did he laughably deny recent rumors of a secret marriage in the French capital of Paris, he also told me that they wouldn’t tie the knot in Vegas this trip either!

“A wedding will be sooner rather than later, though,” he told me, “but it will be kept a private serious celebration for our very closest family and friends. When it does happen, we’ll keep it very quiet. When we read these news reports about hiding tattoos under wedding rings, we laughed together and said, ‘uh huh, another wild one—put it with the other 80,000.’”

It was touch and go and so down-to-the-wire for Jay-Z to win his occupancy permits and operating certificates for his new club that his staff only got in for eight-hours of training before the doors were opened! But he remained cool as a cucumber as everybody else worried about opening on time. He was so relaxed about it that on their first night, Jay Z and Beyonce attended the late show of The Beatles LOVE musical from Cirque du Soleil at The Mirage. The two arrived hand-in-hand and took their front-row seats accompanied by 30+ friends.

Jay told me: “We both love The Beatles and we sang along with their songs. The Beatles were really amazingly talented. Their writing and their arrangements are genius. It’s a fantastic show, and to think they wrote this 40-years ago and it’s still up-to-date is just incredible.”

Next day after he pitched in to help move furniture, unwrap TV screens and shake hands with fire marshals and building inspectors, Jay Z performed in concert at the Pearl theater in the Palms—with Beyonce, her sister Solange and baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez in the VIP boxes.

To surprise everybody, Jay Z brought on-stage fellow rapper Kanye West and singer Mary J. Blige for a rare sing-along! Jay and Beyonce then gave a dinner party at TAO in the Venetian for 40 friends including Kanye and Mary J. They chose family style platters of TAO favorites including Kobe beef, chicken pad Thai, duck and Chilean sea bass with Dom Perignon Rose champagne and Patron platinum tequila. Young actress/singer Mandy Moore—with seven other guests—was sat alongside enjoying their own sushi supper.

The following night it was Beyonce’s turn to star at Mandalay Bay in concert, and just two-hours from the 40/40 gala opening, Jay shuttled between the two so he could see his favorite girl sing!

He commented: “We’re both fans of each other, so when we can see each other in concert that’s an added bonus.”

Next night, Beyonce even donned a 2008-tiara for their midnight New Year’s Eve countdown on the dance floor. It didn’t look as if they wanted to leave town, because on New Years Day the romantic couple enjoyed a dinner with 11 family members and friends at the BOA Steakhouse in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.

I chatted with Jay several times during his trip here. This is the third 40/40 he has opened in just four years.

He told me: “Coming right down to the final hours before we got the permits and knew we could open was a real touch and go situation. But that’s what we do, we push for the excitement—we like the drama of the whole thing. It’s not the first time where it’s all on the edge to the last minute. This is what we do—I am used to this. I’ve been very hands-on with this, so I know how to go through the process. We’d wanted to open ten days earlier so we’d have everything shaken down and working smoothly, but we just couldn’t get the permits. It’s just one of those natural things that’s in other people’s hands. The casino floor opened the same time we did, but the hotel itself isn’t open for another six-days for its guests and their opening is January 17! So we did well. It is an incredible feeling. It is one of those moments that you look back on and are like, ‘wow.’ Everybody knows my story and where I come from, and to make it this far is a very humbling experience. It really turned out incredibly good and way past my expectations. We’re booked right through Superbowl right out of the box.

“Vegas is the granddaddy of nightlife, so we had to be here after New York and Atlantic City. I had to start 40/40 in my hometown, and New Jersey was right next door. But this one in Vegas is the largest and most extravagant. If you roll the dice you’ve got to roll it in Vegas. This is the largest and most extravagant one. Vegas is the ultimate place to party in luxury and I love that whatever you want whenever you want you can get. We have a Gucci-link floor in mosaic. We have 24-karat gold and platinum floors—now that’s bling! It is something you just won’t find anywhere else in the world. I love the skyboxes that sit right out over the projection. I love the Dugout area—so cool to just hang out there. There are so many different places to go in the club, and remember, it’s both indoors and out! We have five self-contained VIP rooms, including my very own Jay-Z suite!

“Tonight is more than special because it is also my friend LeBron’s birthday and that takes on a bigger meaning to celebrate that at the same time as my opening. I can’t find words to explain how I feel right now. Starting from the bottom gives you the drive and the hunger and it gives you a sense of balance. When you don’t come from money, you understand what it is to be without it, so this success gives you balance and a sense of perspective. I believe that along with the hard work and the persistence and a never quit attitude is what makes it all happen for me. I always add an element of truth to everything that I do. When you go into the sports club you are going to check it out. If I am making clothing, go touch it on the rack—it is the real deal, and that is the one thing I try to keep in all my music. I’ve started thinking of what the next five-years will bring. You only stop working at this pace when you don’t have the passion anymore. I know I’m going to have the passion for a long time to come, and I represent a culture of people and a generation, so what I do when I open the doors to these clubs is I am opening it for the next generation and culture as well. I’m thinking of even opening my own hotel in Vegas, and that would lead to having my own airline for people to party in both directions! Expect the truth from me, expect a great product—whatever it is. The sky is the limit—I know that is cliché to say—but it really is.”

Jay had asked me personally to interview his many first night guests so that he would have a video-record souvenir to keep for himself and show on the more than 80 TV screens that dot the multi-level 24,000 square foot prestigious club, named after the 40-home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same baseball season.

The Reverend Al Sharpton told me, “Being in Sin City proves there’s a lot of work to be done here—it is an opportunity for ministers. Jay Z is a good person—very smart and savvy. He knows what he wants to do and he does it. He does it grand scale. He has an entrepreneurial mind. He is also very community conscious and supportive in his own quiet way. I came out here in tribute to him being more then an entertainer, but also a great person. He always has maintained a level of cleanliness, as does Beyonce, but as a producer he deals with all sides of rap music and he believes in artistic freedom and he and I have debated that and we have agreed to disagree on some things and we have a general appreciation for each other, and that is why I am here tonight. His creativity and self-confidence, and the fact that he is not intimidated by the trends, he sets trends and makes things happen his own way, and I appreciate that. Beyonce is authentic. You can feel that she puts everything into it. People want to feel when they spend their money that you are putting everything into it, and she does that. She is the best of a generation. I told both of them that I would marry them pro bono—I won’t even charge a fee.”

Incidentally, the noticeably slimmed-down Rev Al told me his New Year’s Resolution is to stick to his dramatic weight-loss program.

“I will remain light on the scales. I have to keep going down. I am now at 210, I was up about 300+, and if I keep dancing with Jay-Z I will get down to 190. My advice to anybody else trying to lose weight in 2008 is not to eat after 6 o’clock—and no carbs.”

And LeBron James added: “I am here to party for my own birthday, but also to celebrate with Jay-Z and some friends and family, so we are going to have some fun. I don’t feel any older. In fact, it feels great. This is going to be good. This is the city that never sleeps and you can have fun all night. A lot is legal here, compared to some other cities. We will have fun and it will be a good time. I don’t know that I could do all the business he manages to control. I’ve got a lot of time to figure out what I am doing. I have a few business things that I am doing. I am focused on basketball during basketball season, but at the same time I know basketball does not last forever, so I am setting myself up in a position that I can continue my career after. I think I would work hard everyday and I am blessed from the man above to put me in the position to succeed, but I don’t think I’m going to open up a 20/20 basketball equivalent of this club. So far only Wilt Chamberlain has ever done that, but we do have Shaq O’Neil and Dwight Howard going out and getting things close to 20/20—so maybe it’ll happen one day.”

Mary J. Blige shared with me her thoughts on Jay Z: “He is very smart. He has done great things with and from hip hop, and showing that it is not just a passing trend, it is here to stay and showing that if you are as smart as Jay-Z you can open 40/40 clubs and have Rocafella Wear conglomerate businesses and basketball teams. He is amazing. He shouldn’t stop. As long as he can keep doing it all we will keep supporting him. I think he is genius. NY and Las Vegas are the biggest places in the US, so where else would you go to open a 40/40?

Former Phoenix Suns star player and now TNT/TBS cable-TV commentator, Charles Barkley added: “I just have so much love and respect for him. I met him quite a bit and I watched him grow through the media and I am just here for that reason. I don’t bet against him and I like my chances if I bet with him. I like my chances a lot. We do not have a 40/40 in basketball. If he does something he does it first class and I am just glad to be here. So if he does a 20/20 for basketball it would be pretty remarkable, as was Wilt Chamberlain when he became the only person to ever achieve that. If Jay-Z wants to put me in any business of his, I am in.”

Laughed Jay-Z: “If Charles Barkley is investing, we are going to make some serious money.”

Among the stars attending were my friends, Alan and Robin Thicke with their wives. Kanye West slipped in by avoiding the red carpet and was shielded by a blanket held by six security guards! Comedian Pauly Shore lost one of his sneakers while walking down the carpet so he simply sat down and put it back on!

Jay himself summed up: “Now we are finally open, I am going to party here for the next two days and hopefully I can still function after that. I’ve never been in Vegas before for New Year’s, and you know I’m a big fan of your city. So we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

Source: Robin Leach @ Luxe Life

Samgoma Edwards [Young Hov in Roc Boys]

2007-11-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

Celebrity Faves

Samgoma Edwards

There's Young Hov, but then there's really young Hov. Samgoma Edwards is the 15-year-old Bronx native who plays Jay-Z's corner-boy incarnation in the upcoming video for "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is ...)." Director Chris Robinson personally sought out Edwards for the role after Edwards, his brother Samtubia, and producer Chris Alvarez shot their own video project titled "The Young Hov Project," based on tracks from Jay-Z's The Black Album. Robinson saw Edwards star as Jay in the Gorilla Films videos posted on YouTube and reached out. The rest has been a star turn for the high school sophomore.

"It was crazy when I went to school [after the video came out]," Edwards told Mixtape Monday while taking a bathroom break from class to sneak in an interview. "I couldn't even breathe my own oxygen. It was wild. I only told, like, three of my friends and was like, 'Yo, keep your mouth shut about this.' I just wanted people to see it when it first came out. I didn't tell anybody."

Edwards is an admitted Jay fan, but he only began listening to the rapper with The Black Album. "The track that I liked was 'My First Song,' " he said. "It was the last track, and I thought that was gonna be his last album and everything, so I just thought, 'Yo, he's doing his thing.' "

Mixtape Monday

Jay-Z Borrows The-Dream's 'Hook'

2007-11-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

Mixtape Monday

Jay-Z told us the obvious: Just Blaze is to blame for him getting on the remix of Saigon's "Come on Baby."

"I met Saigon before," Jay said last week in L.A. "He's a cool guy as well. But Just Blaze ... that's his artist. So we had records and work like that. It's in-house.

"Big fan? Of Saigon? "Yeah, he's good," Jay added. "But I wouldn't have did it ... to be honest with you. I like Saigon. If I don't have a relationship with the artist, I'm not just doing it for the sake of doing it. If you look at my past record, I've done records because of relationship, not 'cause this guy's good or whatever."

One good guy Jay is feeling is an artist under his Def Jam label, The-Dream. Dream (a Fire Starter alumnus — told you so, haters) is smashing the game with his "Shawty Is a 10," in which he's feeling himself so much he proclaims he doesn't need a chorus on the song: "I don't need no hook for this sh--!" Jay took his non-chorus chorus for the American Gangster song "No Hook."

"I was working on this song and it just keeps going and I get down to how many bars the verse is, and I'm like, 'What's gonna be the hook for this?' " Jay remembered. "Then I was like, 'I don't need a hook for this.' That, of course, led me to the Dream song, and I was like, 'I'm just gonna take that.' "

"When he played all the records [off his album] and I heard that record and he's saying, 'I don't need no hook,' I was like, 'That's crazy,' " The-Dream gushed. "This is Jay saying this? It's a whole 'nother level of respect. It's crazy. I remember when Jay was playing it at the 40/40 club. Like, 'Y'all don't know nothing about this.' People was calling saying, 'Jay ran the song back six times.' " ...

American Gangster Reviews: Updated

2007-11-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

Rolling Stone

AllHipHop

Newsday

Entertainment Weekly

New York Times

USA Today

Smoking Section

About.Com

Cincinatti Enquirer

Others

Nas Reveals 'Crazy Joint' With Jay-Z

2007-10-22T19:52:00.000-06:00

Nas wants to drop his first single for n!gga two or three days after November 6, which is the day his greatest-hits LP and Jay-Z's American Gangster drop. Nas appears on Hov's set via the track "Success."

"The record with Jay, that's a crazy joint," he said. "Homeboy is laser-sharp with his sh--. And he's got a crazy album. I'm really proud of him. It made me proud. Yeah, I'm on the joint. I'm on there." ...

Mixtape Monday: Nas Reveals 'Crazy Joint' With Jay-Z

This Life Forever

2007-10-20T20:44:00.000-06:00

"This Life Forever"

“America don't understand it, the demographics I tapped in/ I'm the truest nigga to do this nigga and anything else is foolish/ Like those who stay high, under God's grey skies/ My lyrics is like Bible, made to save lives/ In the midst of all your misery nigga, stay fly/ Never let em see you frown, even smile when you down/ Shit, I floss on my off-days fuck what they all say/ Niggas cant stop me like rumors, i'm too strong"

"Roc Boys" Lyrics

2007-10-10T18:36:00.000-06:00

Lyrical Nutrition

First of all
I wanna thank my connect
The most important person
With all due respect
Thanks to the duffle bag
The Brown paper bag
The Nike shoe box
For holding all this cash
Boys in blue who put greed
Before the badge
The 1st pusher whoever made the stash
The roc boys in the building tonight
Oh what a feeling I’m feeling life
Thanks to the lames
Niggas with bad aim
Thanks to a lil change
I tore you out the game
Bullet wounds will stop your bafoonery
Thanks to the pastor rapping at your eulogy
To lil kim and them
You know the women friend
Who carry the work cross state for a gentlemen
Yeah thanks to all the hustlers
But most important to you the customer

Chorus

The Roc Boys in the building tonight
Oh what a feeling I’m feeling life
You ain’t even gotta bring ya paper out
We the dope boys of the year
Drinks is on the house
The roc boys is in the building tonight
Look at how I’m chillin
I’m killing this ice
You aint even gotta bring
Ya purses out
We the dope boys of the year
Drinks is on the house

Let ya hair down baby
I just hit a score
Pick any place on the planet
Pick a shore
Take what the Forbes figured then figure more
Cuz they forgot to account what I did with the raw
Pick a timeless
Pick apart some stores
Pick a weekend for freaking for figure fours
I figure frauds never hit a lick before
So they don’t know the feeling
When them things get across
Put ya hand out the window
Feel the force feel the porche
Hit the frost
Ice cold
Jewels got no flaws
Drop got no top
You on the top floor
Pink rose, think OJ
I get away with murder
When I sling ye
Heron got less steps than Britney
That means it ain’t stepped on dig me

Chorus

Red Porsches, rare portraits
Rare guns if you dare come near the fortress
This apple sauce is from
The apple orchid
This kind of talk is only reserved
For the bosses
Which means I get it from the ground
Which means you get it when I’m around
Rich niggas, black bar mitzvahs
Mazel Tov, it’s a celebrations es
L’Chaim, I wish for you a 100
Years of success but it’s my time
Cheers toast to the crime
#1 D boy shame he could rhyme

UPDATE:
Yeah that’s Little Brother on the Jeezy adlibs.

via YN

Word [on 'Big Brother']

2007-10-03T18:37:00.000-06:00

On "Big Brother:

Do you think it's a fair portrayal?
--------------------------------

“I think it's a fair portrayal from a little brother's perspective. You know, you've got your big brother and you want to go out with him, he's like, ''Nah, get back in the house!'' Things like that, until you come of age. At Roc-A-Fella, we've always lived by tough love. Everyone knows that. It's nothing given. Everyone has to work for theirs, and that's how you make strong individuals, by not carrying them. That's how you make a Kanye West. You make him fight for his position.”

~EW, Sept. 2007

JD on Jay-Z [Vibe Interview]

2007-10-03T16:38:00.000-06:00

Typed by Me!

Portion from JD's Vibe Interview in the November 2007 Issue discussing Jay-Z.

Last February, L.A. Reid named you president of Island Records Urban Music. Did you have any trepidation, given your positive relationship with Jay-Z, who's rumored to be leaving his post as president of Island Def Jam?

Not at all. What I do and what Jay-Z does are two different things. I make records as a producer. I've been putting out successful artists before Roc-A-Fella was here. That's why I was really [stressing] that I wasn't really part of the Def Jam thing. I'm president of Island.

How ironic is it that you're responsible for introducing Jay-Z as a crossover act-- with 1996's "Money Ain't a Thing" (Def Jam)?

I didn't go to Jay-Z and say, "Let me get you poppin'." I went to Jay-Z based on the fact that I liked what I heard from him on Reasonable Doubt. From that point on I became a real Jay-Z fan. I made a record with an artist who didn't even have any pop appeal. New York was feeling me after that.

What about the rumors that you're pushing Jay-Z out?

Come on, man. I can't make Jay-Z leave Def Jam. I haven't put out any records yet. Jay has all of his records out: Ne-Yo, Rihanna, and Fabolous. Jay is putting his numbers up right now.

Do you find that some people have a problem with Def Jam-- the label behind LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Slick Rick- recruiting an executive who proudly represents the south?

Some people are trying to shun my ideas. I know some people at the label don't want to turn Def Jam into Def Jam south. They're not prepared for this Southern movement that's going on.

Do you plan on taking over Jay-Z's post if he leaves?

Nah...Never.

So no Ghostface snap records with Dem Franchize Boys?

What people should understand is it don't get more hip hop than me. I grew up in the real era of hip hop--before LL Cool J was signed to Def Jam. I was performing on the Fresh Fest tour and he was in the audience. When people take shots at me about not being real hip hop, I laugh. I love Mos Def and Talib Kweli and Nas and I love Common. I'm a true B-boy, but I still represent the South.

To read the full interview cop the November issue of Vibe.

'Blue Magic' best debut by a rap single this year...

2007-09-28T17:57:00.001-06:00

J. Holiday's "Bed" begins a third week at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, on which Jay-Z has the year's best debut by a rap single with "Blue Magic" at No. 35. The cut is the lead track from the Def Jam honcho's Nov. 6 album, "American Gangster."

Billboard

"Blue Magic" Lyrics

2007-09-23T10:41:00.000-06:00

This might not be 100% correct, but it's the best I've ran across so far:

I've made some edits since listening to the dirty version. Props to the person who actually took the time to write out the lyrics.

*JAY-Z TALKING *

Rocafella Records
The Imperial Skateboard P
Great Hova
Y'all already know what it is! (Oh shit)

(VERSE 1)

So what if you flipped a couple words
I can triple that in birds
Open your mind you'll see the circus in the sky
I'm Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey with the pies
No matter how you slice it, I'm ya muthafuckin' guy
Just like a B-boy with 360 waves
Do the same with a pot, still come back beige
Whether right or south par
Whether powder to jar
Whip it around, still comes back hard
so easily do I W-H-I-P
My repitition with riches will bring the kilo business
I got Creole C-O bitches for my niggas who
slip the game prisoners treats take to the visitors
You already know what the business is
Unneccesary commissary, boy we live this shit
N*ggas Wanna bring the 80's back
That's OK with me, that's where they made me at
Except I don't write on the wall
I write my name in the History books hustlin' in the hall
Nah, I don't spin on my head
I spin the work in the pot so I can spend my bread

(CHORUS)
And i'm gettin' it
I'm gettin' it
I ain't talkin' about it
I'm livin' it
I'm gettin it
Straight gettin' it
G-gg-g-g-get it boy
Don't you waste your time
Fighting blind
Stay your course
And you'll understand
Get it boy

(VERSE 2)
This '87 state of mind that I'm in
In my prime before that time i'm Rakim
If it wasn't for the crime that i was in
Then I wouldn't be the guy who rhymes it is that I'm in
No pain, no profit
Key I repeat if he show you where the pot is
Cherry M3's with the top back
Red & green G's all on my hat
North Beach leathers, matching Gucci sweater
Gucci sneaks on to keep my outfit together
Whatever, hundred for the diamond chain
Can't you tell that I came from the dope game?
Blame Reagan for making me into a monster
Blame Oliver North and Iran Contra
I ran contraband that they sponsored
Before this rhyming stuff, we was in concert

(CHORUS)
And i'm gettin' it
I'm gettin' it
I ain't talkin' about it
I'm livin' it
I'm gettin it
Straight gettin' it
G-gg-g-g-get it boy
Don't you waste your time
Fighting blind
Stay your course
And you'll understand
Get it boy

(VERSE 3)
Push (push )
Money over broads, you got it
Fuck Bush
Chef, guess what I cooked?
Baked a lot of bread and kept it off the books
Rock Star, look
Way before the bars, my picture was getting took
Feds, they like wack rappers
Try as they may, they couldn't get me on the hook
Uh, D.A. wanna indict me
Cause fish scales in my veins like a Pisces
The Pyrex pot caller, my sleeves
Turn one into two like a Siamese
Twin when it end
I'ma stand as a man
Never dying on my knees
Last of a dying breed
So let the champagne pop
I partied for a while
Now I'm back to the block

(CHORUS)
And i'm gettin' it
I'm gettin' it
I ain't talkin' about it
I'm livin' it
I'm gettin it
Straight gettin' it
G-gg-g-g-get it boy
Don't you waste your time
Fighting blind
Stay your course
And you'll understand
get it boy

(DENZEL)
Blue Magic, that's a brand name, like Pepsi. That's a brand name, I stand behind it, I guarantee it. They know that even if they don't know me anymore than they know the Chairman of General Mills.

(JAY-Z)

My man!

So Much More

2007-09-21T12:49:00.000-06:00

Previous Items from the Roc With Me news post:

◊ Pap video: Leaving Diddy's "Unforgivable Women" Launch Party

◊ GQ 50th Anniversary Party Pics @ Wireimage and FilmMagic and also Getty

◊ EW Fall Music Q&A: Jay-Z Toasts Kanye West's "Graduation"
------Kanye Crushes 50 Cent In Huge Album Sales Week That's major! Patiently, waits for more 50 excuses.

◊ NO DJ: I Get Money RMX ft. Diddy, Jay; Full CDQ Quality [via Nahright]

♠ Vote for Jay-Z as Hip Hop Artist of the Year and in the Vibe Props Category @ The Vibe Awards!

◊ Jay lands 4 Hip Hop Award Nominations! Click here to see the nominees.

◊ My Night at the Grammys!! Click here to vote!

♠ 40/40 Club to open in Vegas! Interview with Luxe Life !

---Press Conference Pics ; Robin Leach Reports

♥ View Pics: Young Turbo and Young B in Cali (Followed by bodyguards, the superstar couple drove their convertible Porsche to a Malibu home after a quick stop at a drugstore the day before her 26th birthday) *Props to T (the one and only)*

♥ (8/29) Jay and Bee check out Team USA game More pics at BWorld
------Clip backstage at game
------ mini CLIP of Jay making beats lol and LaBron representing

♠ Jigga at MAGIC Marketplace - Day 2 (I do not have an account :( )
--- Signature Apparel Group Party at Tao

♠ S. DOT ULTIMATUM Code Name: Project Take Over (Bourne Ultimatum music video/short film teaser trailer starring Jay-Z ( as the Rap Jason Bourne); True!

♠ Read a book, Read a book, Read a m*f'ing book! Here's one LOL I Will Not Lose!!:Finding Inspiration from the Words of Jay-Z Hip-Hop’s Greatest Hustler.

♠ An "I Get Money" Remix in the works?

♠ Saigon says Jay-Z is 'Rain Man' (can't wait to hear this!)

◊ New Jersey Nets Brooklyn Arena

◊ Listen to a snippet of Big Brother! (Video of Kanye w/Tim Westwood ) [spotted at NahRight]

◊ They find out you made $34M and they come looking for ya! lol *just the first time I've ever seen that*

◊ What's Kanye's "Big Brother" all about? Read Here // Jay's reaction to the track!

◊ #1 Hip Hop Cash King Check for the special on E! Rock on TV this weekend!

♥ New pics of Jay and Beyonce holidaying in Portofino in June

◊ Jay-Z - Dig A Hole (Original beat) (done by Just Blaze; new verse at the end) link via Nahright , Just Blaze's Blog

◊ Inside Roc The Mic Studios (Jay's new studio)Website Coming soon!

-------------------------------------------------

◊ Jay's VMA Nominations (Quadruple Threat, 2 w/Rihanna for Umbrella) What happen to all the other categories???

◊ Jay lands at #2 on Esquires Best Dressed Men in the World List

◊ Jay-Z Sews Up Venture With Eminem, Young Jeezy

♥ Beyonce shows love!

◊ Jay-Z Calls Kanye West And 50 Cent's LP Face-Off 'A Fantastic Thing For Hip-Hop'
------Watch Video Here

◊ Jay briefly discusses rumored Columbia Records move + Hot 97 Interview w/Angie rescheduled for Friday, August 3

♥ (July 23) Jay and Bee in Miami Beach

♥ All Together Now...Aww! lol View Others Here via BeyonceWorld

♠ Jay attends Solange's 21st birthday party: pics Here and Here

♠ VH1 Is Set To Relive The Making Of Reasonable Doubt [Something to look forward to! :)]

[Premo talks abit about it towards the end of THIS interview]

♠ Jay has written the intro to Michael Eric Dysons new book "Know What I Mean: Reflections On Hip-Hop". A book that addresses many of the issues affecting Hip-Hop and the Hip-Hop community. Nas has written the outro, but you can read Jays intro HERE. The book will be out on July 2nd Go Cop When It Drops!.

♠ Jay spits game to Larry Johnson

♠ Pics: Visiting Marine Land in Portofina, Italy; More @ Sexy-Sugah (must have been a trip for the kiddies lol)

♠ New T.I. feat. Jay-Z - Watch What You Say (off of T.I. Vs T.I.P. Go Cop When It Drops July 3rd!)

♥ Day 100 of us watching while they yachtin' : On Yacht in Portafino, Italy (Yes, I feel like I'm being a little intrusive, you should too! LOL) Pics also available HERE.

♥ This is mad nice! Check out Lady Lola, the yacht Jay and Bee are currently vacationing on!

◊ T.I. Vs. T.I.P. Preview: Bragging With Jay-Z, Going Down South With Eminem

♥ Pics: J & B Still Chillin' in the South of France
------Others > Nude Beach

♠ When Amy met Jay?

♠ You can purchase specific covers of the Vanity Fair Africa issue from Amazon.

♠ Jay lands on Forbes Magazines Celebrity 100 List. View Full List! He's also on the cover.

♠ "I rhyme sicker than every rhyme spitter/ Every crime ni**a that rhyme or touch a mic because my mind's quicker" (c) Hola Hovita Spike TV "GUYS CHOICE" Awards "Sickest Rhymes" Winner

♠ New Freeweezy feat. Jay-Z - Big Spender (off of "Free At Last" go cop when it drops July 19th!)

♠ If you wanna get to Lil Miss Sunshine you have to go through Rain Man first!
^^^^^^^A little clear up in Hello Magazine ;)

♠ "It humorous to me they watchin and we just yachtin" Jay & B vaca-away in France
-----More Pics at Sexy-Sugah and Beyonce 1 World 2

♠ Jay-Z joins Kanye to help celebrate his 30th Birthday!

♠ *No Offense* I wouldn't normally post this but don't HE just look like he LYING? lol (If the story is not on that page anymore CHECK this page to see what I'm talking about.) I done got jipped by a couple of dudes that look like him in the mall. I mean, plus those quotes he says "Beyonce told me" came from her '04 Rolling Stone article and some other article I can't remember. The British Press *gosh* Sorry Focus! lol

♠ Jay-Z and GIANT Magazines Exclusive MTV Movie Awards After Party - Arrivals "

♠ Jay and Beyonce chilling in Monaco pics via Sexy Sugah

♠ Fabolous ft. Jay-Z & Uncle Murda - Brooklyn (CD Quality) via nahright

♠ Pics [May 25]: 2007 Cannes Film Festival - Dolce & Gabbana Party White suits...they get me everytime!

◊ Tidbit about the new Rocawear Campaign

◊ Top Secret Documents Reveal Rappers Jay-Z, Diddy, Others Monitored Before 2004 RNC

◊ Listen/Download Amy Winehouse feat. Jay-z - Rehab Remix

◊ Rocawear and Jay-Z Celebrate New Face of Rocawear Ladies Ciara pics via Ultimate Ciara

♠ BET Award Nominations: Best Male Hip Hop Artist & Best Collaboration Nominee (BET! BET! BET! Some of those nominations seem off to me Well, at least three. Personally, I believe SMWG should have been nominated for Video of The Year! Sometimes it just seems like it's no one to nominate.)

♠ Jay at Fab's Listening Session (mtv) and USDA's Listening Session via RealTalkNy

◊ NYC Council Honors Jay-Z's Mom ; View pics at Sexy-Sugah

◊ MTV Movie Awards To Get Rocked By Jay-Z, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse

◊ Beanie Sigel featured in this weeks Mixtape Monday (speaks on his decision to stay with Rocafella)

♠ (May 5) Jay hosts the Tao Beach Club Grand Opening after the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight (This shit seemed MAD fun! Love it!) More pictures at Sexy-Sugah Hi Haters! lol

◊ Jay-Z's new studio Wiz. In Control: Neo Da Matrix --myspace

♠ Victoria's Secret names "What Is Sexy?" list

♠ Jay-Z at 67? (More New York celebrities get aged by computer whiz Dr. D'Lynn Waldron)

♠ VOTE for Jay-Z on to be apart of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential List!!!

♠ T.I, Beans, Rick Ross, Dame Grease all get some help from Jigga on their new albums.

♠ Jay-Z Goes To 'Rehab' With Amy Winehouse For 'Wicked' Remix (I like her!)

♠ (April 16) Jay and Beyonce hit up MSG for a Nets vs. Knicks Game ----Pics via Sexy Sugah

♠ "Laff At 'Em" (Give It 2 Me Rmx) Timbaland ft. Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake

♠ Jay-Z Rep On Child: 'There Is No Truth To These Ridiculous Rumors' ( It makes no sense to me anyway that he would deny his child considering that he knows the pain of growing up without a father and he's expressed that he wants and loves kids. They just keep trying to bring a brother down! Shame, shame on these Ho's! Yes, Ho's!)

♠ Jay-Z Endorses Ace of Spade Champagne

◊ Listen to Rihanna's new single "Umbrella" ft. Jay! OR Read about it! (if you can't listen to it, like myself :-< )

◊ Click Here to Vote for Jay @ the 2007 Urban Music Awards (must login or register)

◊ Little Wayne apologizes to his "Idol"

◊ Nas: "There will be a Black Republicans Video "

◊ Congrats to Jigga on winning Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video (the Michael Jackson award) for "Show Me What You Got" at the 21st Annual Soul Train Music Awards! View Complete List of Winners

◊ Jay-Z to induct Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [Video Posted Here]

◊ Jay-Z Sells Clothing Company Rocawear For $204 Million In Cash ("If you ballin' then what I'm doing can't be defined" ha)

◊ Cherry Coke Gets Fresh Jay-Z Remix ; Rocawear Designed Can for Cherry Coke Zero

◊ Jay's cleats enter Football Hall of Fame!

♠ Jay-Z Receives 2 NAACP Image Award Nominations: "Outstanding Male Artist", "Outstanding Music Video" (Show Me What You Got) Nominees List

♠ My Favorite Hue is Jay-Z Blue!

♠ Chrisette Michele talks about working on "Lost Ones"

♠ What is Gilbert Arenas Talking About? *Nevermind, It's not a new cd though lol * Actually, Gilbert (who is now another one of my NBA Husbands haha) labeled his season "The Takeover", the inspiration for the nickname is from Jay's joint "Takeover". (si) Gilbert talks about IT here.

♠ Get Your 40/40 Club Gossip !

♠ Added the GQ Men of the Year Magazine Scans and the XXL Scans

♠ A Guide To Beyonce And Jay-Z's 'Upgrade You'

♠ There's a better option for the '08 election!

♠ Jay-Z TalkAsia Transcript

♠ Beyonce and Jay-Z Won Big Power Couple at the VH1 Big in '06 Awards!

♠ The bling philanthropist [from the Telegraph]

♠ Jay-Z: Moving Beyond Bling to a Battle for Clean Wa ter

♠ Jay-Z Reclaims His Kingdom with the Number 1 Spot!

JAY-Z's Ninth #1 Album Debut, KINGDOM COME, Ties Him With The Rolling Stones

♠ The Coolest Mogul (Dec. 4th Issue Newsweek)

♠ Jay-Z Acts Globally, Thinks Family

♠ Presidential Invasion Mixtape Info + DL: "Corporate Takeover"

♠ XXL Countdown to Kingdom Come Pieces: (includes topics not included in the article)

Grand Finale (of the XXL Countdown to Kingdom Come)

Jay on Bee

B.I. Vs Friendship via XXL

Growing Up via XXL

How Hova and Dre built Kingdom Come’s blueprint!

(XXL Countdown: Pt. 3)

Jay-Z Countdown to Kingdom Come Pt. 2

Jay, Guru, Just talk about those fake tracklistings and finishing the album! via XXL Countdown to Kingdom Come Pt. 1

------1) "Myspace Jumpoff"

♠ Jay on the cover of "Life Magazine" + Pics + Quotes

♠ Just Blaze TV: The Making of Show Em What You Got

♠ Jay-Z's Entertainment Weekly Article ( August '06 )

Word [...September 16]

2007-09-18T16:01:00.000-06:00

“I'm in that space in my life where I want to push the envelope: I'm looking to do big things that are going to open up doors for myself and for the culture of hip-hop. If I carry myself in the right way, then corporate America will be more likely to deal with another African American. I'm thinking on a larger scale now. Next year I want everyone to turn the corner.”
~Insyle Magazine, Dec. 2004

Saigon says Jay-Z is 'Rain Man'

2007-08-25T19:30:00.000-06:00

Saigon says Jay-Z is Rain Man (MTV)

"He's gone now!" Saigon's rap career is finally fast-tracked now that he has an official single from his debut LP, The Greatest Story Never Told. "Come on Baby" has been burning up the mix shows, and a video is forthcoming.

"Being that it's rock-influenced, I wanna get a rock band. Remember [Run-DMC's] 'Walk This Way'? I wanted to do it just like that," he explained of a treatment he has in his head. "Me and Just [Blaze] in one side of the studio, doing some rap stuff, they doing their rock stuff [on another side], then we banging on the wall. We wanna use 'Walk This Way' as sort of like a blueprint. The record is real rock-influenced, let's incorporate that into the video, instead of us just being in the club.

"It's just me braggin' about being good on the mic," he added about the record, which samples the J. Geils Band. "I was like OK, I put 'Pain in My Life' out. People know I'm a serious artist. But to get more of a graduation-scale introduction to the world, a bigger scale, I wanted to let them know I like to have fun as well. I'm a human being. I'm not just a preachy type of guy. 'Pain in My Life' was a little preachy, I wanted to show diversity. I don't want to be typecast and put in a category of just a backpack rapper or conscious rapper or gangster rapper. I'm one of the rappers you can't typecast because I can do a song with Dead Prez, I can do a song with Uncle Murda, then do a song with Jay-Z."

Sai has a remix of "Come on Baby" (which you can hear a snippet of in this video) in the works that Jay has already laid vocals to. "Yeah, Jay's on my album. He's on the remix to the single, he aired it out. I still gotta go back and rewrite my verse," the Yardfather told.

"He really does the 'Rain Man' thing, he doesn't sit down and write," he continued. "For mad years, I was like, 'He's too clever, I don't believe he don't write [lyrics] down. He's too on point.' But with this beat, when he came to record to it, he never heard the beat before and his rhyme went so perfect with the beat. I was like he couldn't have wrote this at home, he couldn't have had this in the stash. Maybe this dude do got more brain cells than everybody else. I tell him all the time, 'You an alien, man.' "

Saigon's Myspace

Word [...August 25]

2007-08-25T11:11:00.000-06:00

“I knew I was witty around the sixth grade,” he said. “I just had that feeling of being smart. We did some tests in the sixth grade and I was on a twelfth grade level. I was crazy happy about that. When the test scores came back that was the first moment I realized I was smart.”
~Rolling Stone 2005

[Tracklisting] S. Carter 2 (Nojo Collectors Edition)

2007-08-10T17:01:00.000-06:00

Jay-Z - S. Carter 2 (Nojo Collectors Edition)
Download Links available HERE

1. The godfather iii-intro
2. Genesis (stackhouse recordings mix)
3. The truth behind hova
4. Life story (seen it all) (stackhouse recordings mix)
5. A real nigga (stackhouse recordings mix)
6. We got that fire feat. lil wayne (stackhouse recordings mix)
7. Watch what you say feat t.i.
8. Club musik feat. kanye west (stackhouse recordings mix)
9. Interlude
10. What more can i say feat. 50 cent (stackhouse recordings mix)
11. Crazy feat. ne-yo
12. So crazy feat. beyonce (stackhouse recordings mix)
13. Brooklyn feat. fabolous and uncle murder
14. Give it to me rmx feat. timbaland and justin timberlake
15. Interlude 2
16. The godfathers feat. nas and biggie (stackhouse recordings mix)
17. I get it feat. jadakiss (stackhouse recordings mix)
18. Trouble feat. beanie sigel (stackhouse recordings mix)
19. The hustle feat. mary j. blige (stackhouse recordings mix)
20. I love bitches (stackhouse recordings mix)
21. Spanish fly feat. biggie and r. kelly (stackhouse recordings mix)
22. Umbrella (cinderella) mix feat. rihanna and chris brown
23. Interlude 3
24. Still feelin it (stackhouse recordings mix)
25. I love girls feat. slick rick and biggie (stackhouse recordings mix)
26. Big spender feat. freeway
27. Block on smash feat. fabolous and jeezy
28. Hova feat. t-pain (stackhouse recordings mix)
29. Rehab rmx feat. amy whinehouse
30. Dead presidents ii (bonus)

[Tracklisting] Jay-Z And Tapemasters Inc - An American Gangster

2007-08-10T15:01:00.000-06:00

Jay-Z And Tapemasters Inc - An American Gangster
Download Links available HERE

▌ 01. Denzel Washington & Pain In Da Azz - An American Gan 01:09 ▐
▌ 02. Jay-Z - The Greatest To Ever Do It (Prod. By Cookin 01:31 ▐
▌ 03. Jay-Z - I Cant Stop (Prod. By Shotti & Lefty) 02:20 ▐
▌ 04. Jay-Z Feat. Nas - Dont Hate Me (Prod. By Black Frida 02:04 ▐
▌ 05. Jay-Z Feat. Raekwon - New York (Prod. By Hasan Insan 02:02 ▐
▌ 06. Jay-Z - December 4th - June 7th (Prod. By Hasan Insa 03:56 ▐
▌ 07. Jay-Z Feat. Young Jeezy - Makin Millions (Prod. By M 03:16 ▐
▌ 08. Jay-Z Feat. Kanye West - Never Change (Prod. By Blac 03:23 ▐
▌ 09. Jay-Z Feat. Lil Wayne - ------- Clarity (Prod. By Ha 02:59 ▐
▌ 10. Jay-Z - Me & My Radio (Prod. By Black Friday) 01:55 ▐
▌ 11. Jay-Z Feat. T.I. & Bun B - Pimpin Is Born (Prod. By 03:19 ▐
▌ 12. Jay-Z - Lucifer (Remix) (Prod. By Hasan Insane) 03:23 ▐
▌ 13. Jay-Z - The Return (Prod. By Hasan Insane) 02:25 ▐
▌ 14. Jay-Z Feat. Nas - Allure (Prod. By Hasan Insane) 04:48 ▐
▌ 15. Jay-Z Feat. Jill Scott & Don Byas - Heart of The Bla 03:14 ▐
▌ 16. Jay-Z Feat. Chester French - Excuse Me Miss (Remix) 04:39 ▐
▌ 17. Jay-Z - Change Clothes (Remix) (Prod. By DJ Mills) 03:39 ▐
▌ 18. Jay-Z - 99 Problems (Fall Out Boy Remix) (Prod. By B 03:43 ▐
▌ 19. Pain In Da Azz - Interlude 00:27 ▐
▌ 20. Jay-Z Feat. Timbaland & Justin Timberlake - Laff At 02:10 ▐
▌ 21. Jay-Z Feat. Fabolous - Brooklyn 02:02 ▐
▌ 22. Jay-Z Feat. Freeway - Big Spender 03:16 ▐
▌ 23. Jay-Z - Pressure 01:19 ▐
▌ 24. Jay-Z - Umbrella 00:33 ▐
▌ 25. Jay-Z Feat. T.I. & Beyonce - Upgrade U 01:32 ▐
▌ 26. Jay-Z Feat. Pharrell - Young Girl 00:34 ▐
▌ 27. Jay-Z - Crazy 00:29 ▐
▌ 28. Jay-Z Feat. Amy Winehouse - Rehab 00:55 ▐
▌ 29. Jay-Z Feat. T.I. - Watch What You Say 01:19 ▐
▌ 30. Jay-Z Feat. Green Lantern - ASAP Freestyle 02:20 ▐
▌ 31. Jay-Z - Tru Life Freestyle 01:04 ▐
▌ 32. Jay-Z - Return From World Tour Hot 97 Freestyle 04:39 ▐
▌ ----------------- ▐
▌ Total Time 76:24 ▐

[Tracklisting] Fade To Black - The Mixtape

2007-08-10T14:36:00.000-06:00

Mark Ronson & Jay-Z: Fade To Black - The Mixtape Tracklisting
Download Links available HERE

Live From Madison Square Garden
The Abridged Life Story of Sean Carter Thus Far by Mark Ronson
Can I Get Open
In My Lifetime (Remix)
Dead Presidents II
Cashmere Thoughts
Can't Knock The Hustle
Brooklyn's Finest
B.I.G. Tribute
Foundation
Streets Is Watching
A Million & One Questions (Premier Remix)
Where I'm From
Marcy To Hollywood
Hard Knock Life (Live)
Jigga What, Jigga Who (Live)
Money, Cash, Hoes
Big Pimpin (Live)
Do It Again
So Ghetto
Change The Game
I Just Wanna Love U
You, Me, Him & Her (Live)
U Don't Know
Girls, Girls, Girls
Heart of the City
Takeover
The Ruler's Back
1, 2 Y'all
PSA
Dirt Off Your Shoulder (New Verse)
99 Problems (Ronson Remix)
Lucifer
December 4
Farewell To The King (Jay's Goodnight)
The Return - Best of Both Worlds II
Don't Let Me Die - Best of Both Worlds II
Big Chips - Best of Both Worlds II
Freestyle
Pump It Up Freestyle
Encore (Live)

Jay-Z Sews Up Venture With Eminem, Young Jeezy

2007-08-06T17:22:00.000-06:00

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

mtv.com

Superman can fly, the Joker loves a good laugh and Jay-Z gets paid. These things are common knowledge. Still, Hov says he doesn't take his success for granted and even takes time to reflect on it.

"It's something I look at quite often and say, 'Wow,' " said the man who recently clocked in at #9 on the Forbes list of top-earning entertainers. "Of course, it's very humbling. Starting out, you believe you're gonna have success, but it's no way to imagine the type of success I've had. There's no way to dream that out. I've passed every goal I set for myself, but it's still hustling at the end of the day. Legal hustling. You incorporate that same type of go-getter attitude. It's just part of my personality."

Jigga's flip game has been so proper that Rocawear now has co-ventures with Eminem's Shady clothing line and Young Jeezy's 8732 apparel.

"It's a thing for us," Jay said. "All of us, we had the same type of struggle to impart some of that wisdom. I may know a little bit more about clothing at this particular time than Jeezy, but he's flying lower than me, so he may know more about what's going on in the streets a little quicker than I. Not much quicker, but a little quicker." ...

Word [...August 6]

2007-08-06T17:10:00.000-06:00

Jay on Family

"...I'm like my mom's husband," he says. "I'm a very good friend to her." He says he pulls the ends together for his family, like a father would. "I'm really the dude in the family," he says. "And I want to be that. I take care of everybody, and they love me and respect me for that. But they don't kiss my ass or treat me any different because of it. That's the beauty of it."
~Rolling Stone Magazine 2001

Word [...July 6]

2007-07-06T16:10:00.000-06:00

"Jay: The only time your relationship means anything to people that don't give a shit about you, is when you get together, have a baby or break-up. All the in-between is bullshit to cause something else to happen. They're trying to fuck your shit up. Why even feed into the gossip?" XXL, 2006

Word [...June 16]

2007-06-16T13:40:00.000-06:00

"You've got kids that inherited stuff from their parents...They don't appreciate it because it was no work; there's no A to Z, it's just Z. To me, you need somewhere to start, somewhere to be like, "Man, I ain't never going back to not being able to pay my light bill, my stomach growling, eating cereal at night, peanut butter and jelly off the spoon, mayonnaise sandwiches." This is real. I'm talking from a place where if groceries came and we got to put bananas on the cereal, it was a treat. That was the shit that you can't fathom." May 2003, Entertainment Weekly

Word [May 21-June 2]

2007-06-03T11:31:00.000-06:00

Tidbit About the new Rocawear Campaign

2007-05-21T11:01:00.000-06:00

Ciara was toasted by Jay-Z and Young Jeezy Thursday night in New York as the Atlanta singer celebrated being named the new face of the Roc-A-Wear ladies' line. Ciara follows in the footsteps of Naomi Campbell and actress Zoe Saldana. The new campaign will be titled "I Will Not Lose" and feature testimonials by a number of personalities who've overcome various hardships, including Amy Steele, the editor-in-chief of Virginia Tech campus newspaper The Collegiate Times. ...

via MTV.Com

PROPS

2006-06-24T14:08:00.000-06:00

REASONABLE DOUBT
A decade after its release, Jay-Z's opus stands as raps most riveting reflection of a hustler's life.

All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten. But all I need to know about the grind, I learned from Reasonable Doubt.

And I'm not alone. When Shawn Carter stepped to the mic over 10 years ago to record his debut album, his talent and audacity established a template for a whole generation of hustlers turned rappers who crawled out of the woodwork and pored over Jay-Z's slingin' curriculum. Which isn't to say they didn't earn their stripes in the street--it's just that you wouldn't know it from their lyrics, which have regurgitated Jay's vernacular, insights, and observations so many times over that his once groundbreaking images are now hip hop cliches.

At the time of Reasonable Doubt's release, Biggie, Boot Camp, and Mobb Deep ruled with stories of block wars and life lived in a four-by-four grid. Just like Nirvana made hair metal obsolete, Jay's don persona, combined with his sheer rhyimg skill and bravado, made other rappers look like bottom-feeders. On "Friend or Foe" and other tracks, he detailed out-of-state operations that clearly identified himself as highter on the food chain than your favorite rapper. He lived on a scale that was previously unimaginable. "Partna, I'm still spendin' money from '88!" he announced on "Dead Presidents II," then pointed to his knowledge of the finer things in life on numbers like "Feelin' It" and "Cashmere Thoughts."

It wasn't just his Big Willie-ness-excuse me, William-ness--however, that set Jay apart. While Biggie and Tupac admitted to the suicidal ambitons of a rider under pressure, Jay stepped back from the glory of the game and revealed the emotional toll of ugliness. He allowd himself to be vulnerable on songs like "Regrets" and "D'Evils," where the wrestles with the consequences of money and violence on life-long friendships. With "Can I Live," it's themes of isolation and suffocation paranoia capture feelings of desperation with an honestly rarely seen in rap.

Unfortunately, his sons and grandsons trace his design without understanding the underlying structural integrity that makes Reasonable Doubt stand tall ten years after it release. And listening to them gets te-di-ous, so young' uns, please, for the sake of hip hop, keep one eye open, like CBS.

written by Noah Callah-Bever for Vibe Magazine