Jay Z is very comfortable as president of Def Jam, and he doesn’t plan to give that up just yet. His three year contract will be up soon, but he says he intends to renew it. Unless that is, Columbia has an even more comfortable chair for him, near his buddy Rick Rubin. Jay-Z told the NYC radio station Hot 97 that he called to congratulate Rubin on his new job at Columbia, but that the two of them haven’t spoken about it yet. The executive rapper also chatted on the air about the upcoming head-to-head showdown between Def Jam’s Kanye West and Interscope’s 50 Cent when both release a highly-anticipated album on the same day - 9/11.
Jay Z told the listeners:
“It’s great for retail, the record business, the buying public [and] the Internet so they can have their debates on who’s going to win,” he said. “I have to bet on the home team. It’s going to be a good fight, too.”
Kanye West’s “Stronger” made a solid entrance onto the Billboard Top 100 yesterday. The song samples from Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”
What does Jay Z do all day as prez of Def Jam? He really feels the music. And tries to share those feelings with those lucky enough to chill at the HQ with him. Like the uber-lucky folks of FADER Magazine when they were eating tacos and listening to the new Freeway album at Def Jam. According to their smug-yet-sweet post about how they spent this Friday at work:
we’re eating tacos at Def Jam and hearing the awesome new Freeway album and Jay-Z walks in and tells us to stop doing the “magazine bop” and actually just like, feel the music and we all have a good laugh and then we hear rumors that Mannie Fresh has his own imprint called Chubby Boy and at this point we’re drinking beers and it’s raining outside but honestly who cares because did we mention this Freeway album is great? It’s Friday and life is good.
Yep, sounds like hard work. I bet Jay Z’s chair is reeeeeeaaaaally comfortable. Like a $20,000 executive chair with a stream of air to hoverlift your butt….
Hip Hop Links
Billboard report on Jay Z’s interview with Hot 97 NYC
FADER Mag’s report of how they roll on a Friday
An old post about Jay Z teaming up with MTV and the United Nations to produce Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life, a documentary about the global water crises and access to safe drinking water.
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