JEM
11-27-2006, 09:19 PM
From Adam's World
How Jay-Z Is Hurting Def Jam
I was skeptical when Jay-Z was given the title of President of Def Jam. Did he have any sort of skills or qualifications when it came to running a label? We all know he can rhyme, how well he can rhyme is a matter of debate, especially after his latest appearance on Hot97 which even Sohh called “corny” noting he was “way behind the beat,” but how does being a rapper qualify someone to run a rap label? It doesn’t, and the Jay-Z situation at Def Jam illustrates exactly why rappers should rap and people who know how to run labels should run labels. Let’s take a look at a few situations that Jay has messed up horribly as businessman in just the past six months.
Rappers, especially Jay, are fantastic at self-promotion. He didn’t get on by being humble and staying out of the limelight. As the President of a label, however, one has to know how to get others into that limelight, and it seems that Jay is completely unwilling to let anyone shine except for himself. Let’s go back to this past summer. Jay beefed with Cristal, something I chastised him for on this very site (and got killed for it by a lot of Jigga fans blindly following their hero). Little did I know there was another reason to get on Jay for this; two months later Def Jam released Method Man’s album. What on earth was Jay-Z doing putting himself in the spotlight at a time when he should have been pushing a lead single for Meth and giving him a budget for a video (word is Meth never even received a budget for a video)? Meth is a legend in the rap game. As a part of Wu-Tang he helped bring New York Hip-Hop back and was instrumental in changing the sound of the scene at a time when the airwaves were ruled by west coast funk. Instead of bigging up this legend and putting him on the pedestal he belongs on Jay essentially ignored the release of his album. Bad business move. A label has to sell albums for all their artists, not just one.
Take two, this time around it’s Lady Sovereign, the most talked about artist to come out of the U.K. since The Streets. Lavy Sov’s buzz was huge when she first signed to Def Jam. Big things were expected. She rocketed up the TRL charts, giving her a buzz with the teen audience, but what about the Hip-Hop heads? A few weeks before the release of Lady Sov’s Public Warning we were treated to Jay-Z “leaking” his new single and video. Couldn’t Def Jam’s money have been better spent promoting a second single for Lady Sov two weeks before her album came out? Making Jay’s lust for the spotlight, even at the expense of his own artists, even more apparent is that the week Lady Sovereign’s album was released (her drop date was October 31st) Jay was on Hot97 talking about himself and doing the aforementioned unimpressive freestyle. Again, why wasn’t Lady Sov on the air? Why wasn’t that her interview?
During Jay’s time on Hot97 he also took shots as Jim Jones for taking shots at him. Jay called Jones “the ninth guy off the bench.” Well guess what Jay, at least that would mean he has a team that he’s playing with, do you? At this point you seem to be neglecting your role as President and although Jones has no such title, and I am NOT a fan of the Diplomats by any stretch of the imagination, at least he’s out there supporting the projects of the people he runs with. Juelz Santana, an MC I really truly honestly do not like, is sitting on the shelf at Def Jam right now and despite my feelings on him I know he has a huge rabid fanbase. Jay has his light beef with Jim Jones and Dip Set, but that’s the rapper Jay-Z, the President Jay-Z should be releasing albums that will help his company. Who wants to bet on when, or if, Jay lets a Juelz album see the light of day? Juelz may not have the best lyrics, but being a young, charismatic, rapper makes him a potentially huge seller, especially with the right backing, which I’m sure he thought he was going to get at Def Jam. Instead Juelz, along with Meth, Lady Sovereign, Redman and a host of others are stuck attempting to beat out their own label’s President to get some airplay. With all this in mind Nas has to be seriously wondering what’s going to happen with his upcoming release.
Def Jam has seen some first week success with some albums, but third, fourth and fifth week sales show staying power and most everything Def Jam’s released in the past year has had none of that. No follow up singles. No second or third videos. Just a quick hit and that’s it. The only stars getting any play from Def Jam are in the R&B genre. Basically, anyone who won’t take airtime away from Jay. It’s become clear that until Jay-Z retires from rapping for real his “Presidential” role is only hurting Def Jam and in the long run, when artists like Meth, Red, Juelz and Lady Sov aren’t getting the attention they deserve, it’s hurting Hip-Hop.
Str8 facts....Jayz needs to fall back and be a team player for real
Kingdome come aint all that either...pretty corny if u ask me
How Jay-Z Is Hurting Def Jam
I was skeptical when Jay-Z was given the title of President of Def Jam. Did he have any sort of skills or qualifications when it came to running a label? We all know he can rhyme, how well he can rhyme is a matter of debate, especially after his latest appearance on Hot97 which even Sohh called “corny” noting he was “way behind the beat,” but how does being a rapper qualify someone to run a rap label? It doesn’t, and the Jay-Z situation at Def Jam illustrates exactly why rappers should rap and people who know how to run labels should run labels. Let’s take a look at a few situations that Jay has messed up horribly as businessman in just the past six months.
Rappers, especially Jay, are fantastic at self-promotion. He didn’t get on by being humble and staying out of the limelight. As the President of a label, however, one has to know how to get others into that limelight, and it seems that Jay is completely unwilling to let anyone shine except for himself. Let’s go back to this past summer. Jay beefed with Cristal, something I chastised him for on this very site (and got killed for it by a lot of Jigga fans blindly following their hero). Little did I know there was another reason to get on Jay for this; two months later Def Jam released Method Man’s album. What on earth was Jay-Z doing putting himself in the spotlight at a time when he should have been pushing a lead single for Meth and giving him a budget for a video (word is Meth never even received a budget for a video)? Meth is a legend in the rap game. As a part of Wu-Tang he helped bring New York Hip-Hop back and was instrumental in changing the sound of the scene at a time when the airwaves were ruled by west coast funk. Instead of bigging up this legend and putting him on the pedestal he belongs on Jay essentially ignored the release of his album. Bad business move. A label has to sell albums for all their artists, not just one.
Take two, this time around it’s Lady Sovereign, the most talked about artist to come out of the U.K. since The Streets. Lavy Sov’s buzz was huge when she first signed to Def Jam. Big things were expected. She rocketed up the TRL charts, giving her a buzz with the teen audience, but what about the Hip-Hop heads? A few weeks before the release of Lady Sov’s Public Warning we were treated to Jay-Z “leaking” his new single and video. Couldn’t Def Jam’s money have been better spent promoting a second single for Lady Sov two weeks before her album came out? Making Jay’s lust for the spotlight, even at the expense of his own artists, even more apparent is that the week Lady Sovereign’s album was released (her drop date was October 31st) Jay was on Hot97 talking about himself and doing the aforementioned unimpressive freestyle. Again, why wasn’t Lady Sov on the air? Why wasn’t that her interview?
During Jay’s time on Hot97 he also took shots as Jim Jones for taking shots at him. Jay called Jones “the ninth guy off the bench.” Well guess what Jay, at least that would mean he has a team that he’s playing with, do you? At this point you seem to be neglecting your role as President and although Jones has no such title, and I am NOT a fan of the Diplomats by any stretch of the imagination, at least he’s out there supporting the projects of the people he runs with. Juelz Santana, an MC I really truly honestly do not like, is sitting on the shelf at Def Jam right now and despite my feelings on him I know he has a huge rabid fanbase. Jay has his light beef with Jim Jones and Dip Set, but that’s the rapper Jay-Z, the President Jay-Z should be releasing albums that will help his company. Who wants to bet on when, or if, Jay lets a Juelz album see the light of day? Juelz may not have the best lyrics, but being a young, charismatic, rapper makes him a potentially huge seller, especially with the right backing, which I’m sure he thought he was going to get at Def Jam. Instead Juelz, along with Meth, Lady Sovereign, Redman and a host of others are stuck attempting to beat out their own label’s President to get some airplay. With all this in mind Nas has to be seriously wondering what’s going to happen with his upcoming release.
Def Jam has seen some first week success with some albums, but third, fourth and fifth week sales show staying power and most everything Def Jam’s released in the past year has had none of that. No follow up singles. No second or third videos. Just a quick hit and that’s it. The only stars getting any play from Def Jam are in the R&B genre. Basically, anyone who won’t take airtime away from Jay. It’s become clear that until Jay-Z retires from rapping for real his “Presidential” role is only hurting Def Jam and in the long run, when artists like Meth, Red, Juelz and Lady Sov aren’t getting the attention they deserve, it’s hurting Hip-Hop.
Str8 facts....Jayz needs to fall back and be a team player for real
Kingdome come aint all that either...pretty corny if u ask me