Many moons ago, in a day and age where Jay-Z was simply Shawn Carter, a desire to be successful burned. He had one focus – simply trying to make it.
But now, Jay has gone from rapping about the hustle of the streets to shaking hands with the elite. In contrast to his former hard-knock life, we know Jay as more than just a rapper. He’s the epitome of a business, man.
Being crowned one of the most legendary rappers in the industry next to B.I.G. and Pac, Mr. Carter has made all the right moves in this life game of chess – and New York Mag is celebrating them in a new profile piece.
The release of Magna Carta Holy Grail is just one of his major recent fiscal moves.
With Samsung paying $5 for each digital copy downloaded, The Wall Street Journal reported that the partnership grossed $20 million – a phenomenal feat in our present day ruled by illegal downloads and piracy.
But Jay’s summer is only continuing to heat up. His next move involves a venture with our favorite Mickey Mouse Club member, Justin Timberlake. The two have paired up for a fourteen-show tour promoted by Live Nation. In 2008, HOV signed a contract with the company for $150 million dollars, the largest they’ve ever done.
As if that wasn’t enough, let’s remember he has Rihanna and Rita Ora signed to his Roc Nation label. He owns the 40/40 Club, has interest in technology such as the Powermat that recharges all technological devices at once, a video sharing app called Viddy, had real estate in Barclays, is the author of Decoded, and has dabbled in the fashion industry with Rocawear, which he still endorses.
You can only appreciate a man with such motivation and ambition. And many of his contemporaries do!
Mark Rosentraub, a University of Michigan professor and co-author of the book Sports Finance and Management, says:
Jay-Z has, in my view from the outside, figured it out: how the sports and entertainment business has changed and merged. It’s no longer about the team on the field; it’s really about the real estate and entertainment that swirls around it.
David Kuperberg, a real-estate executive and Nets investor who has seats behind Carter’s, says:
He appears to be absolutely thrilled and enthralled with the game. He isn’t an obnoxious partisan like Spike Lee. The opposing players are always saying hello to him.
L. Londell McMillan, who knew Carter growing up in the projects and went on to become an entertainment attorney and a fellow Nets investor said:
He was kind of their minority poster child. You look at his business model, it is very similar to Magic Johnson’s.
Steve Stoute, former hip-hop manager, adds:
Jay had the ability to transcend the artistic and land on being a lifestyle brand. The shared values of the brand. And a poet/entrepreneur/icon who stood for all that was real and possible, the coolest and most hopeful path of all, registered overnight with consumers.
What else does the future hold for Shawn Carter? We don’t know. What we do know is for now we can say, checkmate.
