FIRST JANET, THEN ME , NOW HOV
I BEEN KNOWING ABOUT THIS FOR ALONG TIME AND I WAS WAITING ON JAY TO LET THE WORLD KNOW. LIFERS WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THIS BEING ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN?
Now maybe we can get that Blueprint 3 album. Jay-Z has officially parted ways with his home for more than a decade, Def Jam. On Thursday morning (May 21), Hits Daily Double reported in its Rumor Mill section that Hov — who owed Def Jam one last album — bought himself out of his contract for $5 million.
On Thursday afternoon, Jay contacted RapRadar.comand confirmed his departure.
“I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and L.A. Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience, and I respect them immensely,” Hov told the Web site. “I’ve been in the family for almost my entire career. Doug and I spoke directly and had one of the most unique ‘negotiations’ ever.”
Jay said that negotiation included a coin toss. “Doug won the toss, but we both won in the end,” Jay said. “I thank him for allowing me to be a completely independent artist. Not every artist can say they own or are given the opportunity to own all of their music.”
Jay started his own record company, Roc Nation, and has been working on theBlueprint 3 with Kanye West since 2008. In February, Jay joked that he was too free in making his latest opus.
“If I don’t have any time constraints, I’ll mess around, I’ll never get it done,” he said. “I’ll be Axl Rose out here! It’ll be 12 years later, and we’ll be talking about Chinese Democracy. I really like the [time constraints]. But whatever happens, [the album] may turn out better, ’cause it’ll be done when it’s right.”
I think this is big for how business is shifting in the music industry. Now with the internet, the playing field has became a lot more even. Itunes, Amazon, and blogsites has given you the distribution needed and twitter, myspace, facebook, and youtube allows you to market. So now Im wondering why would anyone still sign to a label when they can create their own entity? I think more and more artist are figuring this out. Right now, his brand is major so he can create a buzz around his projects very easy. But the success of Soulja Boy, Deondria, Sean Kingston, and others should show upcoming artist that signing to a label made be the wrong move financially. I think Drake is a key example. He got a lot of street buzz without having to be signed to a label. So why should he sign to a label? He can easily create his own music, own it, and make crazy dough without the support of a major label and I think Jay Z newest power move is a testament. So now the new question is should artist get back to the Master P and Cash Money Days and not sell albums out their trunk but from their blog site?
I agree with most that there is a big problem at Def Jam. The only artists that get any promo over there are Rihanna, Ne-Yo and Mariah. I mean, they pushed Good Girl Gone Bad on the world for what 2 1/2 years…and although she’s had quite a few #1s, the cd didn’t even sell 5 million units in the US. I’m not bashing Rihanna in any way, I’m just proving that their focus is only on certain artists over there. Ne-Yo has put out 3 albums in 3 years and this latest one has really produced a major hit other than Miss Independent, but he’s onto his 4th or 5th video now! And last year, E=MC2 had one hit, Touch My Body, but they put out 4 videos for that cd as well. Again, not hating on any of these artists. I like all of their music. But somethin isn’t right!
@ the Janet comments
I’m one her biggest fans. I will say this, Janet has been given the shitty end of the stick lately. To say she’s had 3 flopped albums is definitely a mis-guided and media-based view. Damita Jo is platinum, not just in shipments (as that is how it’s defined), but also in sales. 20 Y.O. is platinum by definition, but has not sold 1 million units. Now Discipline hasn’t sold nearly as many as the other two. But there is success in each of these cds. Discipline was the only 1 to debut @ #1 of the three and Feedback was her biggest single since Someone To Call My Lover in 2001. But somehow Janet gets all the flack about how bad her sales have been. While Madonna has had some slumps in her career and not a word was ever uttered. And while Janet is the common factor with Virgin and Def Jam, you have to remember that Virgin is a sinking ship and the same people who were there in the beginning of her relationship with the label were not the ones there at the end. And as for her and Def Jam, what other option did she have if the label pulled the promotion or didn’t start it in time? She can’t do it all alone. Feedback peaked at #19 and then came Rock With U. When the single wasn’t successful, they plug was pulled. What would’ve been the harm in trying another single, Luv? They went on with Mariah’s cd after Bye Bye, which ironically only peaked at #19. Janet knew what to do, and that was to leave! Blaming is saying it was all everyone else’s fault and all she said was they disagreed on the 2nd single and then they stopped the promotion. That’s just the truth. Furthermore, she owes no one anything. Just because some artists Twitter and share a bunch of info, doesn’t mean she has to. If she did, then she’d never have anything to herself and her work would be her life. Right now she’s in the studio, so there’s nothing she has to say. She’ll say something when she’s ready. Let her be!
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