Jay-z
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While LL Cool J’s Rap legacy is undisputable he doesn’t get enough credit for his sense of humor. He recently discussed not getting an invite to the Roc Nation Brunch and it is pure comedy.
As spotted on Complex the Hollis, Queens native paid a visit to Big Boys Neighborhood to discuss the launch of his F.O.R.C.E. Live tour. During the near hour conversation he discussed a variety of topics including his Rock The Bells brand, his beef with Ice-T and more. To close out their sit down Big Boy asked Cool James to play ‘For Real For Real For False For False’, a game where he confirms or denies a story.
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Here he was asked if it is true he once laughed at Jay-Z trying rap back in high school. “I love everybody. I don’t have no problems with none of these guys, man. If I laughed, okay, so what” he said. “Laugh at me. How many people have you laughed at or snapped on in the lunch room? Come on, B. Give your man a pass on that nonsense, man. This is ridiculous. I don’t even remember it.” He then went to take hilarity even further when he added “I laughed at you so now I can’t have no brunch? I can’t have no finger food?”
Jokes aside LL Cool J also revealed that his former hype man E-Love is the silhouette in the iconic Public Enemy logo. You can see the “Hey Lover” discuss the Jay-Z interaction starting at the 43 minute mark below.
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Over the weekend the gawd MC Jay-Z rocked an exclusive show at the Louis Vuitton Fondation’s Auditorium for the foundation’s Basquiat x Warhol retrospective in Paris and while he was out there reworked one of his classic hits to incorporate the work of Jazz poet, Gil Scott-Heron into his cut.
Combining Gil Scott-Heron’s “New York Is Killing Me” with his classic Alicia Key’s assisted “New York State Of Mind,” Jay-Z released the new remixed track dubbed “New York (Concept de Paris)” which gives the multi-platinum rap song an artsy vibe with the hand-clapping and jazzy horns integrated into the song.
While Jay introduced the song during his performance at the show in Paris, he also churned out some renditions of other classic hits such as “Can’t Knock The Hustle,” “Never Change,” and of course, “Ni**as In Paris” sans Kanye West. Y’all know Hov wasn’t going to do a show in Paris and NOT perform “Ni**as In Paris.”
Whether or not fans prefer the “New York (Concept de Paris)” to “New York State of Mind” remains to be seen, but at this point it’s not about the hits for Jay-Z, it’s about the art, and we ain’t mad at that one bit.
Check out “New York (Concept de Paris)” below and let us know if you like what you hear in the comments section below.
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Jay-Z is holding a very rare one-off concert. The Brooklyn rapper and mogul will be performing at a Basquiat x Andy Warhol exhibit in Paris.
On Wednesday, April 12, Roc Nation announced that Jay-Z will be holding a tribute concert for the Louis Vuitton Foundation on Friday (April 14) at 9pm. Tiffany & Co. is also a sponsor of the event, so you know the bag the “N*gga In Paris” rapper secured is serious. The man born Shawn Carter has a well-documented affinity for Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat and that connection is the basis for the performance.
The concert will be going down at the Auditorium of the Fondation in Paris. Jigga’s show serves the purpose of bringing more attention to Louis Vuiton’s “Basquiat × Warhol. Painting four hands” exhibit which features hundreds of the renowned artists’ collaborations. Between 1984 and 1985 they created around 160 paintings together.
Find out more information about the exhibit—which opened April 5 and runs through August—and show right here. Recently, Jay-Z was notably the only rapper to make the cut for Forbes’ 2023 Worlds Billionaires list.
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Jim Jones is never short on opinions. In a new interview he claims that Drake should be considered the GOAT.
As spotted on Complex the Harlem, New York native recent chat with Rap Caviar podcast he discussed his new album with Hit Make Back In My Prime. While promoting his newest effort he also discussed a bevy of other topics including who he thinks is the greatest of all time. When Kev assumed his GOAT pick was Jay-Z CAPO was quick to correct him. “I can’t agree on that. … [Jay is] at the top of the barrel when it comes to what he’s done” he explained. “He’s a billionaire, he has done some sh*t for dope boys that people never even thought could be. He’s put himself in rooms that you couldn’t imagine.”
The Diplomats member when on to justify why he feels Drake is more impactful. “I haven’t heard too much Jay-Z music in the last six to seven years that was really hitting out here in these streets on the lit side of things,” he stated. “In the past 12 years everything that Drake has put out has hit like 2Pac was hitting. No matter if you like it. No matter if n****s don’t like it cause he’s light-skinned, no matter if n****s don’t like it cause he’s singing… No matter what n****s like, he always seems to be in these n****s’ playlists.”
You can see Jim Jones discuss Drake, Jay-Z and more below.
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The culture just got more evidence that Jay-Z is breathing rare air. He is the only rapper slotted into Forbes’ 2023 World’s Billionaires list.
As spotted on Hip Hop N More the Brooklyn, New York native continues to put up numbers that his peers dream of. This week the American business magazine released their annual collection of entrepreneurs who have entered the three comma club. In total the staff estimates that there are only 2,640 billionaires throughout the world and the “Holy Grail” MC was slotted at 1,217 with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion dollars which is about $1.4 billion dollars up from last year. The publication affirms that much of Hov’s wealth is attributed to his success in the wine and spirits industry; namely Armand de Brignac. Back in 2021 luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton purchased a 50% stake in the champagne brand with hopes of extending its global reach.
Speaking of LVMH, owner Bernard Arnault is ranked at number one with an estimated earnings of $211 billion. Other titans of industry round the top ten list including Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates. From a popular culture lens we also get some usual suspects holding a spot for themselves including Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Rihanna, and Kim Kardashian. Kanye West did not rank in 2023 due to losing several lucrative partnerships because of his behavior last year. The World’s Billionaires is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually. The list was first published in March 1987
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Many have been impressed with Damson Idris on the hit series Snowfall, but his uncanny impression of Jay-Z once again has people buzzing.
The 31-year-old British-Nigerian actor was a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show, and the host queried him about his friendship with Jay-Z and Beyoncé. After he answers with a laugh, Barrymore excitedly asks, “Oh my God! What is that like? They’re very embracing of you, right? Like, he’s paternal, basically, with you a bit.”
Idris admits that it’s true and shares a memory. “Yeah, I’ll be in Miami, it’s late, and I’ll call them up, and I’ll be like, ‘Hey, I can’t get a reservation at Carbone,’” he says, before delivering a spot-on impression of Jay-Z replying, “He’ll be like, ‘Damson, you gotta win a couple more Emmy’s before you can call me at 11:30.’”
It’s not the first time the actor has done it – his recollection of an awkward Zoom call he hopped on with Jay-Z and others during an appearance on Good Morning America in 2021 had many entertained.
After the crowd erupted with applause and laughter, he went on to describe his interactions with The Carters. “They’re the sweetest,” Idris said. “We’ve connected in many ways, but the Super Bowl was really great because it was really the first time I really connected with Bey, and I had just walked with Prada, and it was a huge, huge moment for me.”
The actor also spoke about his relationship with his sister and discussed his time auditioning for the lead role of Franklin Saint in the FX series with the late John Singleton – which led to him being dropped off in the middle of South Central Los Angeles.
“By audition number 8, Singleton took me to South Central, opened the car door, and said, ‘If you survive, you’ve got the role,’” he said to Barrymore. “And it really was an experience. You know, I was walking around South Central, I had to stay in character, so I wasn’t allowed to be British. And I said to his mother, ‘Oh, how lovely your hair looks today. I’m just gonna go, and you know, put this in a bin.’ And she goes, ‘John! He ain’t from here, huh?’ Nearly lost the part, but hey, six seasons later…” he concluded.
Check out the entire interview below.
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While he may not have a presence on social media Jay-Z doesn’t miss a beat. He sent flowers to an senior home who redid Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance.
As spotted on Bossip the residents at Arcadia Senior Living in Bowling Green, Kentucky got major respect from the legendary MC. It seems they were left very inspired viewing Rihanna’s game changing performance at the Super Bowl Half Time show. So much so they replicated her performance but gave it a more mature flair. They shared the clip on social media and the footage quickly went viral on TikTok. Their hilarious rendition eventually landed on Jay-Z’s radar prompting him to thank them with a spread of fresh florals.
WNKY spoke to some of the residents at the facility to detail how the idea came about. “My grandchildren and I watched and there were flips and flops and I was standing there thinking wow I wish I could do that…and then I did do that,” said Dora Martin. “I went to the doctor the other day and the nurses as soon as I walked in there, knew who I was”. The troop also made it clear that they were very flattered by Jay-Z’s gesture. “We thought about pressing them in a book but we haven’t got a big enough book,” said resident Ora Rampenthal.
You can view their rendition of Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance below which has been viewed over 30 million times, below.
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It seems there was no limit to Jay-Z’s rapport with the Miller family in the 1990’s. Silkk The Shocker recalls Hov declining payment over a verse.
Contrary to popular belief the legendary MC wasn’t always about the almighty dollar. As spotted on Vibe Magazine Jay-Z apparently told “Give Me The World” talent to keep his coins after doing a verse for him. Silkk recently sat down with the Art Of Dialogue platform and discussed his career. Midway he revealed his interaction with Jay over “You Know What We Bout”.
“Our relationship was dope because when I did the song with him, I thought I had a budget for him,” The Shocker shared. “I was like, ‘Yo, I got a hundred racks’ — that’s a lot of money back in the day too! I’m sure he could’ve used the extra $100,000; who ain’t gonna use that? When I hit him up, I’m like, ‘Yo, the song is dope, you killed it. Where I should I send that bread to?’ Jay was like, ‘Nah, it’s good, man. Just keep it and we’ll figure out something later on down the line.’”
Silkk also detailed why the gesture speaks volumes about Jay’s character when we fast forward to today. “What I came to learn was that it’s bigger than [money] for him,” he explained. “To me, that’s consistent with [where he is] today — if you look at him, it’s not a fluke that he’s successful.” He went to also reveal that he went on to repay the favor. “I don’t care how rich you are, you going [to] be like, ‘Man, send my bread.’ But he was just dead cool. He ain’t even second-guess it like, ‘Yeah, send me half of it.’ The good part about it: down the line, I kind [of] did something for him and I just thought it was solid.”
You can see Silkk discuss the situation below.
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Big Gipp feels a way about the recent GOAT rappers list. So much so that he thinks 2Pac would have landed Beyoncé if he were alive.
As spotted on AllHipHop.com the Goodie Mob member recently conducted an interview with Art Of Dialogue. In it he took serious umbrage with Billboard Magazine’s and Vibe Magazine’s “Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time” list. Their rankings had some very interesting surprises which naturally caused a stir online. The “Dirty South” MC expressed his frustration with Jay-Z taking the top slot and championed that 2Pac was more deserving of the honors.
“The only reason why you inching Jay past 2Pac is because he got God damn Beyoncé,” Gipp reasoned. “You take Beyoncé away then sh*t, bar for bar, yeah, he might rap better than ‘Pac. But ‘Pac came with the heart. That’s different, that’s just different. You can never beat the heart, bro. Some people can be technical, just like the difference between Jordan and LeBron.”
And he went on to further explain his position and also said Shakur would have bagged Queen B if he were still with us.
“If ‘Pac was here, who you think the girl would have been with? Hold up … you still can’t act. You can’t do no movies you can’t do what ‘Pac was doing” he said. “C’mon, how can you be better than ‘Pac? … that boy was a triple threat. He did groups that was successful, solo albums that was successful and movies that was successful, hands down partner. If he had lived he would have smoked everything walking.”
You can see Big Gipp discuss 2Pac in more detail below.
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It seems Jay-Z’s concerns over his cognac brand are no longer. He and Bacardi have jointly announced a long-term agreement that renews their partnership with D’USSÉ.
As spotted on Bloomberg Law, the two parties have come to terms on the splits behind the dark liquor. According to a press release, the agreement, which positions the iconic cognac brand for its next era of growth, Bacardi has acquired a majority interest in the multi-billion-dollar brand from Mr. Carter. And he will retain a significant ownership stake in the brand. The agreement brings their ongoing legal dispute to an end.
Back in October, Hov’s corporation, SC Liquors, demanded total financial transparency from the global conglomerate. In addition he is asked some very pointed questions regarding the production process including “the location of all warehouses storing D’Ussé barrels, bottles and accessories.” Empire Investments Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bacardi International Ltd., formally responded with a filing in Delaware’s Chancery Court.
Their legal team claimed Bacardi and Jay-Z made a “handshake deal” back in December 2021 agreeing that the “Otis” MC would sell his 50% stake in the brand. But the corporation says Hov “abruptly reneged on its agreement and doubled its demanded valuation.” Additionally, Empire stated that they have disclosed over 800 pages of financial records.
Jay-Z expressed his enthusiasm on reaching an agreement. “Growing D’Ussé over the past decade from an idea to one of the fastest-selling spirits in history has been a blessing. The next phase of this journey will further cement D’Ussé’s legacy as one of the world’s most respected brands. I am excited to renew this partnership with Bacardi.”
In 2012, Jay-Z and Bacardi partnered to launch D’USSÉ Cognac. Since then, the brand has landed numerous distinctions including Double Gold at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Double Gold at the 2022 Proof Awards.
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