Jay-Z of all trades presides over “Kingdom”
Anyone eager to hire a globally known rapper might want to check out the Web site supporting Jay-Z’s Hewlett-Packard commercial. The interactive desktop provides a glimpse of Jay’s intriguing resume.
Most of his accomplishments are well known, and they’re no less impressive when gathered in one place: president/CEO of Def Jam since early 2005; co-owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball club; owner and co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records; co-owner of hotspot the 40/40 club; owner/founder of the clothing line Rocawear.
The “miscellaneous” category includes such tidbits as his work on the S. Carter Collection — the fastest-selling shoe in Reebok’s history, which takes its label from Jay-Z’s birth name, Shawn Carter — his estimated worth of around $320 million (165 million pounds) and his inclusion, with girlfriend Beyonce, on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people.
Notable, perhaps, is that his MC career — the one that launched him, the one that made him a celebrity nearly as big as Elvis and the one he’s now returning to with the November 21 release of his “coming out of retirement” album, “Kingdom Come” — garners only a few lines. Granted, they are impressive ones: 18 Grammy Award nominations (five victories) and the recent MTV vote that declared him “the best MC of all time.” But still, they seem lost among the business accomplishments.
MASTER OF MULTITASKING?
Can a man this successful, this far removed from his dope-and-rhyme slinging roots in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Marcy Projects, balance a renewed artist career with all his other roles?
Jay sits at his desk in the New York office of Island Def Jam, deflecting and reflecting on questions. What he calls his “horrible retirement” may be the only thing he has ever attempted to do and failed.
He “retired” from making music in the fall of 2003. But within a few months, he launched a mini-concert series at New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena. Then, he popped up on 2005 remixes like Young Jeezy’s “Go Crazy,” Rick Ross’ “Hustlin’ ” and Bun B’s “Get Throwed.” He sold out a one-night engagement at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in June 2006. Then, there was the good chunk of time — Jay says five months — spent crafting “Kingdom Come.”
The album boasts production by such A-listers as Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Just Blaze and Coldplay’s
Chris Martin. But Jay sidestepped guest MCs in favor of “voices like John Legend, Usher, Beyonce, Pharrell, Ne-Yo” and new Def Jam signee Chrisette Michelle. And for an MC whose bravado is legendary, he sounds a bit demure about the recording, which is not dominated by the anthemic party tracks of his past.
“I hope I don’t miss everyone,” he says. “It’s not left (of center), but it’s not typical. I brought a lot of different emotions I felt were missing in the game. But I might’ve risked having the hottest records in every single club. You’re not going to like it on the first listen. Maybe on the third, you’ll be like, ‘OK.”‘
Three years on from his last recording, “The Black Album,” Jay sounds more comfortable in his own globally aware, CEO skin on “Kingdom Come.” The Jay that sold crack in Brooklyn is long gone. Instead, over Just Blaze’s cinematic, horn-driven beats on “Oh My God,” he rhymes about lunching with Nelson Mandela, and he dedicates the Dr. Dre-produced “30 Something” to “the maturation of Jay-Z.” Boasting about his credit rating, he talks of purchasing a house in Rome for his mother and achieving more than even he ever imagined.
GLORY FOR ‘KINGDOM’?
Retailers are already predicting that “Kingdom Come” will be the biggest release in the fourth quarter. Of the 13 albums Jay has released, including collaborations with R. Kelly and Linkin Park, he has garnered eight No. 1s on the Billboard 200 — more than any other rapper.
“Show Me What You Got” rocketed from No. 47 to No. 8 in its sixth week on the Billboard Hot 100, and its video debuted October 13 on “Monday Night Football.”
Def Jam senior VP of marketing Tracey Waples says the label looked to the prime-time debuts of
Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” and “Thriller” as inspiration, “because that type of launch hasn’t happened since then. We were blessed that ESPN came to the table.”
Aside from Hewlett-Packard, Jay linked with Budweiser Select to increase his market visibility near street date. The Budweiser commercial/music video — shot in Monaco, with Jay in a Ferrari driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and speed boats circling private islands — underscores again just how far removed the rapper can be from everyday life.
But there are other effects of all the success, fame and celebrity.
“Being around Jay is inspirational to people,” Island Def Jam chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid says. “I don’t care if you’re a 40-year-old executive or a 20-year-old intern — having that kind of access to that kind of wisdom, stardom, experience and level of charm could change your life.”
Lately, as evidenced by Jay-Z’s recent trip to Africa as part of his Water for Life campaign, he could be improving lives on a scale far exceeding the music industry. That endeavour is a collaboration with the
United Nations to provide clean water to underdeveloped areas. In Nigeria, Jay saw the difficulties firsthand.
“I followed these little girls down a hill near their school to gather water,” he recalls. “I’d like to think I’m in good shape, but these girls were flying down this hill. And I’m exhausted. I’m thinking we’re going to a well, but it was a brown river.” Jay’s entourage gave the village a purifying water pump. “To turn on the water in these villages for the first time, I had an Oprah moment,” he says.
In the Kawara state of Nigeria, “they crowned him King of All Music,” says DJ Green Lantern, who served as Jay-Z’s recent tour DJ. “They wrapped him up in traditional layers like a king, and he had to ride a horse. It was literally almost 100 degrees, and they kept adding layer upon layer. But he was very diplomatic.”
Back home, inspiration might also be what the King of All Music is selling on “Kingdom Come.”
“It’s all aspirational,” Jay-Z says of the luxurious clip for “Show Me What You Got.” But he may as well be talking about the entire album and, in fact, his life. “Wherever I go, I bring the culture with me, so that they can understand that it’s attainable. I didn’t do it any other way than through hip-hop.”
Reuters/Billboard
