Etwas veriwrrend war das Hin und Her im Fall Jay-Z und die Label-Frage schon. Nun bringt der Rapper selbst Licht ins Dunkel und klärt die Situation auf.
Erst kürzlich hatte Jay einen Deal mit Sony und Atlantic Records abgeschlossenen und alle fragten sich, was es mit dem Vertrag seines Labels Roc Nation und Atlantic Records auf sich hat.
"That's pretty much just for this specific album. Roc Nation - we're experts in marketing and making records. But we do distribution deals. On this one, we're working directly with the Atlantic staff, which is Julie [Greenwald], Lyor [Cohen], Kevin [Liles] and Kyse [Mike Kyser]. For the rest of the Roc Nation artists, we did a distribution deal with Sony."
So habe dies nichts mit Roc Nation zu tun, sondern lediglich mit seinem bevorstehenden Album Blueprint 3 , für das er sich mit 5 Mio. Dollar aus dem Vertrag mit Def Jam frei kaufte. "Sony is Roc Nation. That's where Roc Nation's going through." Eigentlich sollte Blueprint 3 als letztes Album Jay s über Def Jam laufen. Aber der Rapper habe mittlerweile nicht mehr das Gefühl, dass sein Potenzial ausgeschöpft werde.
"To me it was like, I've sold companies for huge amounts of money. I'm an entrepreneur - that's what I've been all my life. I can't just sit here and make records and not do anything else. Why wouldn't you want to do this with me? I felt under-utilized."
In einem Radiointerview mit Funkmaster Flex und Mister Cee begründete Jigga diesen Schritt mit seinem Wunsch nach Unabhängigkeit. Dennoch wisse er die bisherige Arbeit mit Def Jam zu schätzen, wolle nun jedoch andere Wege gehen.
"I'm ready, I got the foundation and I'm ready to blast off. I'm pretty much at the launching pad right now. I bought my album back, I overpaid for it because I believe at this point in my career, you know, I wanted to be totally independent and free. Def Jam and Universal did a beautiful thing, they let me pay, they overcharged me a little bit, but I appreciate all the years they put into my career...I'm working with Atlantic, they gonna distribute the album. They're doing a fantastic job and by the way, I get a chance to connect with the people I started my career with." Andererseits freut sich Jay nun auf die Zusammenarbeit mit alten Weggefährten. "I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely. 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. Doug won the toss but, we both won in the end...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." Blueprint 3 soll am 11. September 2009 über Roc Nation released werden. Den Vertrieb übernimmt Atlantic Records .
Erst kürzlich hatte Jay einen Deal mit Sony und Atlantic Records abgeschlossenen und alle fragten sich, was es mit dem Vertrag seines Labels Roc Nation und Atlantic Records auf sich hat.
"That's pretty much just for this specific album. Roc Nation - we're experts in marketing and making records. But we do distribution deals. On this one, we're working directly with the Atlantic staff, which is Julie [Greenwald], Lyor [Cohen], Kevin [Liles] and Kyse [Mike Kyser]. For the rest of the Roc Nation artists, we did a distribution deal with Sony."
So habe dies nichts mit Roc Nation zu tun, sondern lediglich mit seinem bevorstehenden Album Blueprint 3 , für das er sich mit 5 Mio. Dollar aus dem Vertrag mit Def Jam frei kaufte. "Sony is Roc Nation. That's where Roc Nation's going through." Eigentlich sollte Blueprint 3 als letztes Album Jay s über Def Jam laufen. Aber der Rapper habe mittlerweile nicht mehr das Gefühl, dass sein Potenzial ausgeschöpft werde.
"To me it was like, I've sold companies for huge amounts of money. I'm an entrepreneur - that's what I've been all my life. I can't just sit here and make records and not do anything else. Why wouldn't you want to do this with me? I felt under-utilized."
In einem Radiointerview mit Funkmaster Flex und Mister Cee begründete Jigga diesen Schritt mit seinem Wunsch nach Unabhängigkeit. Dennoch wisse er die bisherige Arbeit mit Def Jam zu schätzen, wolle nun jedoch andere Wege gehen.
"I'm ready, I got the foundation and I'm ready to blast off. I'm pretty much at the launching pad right now. I bought my album back, I overpaid for it because I believe at this point in my career, you know, I wanted to be totally independent and free. Def Jam and Universal did a beautiful thing, they let me pay, they overcharged me a little bit, but I appreciate all the years they put into my career...I'm working with Atlantic, they gonna distribute the album. They're doing a fantastic job and by the way, I get a chance to connect with the people I started my career with." Andererseits freut sich Jay nun auf die Zusammenarbeit mit alten Weggefährten. "I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely. 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. Doug won the toss but, we both won in the end...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." Blueprint 3 soll am 11. September 2009 über Roc Nation released werden. Den Vertrieb übernimmt Atlantic Records .
