“photo shoot fresh, looking like wealth. i’m ‘bout to call the paparazzi on myself”

the reason that hip hop’s transition to the page has been so seamless is that it’s always been about the stories. and no matter the medium, there are always (at least) three sides to every story. so, fire up your library cards, homies-we’re in this for the long haul. in a rare one-entry showing, here are a couple thinking points from Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s Empire State of Mind:

“As soon as the pleasantries were completed, Meneilly got right to his main point: ‘What’s in it for us?’ That question basically set the tone for the rest of the meeting. If Jay-Z wasn’t going to benefit financially, he wasn’t interested in having a business book written about him by anybody-even somebody whose Forbes articles he’d referenced in at least three different songs (including the 2007 track entitled ‘I Get Money: The Forbes 1-2-3 Remix’, featuring 50 Cent and Diddy). 

After spending the better part of a year researching Jay-Z and familiarizing myself with his tendencies, I can’t say I’m surprised he decided not to cooperate. It’s all part of the same attitude that helped him build his business empire. I’m sure he figured it wasn’t worth granting numerous interviews when he could instead spend time on a book that he’d profit from directly. Sure enough, after my meeting with Meneilly, Jay-Z repurposed the memoir he’d scuttled in 2003 and released his book, Decoded, before this one went to press.” (8)

“Russell Simmons, the cofounder of Def Jam, sees Dash’s role in Jay-Z’s career as even more crucial. ‘The thing you have to understand about [Dash] is, he thought the whole thing up,’ Simmons told New York magazine in 2006. ‘Jay-Z just came from Damon’s imagination. The man is a visionary.’” (39)

vision is scary.

 “As much as Jay-Z derived from his relationship with Biggie, Clark Kent believes the latter rapper gained even more. ‘It was great for Jay, yes, but in retrospect, it was better for Big,’ he says. ‘Because when you hear Big’s first album, it was remarkable. But when you hear Big’s second album, after he met Jay, it was untouchable. [Jay-Z] made him up the ante.” (57)

“The track spurred Jay-Z to follow up with a freestyle radio response focusing on his sexual relationship with Carmen Bryan, spelling out details so salacious that when Jay-Z’s own mother heard the recording, she called her son and demanded that he apologize to Nas’s family, which he did.” (60) 

“In the wake of his father’s death and the closure brought by reconciliation, Jay-Z seemed to let down his guard, at least to a few of the people closest to him. Though the outward aloofness and aura of invincibility that he’d cultivated throughout his early career were still there, it’s worth noting that Jay-Z’s relationship with Beyonce didn’t begin to flourish until after he made amends with his father in 2003. Similarly, in the wake of the reunion, he stopped jettisoning mentors. Those who guided him through the middle of his career-Cohen, Meneilly, and marketing guru Steve Stoute, for example-were spared the fate of Jaz-O and Damon Dash.

He has also remained loyal to his proteges-including Memphis Bleek, who isn’t the world’s most gifted rapper but is a close friend of Jay-Z, and Kanye West, an unquestionably brilliant artist whose antics have nevertheless managed to alienate many supporters (Jay-Z even stood behind him during the Taylor Swift fiasco when millions were calling for Kanye’s head). Perhaps reuniting with his father inspired Jay-Z to take on a paternal role in these relationships.” (96)

lucky Memphis Bleek.

shoutout to Nelson George for bringing us Brooklyn Boheme (worth it for Spike Lee’s impersonation of spoken word artists) and his latest innovation, the hip hop noir The Plot Against Hip Hop. 

peace to the cat who commented at A Different Booklist that “Jay-Z is like a talented version of Hammer.” yep-that really happened.