NO ONE HAS DONE IT BETTER

Jay-Z, Radolfo, video director Abdul Malik Abbott and Dame Dash,...

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 12:13:28 +1200

Jay-Z, Radolfo, video director Abdul Malik Abbott and Dame Dash, photographed on the set of “Dead Presidents” in New York City in 1995.

The video for the hustling anthem was shot in various locations around Manhattan and Brooklyn, and was captured on 35 mm film. In an interview with Revolt in 2016 Abbott explained the video’s premise: “The premise behind it was always Jay Z’s a hustler, you don’t know what he’s hustling, but he’s a hustler. Basically, the premise of the video was sort of a spin off of the movie Heat [one of Jay’s favorite films] with Robert DeNiro. There was scene [in the film] where the cops are watching the bad guys and the bad guys are watching the cops, so we had a little spin on that, wherein [Jay] has a deal going on and sort of like just shuns the deal, but goes back and photographs the cops hustling and hassling the dude that was trying to make [him] a deal.”

Jaÿ-Z, as photographed for his debut album Reasonable Doubt by...

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 12:12:59 +1200

Jaÿ-Z, as photographed for his debut album Reasonable Doubt by Jonathan Mannion on April 1, 1996.

When the Cleveland native first met with Dame Dash in the Roc-A-Fella Records offices on John Street, to secure his first major gig he said he would charge the label $300 less than their current lowest quote. With their brown paper bag budget running down, Dash accepted the offer and hired Mannion to come back in a few weeks to shoot the cover and packaging.

At the time the album was known as Heir to the Throne, so Mannion prepared a regal-themed board to present to the Roc team. Just hours before the album’s shoot Jaÿ switched the title to Reasonable Doubt, feeling that the original was perhaps too presumptuous for a debut album. The title switch gave the listener the opportunity to decide if he was indeed throne-worthy.

After hearing of the title and theme change, Mannion would soon be the one to convince Jaÿ to move from Scarface-influenced, Versace linen, Miami drug-running visuals to the now-classic New York Mafia crime theme. Mannion encouraged Jaÿ to “keep it Brooklyn” and used John Gotti collections and old police photos and murder-scenes from the 1930s and ‘40s as inspiration points. Hov, Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke went and fitted themselves out in $3,000 suits for the shoot, They also brought along a large amount of cash—$200,000—and handguns to be used as props. It was from this stack of cash that Mannion was paid his $1,300 fee at the end of the shoot.

The photo shoot took place inside and on the roof of Mannion’s old apartment building, located under the Westside Highway on West 72nd Street and Riverside in Manhattan. “It was done in a dusty spare room,” he once recalled in an interview with BET in 2016. “I just dropped the white backdrop, then I shot it all with daylight. It was kind of like my personal little studio, because it’s just empty space with beautiful North light. Up there with my tripod, it’s kinda dusty and funky, but you know, we made it work and it all contributed to the vibe – and the quality of the light was beautiful.” After the shoot inside, they headed up to the roof to get some shots in the fading sunlight. “Back then, it was all busted and beat up, and it fit the vibe,” he told Complex. I knew I could get some beautifully composed shots, based on traditional cameras. I was shooting with Hasselblads and Rolleiflexes, like press photographers did back in the Civil Rights era.”

Jonathan Mannion counts Reasonable Doubt as one of the greatest albums of all-time, explaining to BET how he “speaks about the album as a complete project. Because, over time, there are many artists that deliver amazing singles. And its like, maybe there’s two, three, four good songs on the album and the rest are sort of filler and fluff. That’s kind of a typical analysis of majority of the albums out there. There’s albums that stand out that are complete thoughts from start to finish. I look at Reasonable Doubt as that. The flow, the rhythm, the cadence, the sequencing, everything sort of built on what happened before in order to paint a complete picture of everything that Jaÿ was seeing and around at the time.”

"We have two completely different deals with him—the Jay-Z deal and the Shawn Carter deal. Jay-Z is..."

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 12:11:28 +1200

“We have two completely different deals with him—the Jay-Z deal and the Shawn Carter deal. Jay-Z is that completely rare artist who is not only King of his genre but one of the greatest of all time as an artist. And if you look at Shawn Carter the businessman and what he’s accomplished, he’s got to be in the top five of the most successful businessman-artists. He definitely grew up in the street—but he’s got incredible intuition and skill in being able to turn that on-the-ground training into a real business.”

- Michael Rapino, the CEO of Live Nation, speaking on the supreme success of Jay-Z as both an artist and a businessman with Cigar Aficionado in 2009.

Jay-Z, photographed during Ryan Leslie’s 31st birthday party at...

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 22:14:04 +1200

Jay-Z, photographed during Ryan Leslie’s 31st birthday party at the now-closed SL nightclub in Chelsea, New York City on September 25, 2009. After the party Hov headed over to the now-closed M2 Ultra Lounge nightclub to party with his close friend Swizz Beatz.

Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek, photographed at the premiere of Eddie...

Sun, 24 Jun 2018 13:09:13 +1200

Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek, photographed at the premiere of Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor II: The Klumps at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on July 24, 2000.

Back in 1996 Def Jam Recordings had given Jay a big break by including his single “Ain’t No Nigga” on the soundtrack to the first Nutty Professor film. Four years later Jigga was now at the top of the rap world, and he returned the label’s favor by recording “Hey Papi” for the sequel; bringing Bleek and Amil along for the ride.

Happy Birthday Bleek! Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek, photographed...

Sun, 24 Jun 2018 12:56:14 +1200

Happy Birthday Bleek!

Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek, photographed backstage after the “Jay-Z and Friends” concert at the Madison Square Garden by Walik Goshorn on November 1, 2004.

JAY-Z and Beyoncé with video director Ricky Saiz, photographed...

Sat, 23 Jun 2018 18:53:49 +1200

JAY-Z and Beyoncé with video director Ricky Saiz, photographed during the filming of the “APESHIT” music video at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France on May 28. The San Francisco native is the co-head designer for Supreme, and directed Bey’s “Yoncé” music video back in 2013. His girlfriend is the actress Chloë Sevigny.

Hov is wearing a Dries Van Noten double breasted suit ($1,300) and PUMA Clyde sneakers ($70). Bey is wearing a Peter Pilotto piped suit.

JAY-Z and Beyoncé, photographed during the filming of their...

Sat, 23 Jun 2018 18:26:46 +1200

JAY-Z and Beyoncé, photographed during the filming of their “APESHIT” music video at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France on May 28.

The Carters are standing in front of Alexandros of Antioch’s “Aphrodite of Milos” marble sculpture. Better known as Venus de Milo, it is one of the most famous ancient Greek sculptures in existence. Created sometime between 130 and 100 BC, the statue is believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

Styled in collaboration with June Ambrose, Hov is wearing a John Galliano double-breasted satin jacket ($1,500) and smoking trouser with black duchess paneling ($930). “We’ve never done a pink shiny suit! A satin suit!” Ambrose told The Cut shortly after the video was released. “That’s a real big statement. It’s not something he would typically wear, so it was him showing out and showing off. He looked at it and was like, ‘Ooh, this is good.’ John Galliano is known for doing things that are really eccentric and feminine, and I was really excited about this gangster, double-breasted pink satin suit.”

JAY-Z and Beyoncé, photographed during the filming of their...

Sat, 23 Jun 2018 18:05:36 +1200

JAY-Z and Beyoncé, photographed during the filming of their “APESHIT” music video outside of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France on May 28. The couple are standing in front of the Pyramide du Louvre, a large glass and metal pyramid designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei. It serves as the main entrance to the Louvre.

Styled in collaboration with June Ambrose, Hov is wearing a retro look Gucci stamp print double breasted taffeta jacket ($4,280) and dress pants ($2,200). You cannot see his footwear, but they were also from the Gucci label. The font style and graphics on the suit were influenced by the 1767 book Découverte de la maison de campagne d'Horace—an erudite encyclopedia by French archeologist L’Abbé Bertrand Capmartin de Chaupy.

In an interview with The Cut, Ambrose revealed that it was Jay who loved the look of wearing no shirt with a suit that he had first experimented with while filming footage for the couple’s “On The Run Tour II” in Jamaica back in March. “When we were in Jamaica making content, we both discovered that [suits] look great without a shirt,” she told the site. “Jay specifically thought that, and I was so excited that he was willing to go for it. Then it became a thing [for us]—like, the new way of going rogue with suiting. It was kind of a throwback to the ’70s with a certain edginess to it that was kind of gangster, kind of romantic, and kind of rude boy. Definitely leaning toward Jamaican and Caribbean culture. When we shot the “APESHIT” video, we had really fallen in love [with that look].”

JAY-Z and Beyoncé, photographed during the filming of...

Sat, 23 Jun 2018 17:26:13 +1200

JAY-Z and Beyoncé, photographed during the filming of their “APESHIT” music video at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France on May 28.

The Carters are standing in front of the Great Sphinx of Tanis, which is known as the guardian of the Louvre. Dating back to 2600 BC, the granite statue was found in 1825 among the ruins of the Temple of Amun at Tanis, which was the capital of Egypt during the 21st and 22nd dynasties.

Hov is wearing an Alexander McQueen three-piece, ready-to-wear suit, including a plaid overcoat ($2,695), suit jacket ($3,436) and dress pants ($995). The Queen is wearing a one-of-a-kind custom MCM logo-covered look created by celebrity stylist Misa Hylton. Bey’s stylist Zerina Akers reached out to Hylton—who is known for creating famous looks for Mary J. Blige, Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliott—after seeing a MCM logo jacket she designed for Jay’s early mentor Big Daddy Kane, which he wore at the launch party for the PUMA x MCM collaboration in April 2018. Hylton’s team also created a pair of MCM logo-covered skates to complete the look, but they weren’t featured in the music video.

“I’m out in the art clubs in London sipping tea, feel me?”JAY-Z...

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 18:29:29 +1200

“I’m out in the art clubs in London sipping tea, feel me?”

JAY-Z and Beyoncé were photographed as they left The Arts Club in Mayfair, London on Thursday evening. The couple have been staying in East Woodhay while they perform across Europe on their “On The Run II Tour.” With their next show scheduled for Saturday in Copenhagen, they headed to nearby London for a date night.

The Dover Street private members club is a favorite haunt of the couple while in the English capital. According to their website, the club was “instituted for the purpose of facilitating the social intercourse of those connected with, or interested in, art, literature or science.”

Hov is wearing a Planes x The Family Crown, a pair of Maison Margiela virgin wool flannel drawstring trousers ($595), and PUMA Suede sneakers ($65).

“I’m out in the art clubs in London sipping tea, feel me?”JAY-Z...

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 18:28:52 +1200

“I’m out in the art clubs in London sipping tea, feel me?”

Hov is wearing a Planes x The Family Crown, a pair of Maison Margiela virgin wool flannel drawstring trousers ($595), and PUMA Suede sneakers ($65).

“I’m out in the art clubs in London sipping tea, feel...

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 17:58:01 +1200

“I’m out in the art clubs in London sipping tea, feel me?”

Hov is wearing a Planes x The Family Crown, a pair of Maison Margiela virgin wool flannel drawstring trousers ($595), and PUMA Suede sneakers ($65).

It has been announced today that PUMA is relaunching their...

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:06:42 +1200

It has been announced today that PUMA is relaunching their Basketball Division, and JAY-Z has joined the company as the new Creative Director of Basketball Operations. The rap mogul will be helping oversee the company’s first foray into the world of NBA sponsorship in almost two decades.

“We’ve been working with Roc Nation for quite some time. They’ve been great partners to us for several years. We’ve done many different deals with many different ambassadors,” said Adam Petrick, PUMA’s Global Director of Brand and Marketing. When PUMA approached him about this opportunity, JAY-Z felt it “was something he wanted to be a part of,” according to Petrick.

As part of the relaunch the global shoe and sportswear company has announced the signings of top draft prospects DeAndre Ayton (Arizona), Marvin Bagley III (Duke), and Roc Nation Sports client Zhaire Smith (Texas Tech). Ayton is considered the unanimous top pick and will likely go to the Phoenix Suns in Thursday’s draft; while Bagley and Smith are also expected to go in the lottery.

As Petrick mentioned, Roc Nation and PUMA have built a strong relationship over the past five years, thanks in a large part to the tireless work of Emory “Vegas” Jones. As the creator of the #PumaLife tag, the Creative Director of Planes caught the eye of the German brand and they asked for his assistance in reinvigorating the PUMA name. His vouching for PUMA has meant Roc Nation family members football star Romelu Lukaku, Rihanna, Solange, Meek Mill, Big Sean, and Yo Gotti have aligned themselves with the brand. Last year JAY-Z entered into a major partnership with PUMA, and they have been key sponsors of his career and social works since.

As the Creative Director of Basketball Operations, Shawn Carter will lead the overall concept and direction of the brand, as well as have a hand in the players selected to join the PUMA family. “What’s important to him on a day like today is that it’s clear we’re making a serious push with players like Bagley and Ayton and Smith. We’re making a serious statement about the entry of the category, that we want to be a performance brand, but then also very culturally focused. It’s clear that we’re looking at basketball through the lens of culture, and thinking about the fashion of basketball, the music of basketball, all the aspects of culture around basketball as much as the on court presence that we will have,” Petrick told Complex.

aintnojigga: Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Steve Stoute, photographed...

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 21:31:10 +1200

aintnojigga:

Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Steve Stoute, photographed leaving the Cipriani Downtown restaurant in SoHo on August 17, 2002. Hov is wearing Rocawear head-to-toe, and a pair of his Reebok “S. Carter I” sneakers.

No doubt you have seen this photograph captioned with the erroneous claim that this was “the first time Jay-Z saw Beyoncé.” Nope, it is simply a shot of them leaving a lunch date at one of their favorite restaurants. That internet tho… Ha.

“You came back, I let you set the date, Nobu on the plate
I brought my dude to play it cool, my first foolish mistake"

“We played it cool at the pool of the Cancun, VMAConfidence you...

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 20:53:27 +1200

“We played it cool at the pool of the Cancun, VMA
Confidence you exude make the fools stay away
Me, I played the room, let the fools have they say
Fate had me sitting next to you on the plane
And I knew straight away”

Jay-Z, photographed performing during the “Fashionably Loud” fashion show at MTV’s “Spring Break” festival in Cancun, Mexico on March 16, 2000.

A yearly MTV one-hour special, the “Fashionably Loud” show was designed to bring together the hottest runway looks of the day with performances by the year’s most popular musicians. Hosted by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, that year Hov shared the runway with Beyoncé Knowles and her group Destiny’s Child. During part one of his August 2017 interview with Rap Radar, Hov had named this event as one of the first times he and Beyoncé were able to spend a long period of time together. When asked by Brian “B.Dot” Miller how they met, he coyly replied, “Uh, just being out, being in the same places. Some Sony events, doing a MTV beach event. So, like, just seeing each other and having conversations.”

For the network’s “Destiny’s Child’s Top Ten Spring Break Performances” special in 2001, Bey would introduce “Big Pimpin’” to the television viewers by declaring that “Guys on Spring Break might think they’re pimpin’, but last year nobody was pimpin’ bigger than Jigga!” Fate?

“Ty mama died, I was thereMy nephew died, he was thereHe in...

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 13:05:46 +1200

“Ty mama died, I was there
My nephew died, he was there
He in my house more than I be there, more than B there …
Ty Ty take care of my kids, after he done grieving”

Jay-Z, Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith and his son River, and Steve Stoute, photographed as they sat courtside at a game between the New Jersey Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at the at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on March 22, 2009. That evening Hov, who is wearing a Rocksmith “Notorious 81″ shirt, watched as his mentee LeBron James lead his team to a 96-88 win over the franchise he was a co-owner of.

Ty Ty has been riding with Hov for thirty years, and is the godfather of Blue Ivy Carter. On “FRIENDS” Jay revealed that it is Ty Ty that he and Beyoncé have asked to take care of Blue, Sir, and Rumi—if the superstar couple should ever pass while they are still children.

In a 2015 interview with Fatherly, Ty Ty explained how Uncle Jay has always helped him parent his children, and he always expects to be able to do so vice versa with Blue Ivy and the twins. “We have [parenting] conversations about it all the time. We’re going to parent each other’s kids because we’re family,” he explained. “If my son is doing something and Jay, Jay Brown, or any of the guys see it, they don’t wait for me to explain the situation that just happened. They’ll just handle it.”

Later he gave advice to parents who are working hard to provide for their children, but may find themselves leaving their family behind for the cause of money. “Maintain a balance, because nothing is more important than your kids. A lot of times, we trick ourselves into thinking we’re only doing this for the betterment of our family, and that makes it easier to stay away longer. Then, you put yourself in positions where you don’t have to be there; but if you allow yourself to get used to it, you’ll be there. If you don’t allow yourself to get used to it, you won’t be there.”

EVERYTHING IS LOVESTREAMING EXCLUSIVELY ON TIDAL NOW

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 10:09:50 +1200

EVERYTHING IS LOVE

STREAMING EXCLUSIVELY ON TIDAL NOW

“You can keep ya beach cause that beach whatever”

Sat, 16 Jun 2018 14:59:44 +1200

“You can keep ya beach cause that beach whatever”

Jay-Z, photographed as he left the Roc Nation headquarters in...

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 07:41:14 +1200

Jay-Z, photographed as he left the Roc Nation headquarters in Midtown Manhattan on December 2, 2009. Hov is wearing a shearling-lined Gucci leather bomber jacket ($2,500) from the brand’s Fall 2009 collection.