Wednesday, December 26, 2007
JAY-Z JAMS OUT
Def Jam Records got some unexpected news for Christmas - their president, Jay-Z, announced that he will be stepping down effective January 1st, 2008.
Though he's only been the head cheese for two years, the "99 Problems" rapper has done some amazing things for the label. Besides signing Rihanna and Ne-Yo (both multi-platinum acts), the HOVA has released his own #1 album, as well as one for Kanye West.
Even though he will be through working on the administrative end of things for Def Jam, Jay will still record under the label's Rock-a-Fella subsidiary. LA Reid, the label's chairman and CEO, told press, "While he will continue to be one of our signature artists, he will nonetheless be missed in this executive capacity."
Jay says that he feels confident that he is leaving Def Jam in a better place than when he found it. "As a person who is optimistic about hip-hop, I look at albums like American Gangster and Kanye West's Graduation as albums that people can emulate, because they were made with nothing but the highest of integrity and passion about putting your all into the music. People tend to emulate success, so hopefully they'll emulate the blueprint of those albums, and we'll have some great music."
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