In an interview with Billboard, he acknowledged the deals likely were contrary to what Prince would have wanted, saying “I do want to make clear that if Prince were here, we likely would not be making these deals - but also, Prince would not be needing half the value of his estate right now.” Londell McMillan, the attorney who shepherded Prince’s emancipation from his major label recording agreement in the 1990s, was an adviser for the estate and a chief spokesman regarding the new music service deals. Swizz Beatz Premieres A New Song Featuring Nas, Jay Z, DMX & Jadakiss And It’s Unreal (Video)Įarlier this year, however, Prince’s estate liberated his catalog, placing it on every music service, including those with free offerings, like Spotify. Jay positioned himself as a keeper of Prince’s legacy on the remix to Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s “ All The Way Up,” where he rapped “Prince left his masters where they safe and sound/We never gonna let the elevator take him down.” Prince had always been fiercely protective of how his music was consumed online, as he believed the “everything is free” mentality of the web often was fundamentally at odds with the inherent value he placed on his music. When the beloved artist died last year, Jay’s TIDAL music service was the only one that featured the Purple One’s catalog. On “Caught Their Eyes,” featuring Frank Ocean, he takes aim at the guardians of Prince’s estate. Jay uses words as weapons throughout the album–against detractors, against listeners, against friends and, at times, even against himself. How Losing His Father Helped JAY-Z Escape A Hard Knock Life (Video) What’s underneath the varnish is a raw and brutal honesty that, when combined with one of the sharpest tongues in the game, leads to several “be careful what you wish for” moments. The album finds JAY-Z peeling back the veneer that has been impenetrable over the years, save for select instances of vulnerability. While the takeaway may have been that Jay was stuck in an ivory tower, with the release of his new album 4:44, he has shown that he is still a mortal man and his ear remains to the street. This 1997 Interview Shows A Reasonable Doubt Era Jay-Z Raw & Unguarded (Video) Only a select few could relate to talk about a personal Picasso collection and literally being a god. Seventeen years and $700 million later, however, Jay’s brand of billionaire Rap fell flat to many. While Jay had always engaged in a form of aspirational Rap from the days of his “Big Willie talk” on his debut album Reasonable Doubt, he still managed to make both the struggle and the hustle relatable. One of the biggest criticisms JAY-Z faced with the release of his 2013 album Magna Carta Holy Grail was that he had lost touch with the people.
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