Jay-Z's Report Card at Def Jam

mannybolone

Hot or not? Is President Carter about to see his term end a little short due to lack of platinum-selling heat?

Skip Drinkwater

i doubt that's going to happen, but he's signed some real random-ass artists that i doubt will make any noise.

Guzzo

I have a feeling the new Cam'ron will blow up. Rasppers tend to sell millions after they are shot

the female R&B contigent isn't really hittin all that hard. The Kanye album was under Def Jam right?

who else has had a release/ upcoming release on Def Jam?

paulnice

A friend I went to high school with had recently been promoted to a very high level executive position at Def Jam/Island right around the time Jay-Z took the reigns.
According to him the morale there has been pretty low as of late.
The concern is that while perhaps he's a good business man, Hova's ear for a hit remains a big question mark.

Swayze

i was goin going to post about this. i think if he does not come with it that being hit records. his position may be at jepordy. you have to understand this is a new day and age those in charge are not having it. you can't bring the heat you get taken out. i gues we will have to wait and see.



www.thecraftbeats.com

Planet

Vagabond

i was goin going to post about this. i think if he does not come with it that being hit records. his position may be at jepordy. you have to understand this is a new day and age those in charge are not having it. you can't bring the heat you get taken out. i gues we will have to wait and see.



www.thecraftbeats.com

Well at least if he gets let go, he can go kick it on his yacht for a couple of months, drink Crystal and cry about it. I think he will pull through though. He is a good business man. I appreciate the fact that he is willing to take risks on artists that are not sure fire hit makers.

street_muzik

i was goin going to post about this. i think if he does not come with it that being hit records. his position may be at jepordy. you have to understand this is a new day and age those in charge are not having it. you can't bring the heat you get taken out. i gues we will have to wait and see.



www.thecraftbeats.com

I actually thought that link had to do with what you were talking about.

roisto

Young Jeezy went platinum, Kanye is already double platinum, Juelz Santana is coming out real soon...

canonical

who else has had a release/ upcoming release on Def Jam?

Enough said.

If he signs over Nas...

Brian

Young Jeezy went platinum, Kanye is already double platinum, Juelz Santana is coming out real soon...

mannybolone

Young Jeezy went platinum, Kanye is already double platinum, Juelz Santana is coming out real soon...

None of whom he signed to Def Jam. I thought he signed Jeezy but that was L.A. Reid, as was Teeina Maira. Did he sign Juelz?

I mean, it helps that Def Jam has had an excellent year but not much of that is due to Jay's business acumen. But hey, if the econony does well, the President gets credit, even if it's not his policies that made the difference.

bull_ox

Pretty sure he did sign Rihanna though, who may be a shitty artist but she did have one of the biggest hits of the year

Dustbuster

Like the real (or fake) president, you've got to give him some time. Honestly, I was never a big Jay-Z (the rapper) fan, and I'm not sure why he got placed as president. But apparently they see his ability to make hits as a qualification, and if you look around other genres of music, it's a common practice. I don't doubt his ability to spot a hit. I think the true test is how he develops new talent as opposed to just letting the past platinum artists re-up. He really didn't do much with Bleek's career, but now that he has full reigns there really won't be any excuse. But that whole process takes time. In a couple of years we'll have a better barometer of his tenure.

Looking forward to Fish Scale though.

DocBeezy

Im not sure if Def Jam has time to wait for him. I see him being goo for the long run. Developing artists and the like. But rap is so much of a "must be a hit today" type atmosphere that I can see him getting ousted.

emynd

None of whom he signed to Def Jam. I thought he signed Jeezy but that was L.A. Reid, as was Teeina Maira. Did he sign Juelz?

Has he been there long enough to really sign anybody that would've put out a product by now? Let's not get all Tye Willingham on him. We need to let him get a whole recruiting-class through before we judge him too severely. The Young Gunz album was a flop and I can't imagine Jay really honestly believed the Bleek album was gonna do anything at all, but I think it's a bit early to tell whether or not he's the man or not.

Anyway, dude knows that if business is really that bad, all he's gotta do is record an album of his own and it'll go a million platinum by itself and save his rep.

All that said, I really don't think he's got a great ear for hits... at least not for other people. When he was making hits himself, it was more predicated on him actually MAKING that song a hit. Could anybody else in the game really have put out "H to the Izzo" and made it a "hit" besides Jay? Probably not. I think dude is finding out that it's hard to dictate where the game is gonna go without actually making music that forces it in that direction.

-e

DocBeezy

The Young Gunz album was a flop

which I think is too bad. I really enjoyed that album. A lot.

faux_rillz

I have a feeling the new Cam'ron will blow up. Rasppers tend to sell millions after they are shot

Cam's not on Def Jam.

faux_rillz

Pretty sure he did sign Rihanna though, who may be a shitty artist but she did have one of the biggest hits of the year

Big single, but last I checked that hadn't really been reflected in the SoundScans.

faux_rillz

Young Jeezy went platinum, Kanye is already double platinum, Juelz Santana is coming out real soon...

None of whom he signed to Def Jam. I thought he signed Jeezy but that was L.A. Reid, as was Teeina Maira.

Jeezy was languishing on the roster for a long time. The impetus to actually put an album out came on Jay's watch. Truthfully, though, Jeezy can claim more credit for his own success than anybody else can--he made himself a commodity, and secured a release date, with Trap Or Die and Streets is Watching.

MikeFreedomRock

First off, the industry as a whole is incredibly depressed. See if you can get a hand of soundscan for the week. The number one album is Destiny's Child with a little over 113K. That's pitiful. The number 3 album Martina McBride (who?) didn't even scan 100K. That is horrible. So let's look at his successes through those glasses.

Kanye definitely owes some of his success to Jay. Maybe Jeezy did it all himself, but he does have a marketing and publicity team behind him that is Def Jam. I think Jay's done a good job. I really don't know what people expect. Jay acquired a huge roster when he went to Def Jam. Let's see what he does with a Redman album, a DMX album, a Ja-Rule album, a Ghost album. Give him a couple of years before we sound the death knell. I think Jay brings an aura that is hard to quantify. There's definitely a buzz about Def Jam that wasn't there the last few years. Let's see if he can convert that buzz into tangible sales. I for one am not going to bet against him.

faux_rillz

First off, the industry as a whole is incredibly depressed. See if you can get a hand of soundscan for the week. The number one album is Destiny's Child with a little over 113K. That's pitiful. The number 3 album Martina McBride (who?) didn't even scan 100K. That is horrible. So let's look at his successes through those glasses.

Kanye definitely owes some of his success to Jay. Maybe Jeezy did it all himself, but he does have a marketing and publicity team behind him that is Def Jam. I think Jay's done a good job. I really don't know what people expect. Jay acquired a huge roster when he went to Def Jam. Let's see what he does with a Redman album, a DMX album, a Ja-Rule album, a Ghost album. Give him a couple of years before we sound the death knell. I think Jay brings an aura that is hard to quantify. There's definitely a buzz about Def Jam that wasn't there the last few years. Let's see if he can convert that buzz into tangible sales. I for one am not going to bet against him.

Is this rebuttal intended for me?

Because I'm not hating at all--I think Jay's doing a fine job; I was just trying to provide a little factual clarity on some of the points that people raised.

MikeFreedomRock

First off, the industry as a whole is incredibly depressed. See if you can get a hand of soundscan for the week. The number one album is Destiny's Child with a little over 113K. That's pitiful. The number 3 album Martina McBride (who?) didn't even scan 100K. That is horrible. So let's look at his successes through those glasses.

Kanye definitely owes some of his success to Jay. Maybe Jeezy did it all himself, but he does have a marketing and publicity team behind him that is Def Jam. I think Jay's done a good job. I really don't know what people expect. Jay acquired a huge roster when he went to Def Jam. Let's see what he does with a Redman album, a DMX album, a Ja-Rule album, a Ghost album. Give him a couple of years before we sound the death knell. I think Jay brings an aura that is hard to quantify. There's definitely a buzz about Def Jam that wasn't there the last few years. Let's see if he can convert that buzz into tangible sales. I for one am not going to bet against him.

Is this rebuttal intended for me?

Because I'm not hating at all--I think Jay's doing a fine job; I was just trying to provide a little factual clarity on some of the points that people raised.

No, not at all. Sensitive thugs need hugs. It was more a response to what I perceived as the tenor of the thread.

33thirdcom

I don't see how ya'll are judging Jay as head of Def Jam so far. He hasn't been there long enough to have any changes he made/is making take effect on the artist side. He hasn't even been there a year... I mean Jermaine Dupri is still working through the artists that were handed to him at Virgin and he won't be through them until early 2006. So anyone that has come out or is coming out for the remainder of 2005 if they do good or bad is primarily due to L.A. no Jay. Honestly anything that Jay is doing over at Def Jam hasn't shown up so I can't even begin to judge his performance.

faux_rillz

First off, the industry as a whole is incredibly depressed. See if you can get a hand of soundscan for the week. The number one album is Destiny's Child with a little over 113K. That's pitiful. The number 3 album Martina McBride (who?) didn't even scan 100K. That is horrible. So let's look at his successes through those glasses.

Kanye definitely owes some of his success to Jay. Maybe Jeezy did it all himself, but he does have a marketing and publicity team behind him that is Def Jam. I think Jay's done a good job. I really don't know what people expect. Jay acquired a huge roster when he went to Def Jam. Let's see what he does with a Redman album, a DMX album, a Ja-Rule album, a Ghost album. Give him a couple of years before we sound the death knell. I think Jay brings an aura that is hard to quantify. There's definitely a buzz about Def Jam that wasn't there the last few years. Let's see if he can convert that buzz into tangible sales. I for one am not going to bet against him.

Is this rebuttal intended for me?

Because I'm not hating at all--I think Jay's doing a fine job; I was just trying to provide a little factual clarity on some of the points that people raised.

No, not at all. Sensitive thugs need hugs.

I am not the one who was sobbing into his keyboard at the mere suggestion that U.G.K. was as important a group as Public Enemy.

So emoooootionaaaaall

DJCire

I don't see how ya'll are judging Jay as head of Def Jam so far. He hasn't been there long enough to have any changes he made/is making take effect on the artist side. He hasn't even been there a year... I mean Jermaine Dupri is still working through the artists that were handed to him at Virgin and he won't be through them until early 2006. So anyone that has come out or is coming out for the remainder of 2005 if they do good or bad is primarily due to L.A. no Jay. Honestly anything that Jay is doing over at Def Jam hasn't shown up so I can't even begin to judge his performance.

batmon

I don't see how ya'll are judging Jay as head of Def Jam so far. He hasn't been there long enough to have any changes he made/is making take effect on the artist side. He hasn't even been there a year... I mean Jermaine Dupri is still working through the artists that were handed to him at Virgin and he won't be through them until early 2006. So anyone that has come out or is coming out for the remainder of 2005 if they do good or bad is primarily due to L.A. no Jay. Honestly anything that Jay is doing over at Def Jam hasn't shown up so I can't even begin to judge his performance.

No doubt.

He'll create a serious black hole when he drops hiz album. Maybe after hiz joint goes Plat.,he can start w/ whomever had guest appearences.