S. Samuel
Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Trinidad James and more have offered their take on Jay-Z dominating all avenues of entertainment these past few weeks with his Magna Carta Holy Grail album promotional campaign.
In 2 Chainz and Big Sean’s perspectives, Hov has only inspired his hip-hop peers.
Fans are always impressed by Hov’s business moves, but his fellow MCs are, too, including Big Sean who told MTV News, “I think how Jay-Z announced his album is pretty bawsed up.” 2 Chainz wasn’t afraid to admit that he’d like to take a page out of Hov’s book as well. “I’m a big fan of Jay-Z’s and straight up he showed us how to do it, man, so I can’t lie and say I’m not tryna following his footsteps,” Chainz said. (MTV)
West Coast rap veteran Warren G and Trinidad James were also blown away by Jay’s unexpected power move.
“That was one of the dopest moves ever,” Warren G said of the Roc Nation boss’ album promo plan. “That was huge. For Samsung to collaborate with Jay-Z on an album, that’s incredible. Nobody’s done it, so I think it’s brilliant.” For a relatively new rapper like Trinidad James, it’s becoming clear that the sky’s the limit. “Of course, at the level of life where [he is] right now, those things that [he’s] doing is gonna work for so many reasons,” the Atlanta rapper told MTV News. “Either way, it’s gonna be good.” (MTV)
Recently, Hov’s industry pal Diddy gushed over what Jay’s decision to team with Samsung could mean for the future.
“While I was out here I called Jay and me and him been talking back and forth about the network and about his deal and how proud we were of each other. We’re actually changing together the business model of the music industry. As far as our power, you can see the power that we have, not me and Jay-Z, the power that we have as a culture that Samsung now is going to give Apple a run for its money. People actually believe and we believe in our leaders in hip-hop. What they say is cool and what they say is next and we recognized that what Samsung is doing is moving forward. We were like “Hey man, we may need to give this Galaxy joint a chance” and that’s a lot of power, man.” (VIBE)
Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin gave his take on Jay’s upcoming solo album this week.
When we recently caught up with Rick over the phone, he explained: “The point of me being in the commercials was that he was filming a documentary and he asked me–I imagine he’s just comfortable talking to me–to come listen to the songs with him and just talk about the songs. Just listen to it and talk about it, and that’s what we did. It was fun.” He went on to divulge what he initially thought of Magna Carta, saying, “I liked what I heard, but it was a little difficult–after just coming from the Kanye sessions–to listen to Jay’s album, because they’re so different. I was in a very alternative and progressive headspace, and Jay’s record is a more traditional hip-hop record.” (XXL Mag)
