iHipHop AdminIt’s been a pretty good year for Jay-Z. he dropped a well-received album, his Def Jam artists Rihanna, Kanye West, and Ne-Yo have been blowing up all year and the label earned 26 Grammy nominations. But his contract as president and CEO Def Jam Records ends at the end of the month and there has yet to be announcement if he will be back or not.
“I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes,” Jay-Z told Entertainment Weekly. “But seriously, it’s not about money. That’s really the last thing. Of course, as a person that does these type of things and puts his heart and soul into it — and it’s effective, as the Grammys would indicate — you want to be compensated for what you do. But it’s really not about money. It’s really about the future of the music business, and not wasting anyone’s time. I don’t ever want to sit in a seat just to sit in a seat. I could be off doing something else that’s beneficial to the future of the music business as well as myself. So it’s not about money! I mean, you couldn’t pay me enough. And I don’t mean that in a cocky way.”
Jay-Z said that negotiations are currently under-way and refutes the New York Daily News story that says talks stalled because of money. There’s no word on what Jigga’s next project is.
If he stays, so what? If he goes, so what? All things considered, this was a successful run as a CEO of a major label. It’s not going to kill Def Jam or Jay if he leaves. His name carries enough weight that he can do pretty much whatever he wants. There aren’t too many ears in the business world that wouldn’t listen to Jay right now. Keep doing what’chu doing Jay!