First!!!

I wonder if he will buy back Rocafella Records since Def Jam has complete ownership. Hope he does that digital label too. CD really isn’t cutting it anymore. Somebody has to try something different.

First……and I just wanna say…that I think both parties will grow from the split…Def Jam artist no longer have Jay to blame for lackluster sales…or the perceived “Diddy” effect…having an artist as a label head is when said Head still wants to put out records…Jay is an amzing businessman and will probably go do his things at Sony or go over to Columbia with Rick Ruben…with his maters in hand mind you…and now all those guys that feel like the head honcho was consuming to big a piece of the marketing dollars cant get their fair share….Now we really get to see if A. the older artist still have their relevance and a dedicated fanbase, and B. the younger artists hopefully will be properly groomed and released to see if they sink or swim.

first bitches… about time he stepped down

not really “breaking news” it ain’t like he retired….even if he did, he’ll just come back with another classic lol

first ….i wish u continued success

Shit !!!!!!!!!!!

First!!!

IS this a surprise though??

Thats the first time I ever typed first. Slight corny???

thank god maybe now niggas can get a commercial or sumthin for dere albums dat nigga is greedy get money my niggas

The music bizz is crashing right before our very eyes.

YES!!!!! THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER WITH DEF JAM!!!! ARTISTS WILL GET PUBLICITY NOW!!!

hova

http://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/CANNONCITY

First. Bitches

Dang, this really caught me by surprise. I saw this one of those shitty gossip blogs a while back, who knew it was true. This leaves a whole host of issues. Who will take the helm of Def Jam?

As a man Jay-z has been a person of great representation at Def Jam, and as a president. Considering that he came from the gutter, so with that I commend him; he made his mark in history and no one can take that from him. Regardless of what you will say. Island Def Jam has always been on some BS, even before Jay got there look at Cormegas projects

Oh shit he did it! LOL, I think its best for both parties.

dam joe budden made jay-z quit

The black album was the best he has made next to reasonable doubt…I give him credit for doing something different with Kingdom and American Gangster, but those two albums are not my thing.

As far as management…fuckin profesional and actually made a lot of good moves. LA Reid and those other fucks are just worried that he might take over their jobs so they pushed him out.

Good move for jay, i think he needs to go in his own direction and set up another machine. Even though jay was the president @ DJ, he was also clearly the best hiphop artist for the label and its about time he prep us for the future of music. At the same time DJ needs to look for a replacement because this will definitely be a major loss for a major label.(musically/busniess)

[...] past few months and rumors of him leaving Def Jam, Jay announced earlier today that he will be stepping down as president of Def Jam when his contract wraps up at the end of [...]

I THINK ITS GREAT THAT HE HAS STEPPED DOWN.

I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHO PEOPLE ARE GONNA BLAME NOW WHEN THEIR RECORDS DON’T SELL……LOL

I’M LAUGHING, BUT SERIOUSLY.

IF YOUR ALBUM DOSENT SELL, PEOPLE PROBABLY DIDN’T WANT IT……

OR PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH TO BUY IT, BUT DOWNLOAD IT INSTEAD.

ALL YALL NIGGAS DAT WAS UMMM TALKIN BOUT LL COOL J DONT NO SHIT FEEL REAL STUPID DONT YALL HAHAH MERRY CHRISTMAS BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jay-z im glad u left…now u and beyonce can be on da same label and yall could have a kid……pump some babies in beyoce hov….

knock beyoce up j…and sweep her off her feet

survive the droughts, i wish u well

hov bout to make BIG moves in 2008

jay wasn’t right for that kind of position.

i think that L.A. thought that since he kept Def Jam afloat as an artist in 90’s - current, that he could take post as an executive.

i really can’t say, but that’s my guess. i really don’t want to hear anything more from LL, but understand why he left def jam.

LL came before jay and stayed faithful to the label, never leaving until jigga was promoted.

i wonder why??

jay has all the opportunity in the world, maybe having so many hats with clothing, club ownership, etc., takes its toll.

hmm.

nasty

Huge party going on at LL’s house?

“Houston’s Finest”, I totally agree with you. Peace.

I’m glad he left, NOW WHEN EXIT 13 AND OTHER DEF JAM ARTISTS FAIL THEY CAN’T BLAME HOV THEY’LL HAVE TO BLAME THEIR WACKNESS ON THEMSELVES!!!

BTW it’s in Jay’s contract that everyone he signed while on his term @ def jam (i.e. Kanye, Rick Ross, Fab, Jeezy) can go with him should he head up another label hmmm somethin’ to think about huh?

[...] Source XLLMAG [...]

Nothing will change with Def Jam because L.A. Reid was running the label all along. Jay-Z was just the puppet taking the shots when everything wasn’t going well. While Jay-Z was trying to make it look like he was running things, he really was getting played by L.A. Reid. L.A. Reid is the smart one because he let Jay-Z take all the negative shots.

wow Def Jam messed up with this one!! jay was the reason that people like fab and nas came over!! I hope the people he signed leave the label with him!! especially kanye!!!! cause next to jay he the dopest rapper alive!!!!!!!!!! and tell bol suck a dick kanye is a rapper!!!

He wasn’t the “REAL” president of Def Jam anyway. Anyone who was working there will tell you on the low that L.A. Reid really ran shit there. Jay-Z was the figurehead to smooth things over between the rappers & the L.A. Reid who’s only real experience is dealing with R&B artists & not rappers. Jay-Z got all the blame while L.A. Reid was the real Wizard of Oz. The question now is who does L.A. Reid hire to become his new shield.

b2k on the homo tip in 2005

http://nahright.com/news/2007/12/24/jay-z-resigns-from-def-jam/

Well, I think the move will be great for both sides here. Both will move forward and I wish both side much continued success. But, I always wondered what all the fuss of publicity for artists was about. The complaint was that other artists don’t get publicity because Jay was only worried about publicity for himself. In case you didn’t notice, Jay doesn’t have to do any real publicity for his records. Every November, you look for a Jay-Z record and you look for it becasue he’s Jay-Z and he’s talented. Or, if you don’t like him, then you know evey November that you’re going to get sick and tired of all the hype over that dude Jay-Z that you can’t stand. Either way, he’s going to sell because he’s Jay. If you’re hot, you don’t need a lot of publicity to sell. Some artists need to realize that you need to step your (rhyme/rap)game up and do some work for self to maintain your relevance, fan base, and hotness factor or you’ll “fall off’, per se. Ask Common, who some say fell off but came back with Be. With Jay-Z no longer around, if the same artists don’t sell, now what? Take a page from Kanye and create your own buzz.
Late.

jay-z was def jams saving grace .if not for jay def jam would be bankrupt right now.he saved that label and brought them back to prominence .
now lets see who those corny rappers over there are gonna blame for their flops.

So now who is going to be the blame when artists albums don’t sell like they supposed to?

wanna see something funny?still no bids on tupacs hummer..they relisted it to give it more time and still no bids??

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hummer-H1-Tupac-Shakur-1996-H1-Hummer-Fully-Loaded-Original_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ5360QQihZ018QQitemZ280185390827QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

click that

True. If an album doesn’t connect with the fans or is just plaine out garbage be a man and stop blaiming others for your failure because when an album does good the artist takes all the credit not the lable.So I know Jay will do his thang like always but LL and every other hater will have to bitch at someone else when there album only hits gold if that.Remeber the industry is fucked due to downloading and albums with only 2-3 hot jointz.

Jay was a great leader:
The Roots- Game Theory
Method Man- The Day After 4:21
Memphis Bleek- 534
Nas- Hip-Hop is Dead
Kanye West- Late Registration
Kanye West- Graduation
Beanie Sigel- The Solution
Freeway- Free At Last
Ghostface- Fishscale
Ghostface- The Big Doe Rehab
Jay-Z- Kingdom Come
Jay-Z- American Gangster
Ludacris- Release Therapy
Fabolous- From Somethin to Nothin
All these albums were decent, Jay was also responsible for breaking new artist like Rick Ross & Young Jeezy. He bought Nas & Fabolous to Def Jam also. He Brought Rihanna & Neyo to Def Jam. So what LL Cool J & Joe Buddens weren’t happy. Jay was a scary judge of talent & he maximized every artist’s full potential.

Out of all of those albums you mentioned, how many went platinum and as for rick ross, where is he? Memph who beenie who, freeway who. method man who. yothis just in, those albums did not move man. If that is what you consider full potential, Nas is Psychic cuz hip hop is DEAD

Out of all of those albums you mentioned, how many went platinum and as for rick ross, where is he? Memph who beenie who, freeway who. method man who. yothis just in, those albums did not move man. If that is what you consider full potential, Nas is Psychic cuz hip hop is DEAD!!!

yo, hold it down.. hold it up ..come around…coming up, stfu, boys know my strategy spit rhymes radically, suspended flow the D game academy, they talk sh1t pretend that they mad at me.

Fuck it main, happy new year, hold it down, do you, keep your game up, fuck the fuckery.

Mutherfucker fell off years ago, it’s a sad story but he succeded so WhoGaff.

To everybody writing “first”:

eat a dic!

just point out the bounce !
yo jay is the first ;
no problem
just
KING HOVA
LAST ALBUM in DEJ JAM
Maybe in 2008 !
AND ITS OKAY !
a new classic !
and thats right !
peace y’all
merry christmas

JEHOVAH IS JUST GETTING STARTED!….WATCH HOW HE’S GOING TO DEAL WITH THE PEOPLE AT HIS FEET IN ‘08….(b/c if you think you’re bigger than God or compare yourself to him…get ready for his wrath)

LL, Method Man, Joe Budden, and everyone else, who are you going to blame now? I want to see triple platinum sales from all of you women…I mean artists that were complaining about “Jay wasn’t promoting my album right” When your new cds go triple wood, who are you going to blame your irrelevance on then? Clowns

imma pretty much echo everyone else statements here…im sure LL is throwing a party right now, celebrating the fact that he no longer has to deal with his jealous female tendencies now that Jay is gone.

and when these dudes put out shitty ass shit fest album and nobody buys them then im sure they prolly still will blame Jay but its shouldnt matter to Jay he’ll go to Columbia and become Jim Jones boss, on some baaaaaaallin shit.

I called this on YN’s 24.

You know what gave this away?

When he said in the XXL cover story, in the interview with YN, something like:

“All I care about is making history. If I can’t look around the room and see the fire in everybody’s eyes…”

Maybe that’s not a correct quote, but it works for me. Get like me.

It’s gonna be a cold spring and probably a cruel summer (no Bananarama).

THANK HOVA…..I MEAN, THANK GOD!!

if jay dont wanna sell cd no more its the apocalypse.

Wow! Def Jam is about to become the new So So Def…Which is So SO Wack!

[...] XXLmag.com: “After months of speculation surrounding the future of his position, rapper/executive Shawn [...]

WHATS THE POINT OF BEING ON A BIG LABEL? The point is having the backing of the lable when you release a project so that you get promotion. The complaint is/was (1) Some people didn’t get any promotion, (2) Some people didn’t get any Album put out period!

Jay gets the blame, why? Cause he’s a rapper, and he supposed to know where rappers frustration comes from. He’s SUPPOSED to, but he DOSEN’T.

Jay could release an album tomorrow, no promotion, no warning, and sell a Mil, easy. A lable executive should KNOW the difference between an artist like himself, and an artist that needs financial backing from the lable to have a successful record. Yea Common gained alot more respect recently, but that street buz ain’t make him sell that many more records. Common ain’t no Kanye, or no Jay, or no Beyonce’. Not all artists sit in that space. NOT ALL ARTISTS ARE AUTOMATIC!!

I would NOT be surprised, if Jay ain’t get the boot intentionally. They garnered over 20 Grammy nods, but from 3 core artists; Himself, Kanye and Rhianna (+ Neyo). I must say that deserves commending but so what…Half the other artists done jumped ship, and had a bunch of flopped albums. Ya’ll think the powers that be ain’t notice all this is going down? Ya’ll think that everybody saying the same thing could be wrong? You haven’t been calling the “Audibles” as well as you think Jigga. And guess what, “they” STILL call the shots. Guess which calling has more weight.

young jeezy and rick ross count as def jam artists right?

lmao@
bye_jay-z says: “dam joe budden made jay-z quit”

watch this past his prime bill parcells aka jay z now left def jam n just like when parcells left the cowboys now they r nastier than ever bet the sam happens at def jam.

it was smart quit while ur ahead….. cause nigga u was bout to get yo ass fired i could just hear the def jam excs saying it like the donald : ” your fired, peace joe camel

He did sign jeezy & ross. Also Jay-Z Traded musiq soul child’s contract for Fabolous’s contract @ Atlantic. Rihanna & Neeyo sold millions of records.

damn, some people didnt have anything better to do on christmas morning than respond to this? thats kinda sad. back to the subject, i feel what everybody said here. meth, the roots, LL, buddens, and dont forget n.o.r.e. left the label and all blaimed jay-z for no promotion on there albums or for not having albums at all. also people forget that LL’s DEFinition album that dropped before jay-z took over as president flopped too. i wont credit jay for the success of rhianna and neyo cause we all know la reid can market a pop act, and thats what he did with them. la dont know shit about street hip hop, outkast obviously dont count. and thats where the sales are lacking. ross went gold but looks like hes gonna be a 1 hit wonder. jeezy went platinum back to back thats a perfect example of jays hit or miss track record during his run as pres, when you think of all the flops that came out in between these successes. its gonna be interesting to see what all these artists do when they no longer have a big name scape goat to blame there flops on.

also, if he goes to columbia records, isnt that like hiring a coach with a .500 record to coach one of the elite teams in the league? there not going off winning percantage there going off name recognition.

I knew he was going to leave Def Jam. They give him to much static as a business person.

GOOD RIDDANCE!OVERRATED PUNK….RECORDS SALES AINT SHITE AND DONT PROVE SHITE,JERU THE DAMAJA WAS A HISTORIC LYRICISTS AND DID’NT SELL A THINGALING

I’m so sick and tired of reading shit about why albums don’t sell. Every single one of you Mother F@#$kers knew when every songle album came out, all yall knew where to buy them…the only reason why albums don’t sell is because “NIGGAZ DON”T BUY ALBUMS” and the only ones that barely sold over a million or is because they have a very wide fan base. The only thing that are selling, and I know you niggaz aren’t payin attention, Country music (think about it) White people support each other, and we should do the same.

Why do we as black ppl hate on each other so much….imagine a united hip hop. Let me see wat happens when a white dude takes over (and I’m not being racial) but we need more black men and women in power

Yall actin like a bunch of retards, I blame it on the school system.

Good Job Sean Carter, you definately did your thing in my view.

P.S. I actually buy albums!!!!!!

by hov stepping down as pres from def jam it’s about time universal go find someone who really understand da tru meaning of putting out artists instead of being all for self like hov was myspace onpointtj.

I got the hottest jointz. Get em’ at http://www.MySpace.com/KalvinEllisonMusic.

Damage is already done. Fuck Jay Z. And on the real, who the fuck really cares?

WELL PEOPLE ITS TIME TO MOVE ON. JAY DID DO HIS PART AS PRESIDENT AT DEF JAM. PEEP THIS

FABOLOUS- PLATINIUM
YOUNG JEEZY-PLATINIUM
RICK ROSS- PLATINIUM
KANYE WEST-2x PLATINUM
NE-YO, RIHANNA-PLATINUM ARTIST
LL COOL J, JOE BUDDENS, METH ALL JUST SOME SALTY ASS NIGGAS. REALITY FINALLY HITS LL AND HE CAN’T TAKE IT. THATS RIGHT BRO, YOUR NOT HOT SHIT ANYMORE. JOE BUDDEN, THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL, YOU CAN’T PRODUCE. THEN DISS JAY FOR YOUR FUCK UPS, NIGGA PLEASE. STOP THE SALTY ASS SHIT AND LET ME SEE WHAT CAN YOU DO WITHOUT A DEAL. JAY KNOW IT, HE CAN KILL ALL YOU HAS BEEN’S. MOVE AROUND
TEXAS MADE, HOLLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

life is change and evolution! beanie and freeway time has come and gone!they gotta take it like men and move on with their lives! hip hop has problems because the old heads arent going out and getting younger talent that present fresh and new ideas and different sounds! dem niggas aint selling cuz their time is up!

JAY-Z IS GONNA RULE 2008 OTHER NIGGAZ ARE ABOUT TO GET GUNNED DOWN QND CLAPPED QUICK.SONY .HERE WE COME.

In my opinion, Jay-Z was music business executive of the year. Get some music downloads for dirt cheap at http://www.MySpace.com/KalvinEllisonMusic

TOO FUNNY……

no for nothing yall act like Jay was a good business man. just because you cash in a check doesnt mean you know what your doing. everyone said this since day one in Jay-z or sean carter career he only cares about his money point blank . business men who make money are crooked that rule 101 . beanie was just crying at hot 97 how he wasnt being taking care of by Jay-z & def jam( am i my brothers keeper we all we got) lol . Jay-z got tooken out by Jim Jones( the bum on the bench )

I agree. Jay was only good promoting himself. People like Red and Meth missed out big time, with some very strong albums. Due to lack of promotion, they flopped.

Dude…….HE SIGNED PITTSBURGH SLIM

ONE BIG LOL

Wateva happenend 2 promoting yo damn self? For the artist that have been in da game 4 a minute, if the label aint promoting u how u think they should, then u gotta promote urself. Jay did wat he did while at Def Jam. now its time 4 him 2 move on. But while he was there, they had success. Luda, Jeezy, Fab, Nas, Ne-yo, Rihanna. Thats about it. yea people were sleepin on Ghostface & Method Man. But shyt u cant just sit back n expect 2 get pampered as far as promotion. Its the bench players not gettin their P/T. Ok now dat Jay gone, these otha players can get in da game n shine. So lets see if u can really shine or u gon continue 2 blame others.

[...] Read the entire article, HERE. [...]

WELL THE ONE PERSON I CAN THINK IS BETTER FOR THIS JOB IS DAMON DASH. THINK ABOUT IT, WHEN THE ROC WAS A DYNASTY JAY,BIGGS AND DAME WAS ALL BEHIND THAT SHIT. DAME MARKET ABILITY IS GOOD, STAR POWER AND HE HAS A AGRESSIVE BUSINESS SWAGGER. SO I PURPOSE TO YOU THE NEW ROC-A-FELLA DYNASTY…
CO. FOUNDERS JAY,BIGGS AND DAME
THE UNDERBOSSES: BEANIE SIGEL, BLEEK AND FREEWAY.
THE STARS: KANYE WEST, FABOLOUS AND NE-YO.
THE TEAM: YOUNG GUNS, FOXY BROWN, THE ROC ROSTER, RICK ROSS AND YOUNG JEEZY.
TELL ME THAT AIN’T NO KILLER DYNASTY. TEXAS MADE, HOLLA BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[...] Jay-Z Leaves Def Jam - This was all over the radio when I was in Philly this week. Is anyone surprised? I’m not. Honestly, I thought the postion was one of those glorified A&R type things anyway. Jay needs to stick to rapping–the whole thing reminds me of when Michael Jordan tried to manage the Wizards. [...]

FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY NOW HE CAN STOP WITH THE SUCKER ASS HAND ON TOP OF HEAD SHIT…. HIP HOPS NEW BIRTH…….JAY I DONT KNOW WHAT THE REAL REASON IS AND NO I KNOW I AINT GO AS MUCH DOUGH AS YOU OR MAY NOT EVEN HAVE AS MUCH FAN BASE..BUT PLEASE STICK TO INVESTING AND RAPPING YOU HAVE PROVEN SINCE CARTER FACULTY THAT YOU ARE NOT A LABEL OWNER/ PRESIDENT..DAME MADE THE ROCK BUSINESS WISE YOU DID YOUR PART WITH THE MUSIC….BOTTOM LINE….

IF EVERYBODY JUMPED OFF THE ROOF WOULD YOU?

EXACTLY SO IF I KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR HISTORY I DONT CARE HOW MANY FANS HAVE FALLEN AT YOUR FEET AND PLATINUM ALBUMS YOU SELL “IT DOES NOT MAKE YOU A GOOD BUSINESS MAN” AND HOLDING HIP HOP BACK FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAVE DONE MY BROTHER….

HIP HOP IS ALIVE AGAIN”

[...] you may have already heard, Hovie has stepped down from his role as El Prezidente’ for the hip-hop house of hits. Now every so called “industry [...]