Who was the worse President, Bush, or Jay Z?

[Rukas]

Ok I really dont want to get into Bush's Presidency that was just a joke to get your attention, but damn Jay sucks at Def Jam.

What the fuck has he done for the label apart from Rihanna? He bought Nas into the flock and released a shitty album from the man (admit it), released his own shitty album while promoting himself into a bigger star than his music warrants right now, and brought out Rihanna, and in the process pissed away everyone elses career on that roster.

I mean, seriously, the biggest news coming out of Def Jam is Jay and Bay's wedding and Nas' upcoming album. Does the label even have a fucking talent development department? Does Jay even listen to new demo tapes?

 

[Farzin]

I doubt Jay does jack shit over there.

Here is the problem. They hired Jay for his popularity. Thats exactly what they got. Him being himself and just an artist. He doesnt know how to run a label. I doubt he did anything at the rock it was all Dash's doing.

Whoever decided to hire Jay as president was an idiot. Def Jam went from one of the leading labels to a joke. This is not only Jay's doing but he is part of the problem.

 

[PuffnScruff]

rick ross debut album was a hit, the first single was played all over non stop, although that was more due to a viral word of mouth popularity imo. the video for the hustlin was on the net months before it hit t.v.

hip hop is dead was not a shitty album, people that say that are usually really big nas haters.

the roots put out a great album under def jam, but not marketed well and must have pissed off someone since it leaked so damn early

ne-yo has done very well and became successful under def jam

jeezy has done very well also

the worst thing to be released was kingdom come but lets not forget american gangster was a really good album

 

[FroDawgg]

^^^agreed 100%

 

[S O F I]

rick ross debut album was a hit, the first single was played all over non stop, although that was more due to a viral word of mouth popularity imo. the video for the hustlin was on the net months before it hit t.v.

hip hop is dead was not a shitty album, people that say that are usually really big nas haters.

the roots put out a great album under def jam, but not marketed well and must have pissed off someone since it leaked so damn early

ne-yo has done very well and became successful under def jam

jeezy has done very well also

the worst thing to be released was kingdom come but lets not forget american gangster was a really good album

I would say that Hip Hop is Dead isn't a shitty album only to big Nas fans and wanna-be hip hop heads.

For the general rap fan, the album didn't do much because the production sucked and it had no replay value.

 

[Rukas]

PuffNScruff, Rick Ross' Port of Miami album and Hustlin track have nothing to do with Def Jam they just picked up distribution of the label Rick is on, Slip-N-Slide.

Nas' album sucked only Nas fans liked it it was not a good Hip-Hop album.

Ne-Yo was already famous and good before Jay came along. So was Jeezy and so were the Roots.

So all Jay did was "let" them release an album.

What has he done to move Def Jam forward other that Rihanna?

 

[roaches]

1. How did other labels' do w/ regard to these areas during Jay-Z's run at Def Jam?

2. What about LA Reid's role?

 

[Rukas]

1. How did other labels' do w/ regard to these areas during Jay-Z's run at Def Jam?

2. What about LA Reid's role?

Perhaps they didnt do all that much, but I think Jay Z had the potential to do a LOT and just focused on being a superstar instead of doing it.

 

[PuffnScruff]

PuffNScruff, Rick Ross' Port of Miami album and Hustlin track have nothing to do with Def Jam they just picked up distribution of the label Rick is on, Slip-N-Slide.

Nas' album sucked only Nas fans liked it it was not a good Hip-Hop album.

Ne-Yo was already famous and good before Jay came along. So was Jeezy and so were the Roots.

So all Jay did was "let" them release an album.

What has he done to move Def Jam forward other that Rihanna?

port of miami still had the def jam label attached to so it still came out under def jam while jayz was president. so yes it had something to do with def jam

regardless if jeezy, the roots, or ne-yo had popularity before jay became president it is not the point. you asked what jayz did for the label. he may not have done what he experienced in the late 90's under the label but when you look at the rap side of the industry and how poorly it has done in the past few years, def jam under him has done pretty decent compared to other labels and has not only had some multi platinum albums but also some of the most popular albums from the past few years come out under the label.

i do not think he has done anything amazing for the label and has not lived up the hype some people have built up for the label but i dont think it is fair to say he hasn't done anything for the label. he could have done a lot better but it wasnt that bad or anything (unless you are joe buddens). i imagine reid will probably do better if not just the same for the next few years.

at the end of the day jayz had a huge ego and you cant put an ego driven person in charge of a label that he is also an artist on. the two just clash.

 

[Da_Funk]

Isn't Kanye on def jam? If so I'm sure he made them a fuck ton of money.

 

[ill_joe]

Jay didn't get the job because he could run a label he got the job because he is Jay, his name alone generates publicity and interest.

That was a huge mistake, a record label is a business and he ran it into the ground because he wanted to be the star. Budgets were cut and jobs lost because of his "marketing schemes". Ghostface album flopped like a fat bitch on a trampoline because there was no money for promotion because Jay ate that shit up.

HHID is a piece of shit, I'm a Nas fan I have every album but its garbage. I didn't even keep the download, shit got deleted. The album along with the forthcoming "Nigger" wasn't about music at all it was about money its controversial title was used to generate talk and interest and ultimately sales.

So Nas and Jay can go suck donkey balls.

 

[masta247]

I could never stand Jay-Z so imo he's as bad as always.
Less Jay-z tracks on the radio = better.

 

[Rukas]

In my opinion you could have put a monkey in charge of Def Jam and Rick Ross, Jeezy and Ne Yo would have still dropped dope albums.

Jay brought Nas to Def Jam and it didnt do anything great for the label. The only thing he did good was Rihanna but that didnt really do much for Hip-Hop either.


When Jay became President I remember thinking ok, now he made it, hes going to go find some young hungry up and comers and give them shots, hes going to show respect to his pears on Def Jam like DMX and Method Man and allow them to release good projects, he's going to put out quality Hip-Hop. Instead he brought in old rappers, pissed on the current roster to the point of most of them leaving, and boosted R&B sales.


Not what I expected.

 

[Rahim]

LL wasnt happy about this either at some point..he didn't like the fact that Jay-Z is running things the way that he was

 

[FroDawgg]

Isn't Kanye on def jam? If so I'm sure he made them a fuck ton of money.

hahahaha...true.

 

[ChrisZimbo]

rick ross debut album was a hit, the first single was played all over non stop, although that was more due to a viral word of mouth popularity imo. the video for the hustlin was on the net months before it hit t.v.

hip hop is dead was not a shitty album, people that say that are usually really big nas haters.

the roots put out a great album under def jam, but not marketed well and must have pissed off someone since it leaked so damn early

ne-yo has done very well and became successful under def jam

jeezy has done very well also

the worst thing to be released was kingdom come but lets not forget american gangster was a really good album

I'm going to have to co-sign.

How are you possibly going to say he didn't do squat with people like Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Rick Ross, Jeezy etc which came under that label, under his wing. They dominated the years they dropped those albums. So i really do find it confusing how he was shit at managing Def Jam.

Before you start flaming this, exactly how do you know the behind scenes, the dynamics of what he actually did at the label?

Now, the only reason why i agreed with what Puff said, was because there was solid proof. They all had crazy sales, that info can be dug up.

 

[_carmi]

In my opinion you could have put a monkey in charge of Def Jam and Rick Ross, Jeezy and Ne Yo would have still dropped dope albums.

Jay brought Nas to Def Jam and it didnt do anything great for the label. The only thing he did good was Rihanna but that didnt really do much for Hip-Hop either.


When Jay became President I remember thinking ok, now he made it, hes going to go find some young hungry up and comers and give them shots, hes going to show respect to his pears on Def Jam like DMX and Method Man and allow them to release good projects, he's going to put out quality Hip-Hop. Instead he brought in old rappers, pissed on the current roster to the point of most of them leaving, and boosted R&B sales.


Not what I expected.

I agree with what Puff said, Jay-Z was at least good for Def Jam. Yeah he didn't do what YOU expected him to do, but business wise, he was good for Def Jam. Lots of money came in under his reign. It's not because he didn't bring young new rappers and didn't released quality hip hop that he was shit at Def Jam. Anyways how can you expect good quality hip hop from artists under his wing when himself he puts out garbage hip hop lol.

 

[Rukas]

I'm going to have to co-sign.

How are you possibly going to say he didn't do squat with people like Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Rick Ross, Jeezy etc which came under that label, under his wing. They dominated the years they dropped those albums. So i really do find it confusing how he was shit at managing Def Jam.

Before you start flaming this, exactly how do you know the behind scenes, the dynamics of what he actually did at the label?

Now, the only reason why i agreed with what Puff said, was because there was solid proof. They all had crazy sales, that info can be dug up.

Those artists were already big before Jay Z came along, its not like he played a big part in developing them or putting together their albums, he didnt. All he did was allow them to release a CD. So he as a president, did nothing NEW for the label.

I guess what I ask myself is, with Jay leaving the job now, is he leaving Def Jam better off than when he joined it? And to me that answer is no.

 

[_carmi]

Those artists were already big before Jay Z came along, its not like he played a big part in developing them or putting together their albums, he didnt. All he did was allow them to release a CD. So he as a president, did nothing NEW for the label.

I guess what I ask myself is, with Jay leaving the job now, is he leaving Def Jam better off than when he joined it? And to me that answer is no.

It's not because an artist's first release is good that sales for the 2nd will be as good. Somehow, Jay-Z managed to keep those artists at the top of their game. Ne-yo is as big if not bigger than what he was, and I won't even speak about the Rihanna phenomenon. 3 cds that sold exceptionnally well, all singles were hits.

 

[Rukas]

It's not because an artist's first release is good that sales for the 2nd will be as good. Somehow, Jay-Z managed to keep those artists at the top of their game. Ne-yo is as big if not bigger than what he was,

But Jay was just CEO of the label, its like saying that Russel was involved in the creative process of those artists first albums, thats not really the case, the CEO handles business. Jay didnt produce those albums, didnt write them, nadda. Anyone with his resources could have done the same thing.

and I won't even speak about the Rihanna phenomenon. 3 cds that sold exceptionnally well, all singles were hits.

Yes, Rihanna is amazing, and like I said, thats the only thing Jay did in my opinion, that will be his Def Jam legacy. I just wish he did the same thing for Hip-Hop that he did for R&B.