How Jay-Z Killed His Own Clothing Brand

 

Jay-Z sold the rights to the Rocawear brand to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million. Jay-Z will retain his stake in the company and will continue to oversee the marketing, licensing, and product development.

If you were a fan of hip hop in the late 90s and early to mid-noughties, then Rocawear will need no introduction. Items from the fashion label, co-founded by rapper Jay-Z, were as common a sight in music videos as groups of scantily-clad ladies popping bottles of Cristal in a hot tub.

The Evolution Of Jay-Z

 

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z (stylized as JAY-Z) is an American rapper and businessman. He is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, having sold more than 100 million records, while receiving 21 Grammy Awards for his music. 

MTV ranked him the "Greatest MC of all time" in 2006.

Jay Z Splits From Longtime Business Partner

Jay Z has ended his partnership with John Meneilly, a man he once called his ‘consigliere.’

On to the next one. Jay Z and Solange Knowles may have (publicly at least) squashed whatever beef led to their now-infamous elevator brawl, but Hova and his longtime business manager are over.

Music industry insiders exclusively tell Confidenti@l that Jay Z has cut ties with John Meneilly, who helped build the “Empire State” rapper’s empire. Music industry insiders tell Confidenti@l that news of Meneilly’s departure started making the rounds shortly before Memorial Day weekend.

The former Provident Financial executive is largely credited with navigating the rise of the Rocawear clothing line, which Jay Z sold off for $200 million in 2007 while maintaining marketing and licensing rights. Meneilly is also credited as one of the architects behind Jay Z’s huge deal with Samsung last year, which instantly moved a million copies of the rapper’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” Meneilly was also a chief player at Roc Nation, which has grown from a record label to a talent management group that reps Yankee CC Sabathia and former Bronx Bomber Robinson Cano.

The “99 Problems” rapper is having a rough couple of weeks for sure. In addition to a surveillance video that went public of his sister-in-law pummeling him after the Met Ball gala in mid-May, photos of Jay and Bey sufaced in the Hamptons last weekend while his “Watch the Throne” collaborator Kanye West was marrying Kim Kardashian in Europe. Jay Z is also being sued for $7 million by an artist who says the rapper ripped off his Roc-A-Fella records logo design in 1995. Jay Z’s legal team is trying to postpone that case while Mr. and Mrs. Carter are on tour this summer.

Would Jay-Z Be Better At Business or Law?

Rapper Jay-Z has been doing business ventures with different companies since the 1990's. Lately his newest venture outside of the music world has been taking on prison condition in the south, and fighting for justice where the cause is called.

I guess you can say its a little early to tell since having this new face in law is early in his late career. But with all the moves he has made and is making, how would you rate this question?

What Would You Do If You Met Jay-Z?

How do you think it would feel or how would you act if you met one of the biggest and richest hip-hop stars in our generation Jay-Z?

We all know him as Jay-Z or Hova, but his real name is Shawn Corey Carter. Did you know? Jay-Z is the third best-selling rap artist of all time, after Eminem and Tupac with over 28m sales worldwide. Jay Z is one of the most well-known and highly-regarded rappers in the industry.

He’s also an extremely successful investor and businessman who’s a co-owner of the New York 40/40 Club, the clothing line Rocawear and is the former president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and founder of Roc Nation. On top of all this, he’s also a certified NBA and MLB sports agent.

Jay-Z Buys Scandinavian Music Streaming Company

Rumors are that Hip-hop star Jay-Z is buying a Scandinavian music streaming company for $56 million to add to a business empire that has spanned clothing and sports bars.

Project Panther Bidco Ltd, a company controlled by the 45-year-old rapper, said on Friday it had agreed to buy Sweden-listed Aspiro for 464 million Swedish crowns ($56 million) in cash.

Shares in Aspiro, which runs music streaming service WiMP, leapt 59 percent in early trading to the bid level of 1.05 crowns per share.

3 Investing Lessons From Jay-Z

In 2019, Shawn Corey Carter became hip-hop's first billionaire. Better known as Jay-Z, Mr. Carter didn't just make his money by rapping, although he's one of the industry's best-selling artists. Instead, he built a sprawling empire, including a music label, a sports management company, a streaming service, and a high-end sports bar.

With the Brooklyn-born rapper continuing to grow his net worth, there are certainly many investing lessons to learn, both from his business ventures as well as from his lyrics. Here are three of them.