Jay-Z To Step Down At Def Jam President
Author:
24hourhiphop
Read 844 Times Since
Posted on 2007-12-26
Def Jam President Jay-Z announced on December
24 that he will officially vacate his position as President of Def Jam
Records at the end of the year.
The 38-year-old rapper issued a statement saying, “I’ve
been incredibly fortunate to have served as President of such a
culturally-defining label as Def Jam over the last three years. During that time, I’ve had the pleasure of
working with many of the world’s most dynamic artists and many of the
most dedicated and talented executives in the music business today,
including Antonio “L.A.” Reid. But now it’s time for me to take on new
challenges."
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, took over as President of Def Jam in 2005. Under
his presidency, he signed Nas, whom he had a bitter rivalry with, to Def Jam and
oversaw the release of hit records by Kanye West, Rihanna and Ne-Yo.
The
announcement serves to cap off a very turbulent year that saw Def Jam
artists like LL Cool J protest that Jay as an artist and executive
presented a unique conflict of interest. Additionally, a number of
traditionally successful Hip-Hop acts like The Roots, Redman and Method
Man failed to get traction under his reign.
Island Def Jam
Music Group Chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid said that Jay-Z felt it was
time to take on "different challenges in his life."
"While we
regret his decision to move on, we certainly respect it," Reid said in
a statement. "Since Jay joined us as President of Def Jam in 2005, we
have all benefited from his leadership, sense of spirit and invaluable
friendship. While he will continue to be one of our signature artists,
he will nonetheless be missed in this executive capacity. The entire
Island Def Jam family joins me in wishing him the very best in all of
his future business endeavors.”
Jay-Z will continue running and
recording for his Roc-A-Fella imprint, which is distributed by the
Island Def Jam Music Group. The mogul is rumored to be making a
transition to the urban division of Sony Records with Rick Rubin.
