While millions of fans are not complaining about the leak of Jay-Z’s single “Show Me What You Got” his label, Def Jam is taking the breach seriously and may pursue legal action against the individual responsible for the leak.
While no one knows who the culprit behind the leak is, Def Jam has launched an internal investigation, fearing that the rapper’s forthcoming comeback album Kingdom Come may be leaked in its entirety.
“The FBI may do an investigation into this,” an anonymous source said. “Everything has been under lock and key, so we have no idea how the single was leaked.”
“Show Me,” which samples a saxophone loop originally used on Public Enemy’s “Show Em Whatcha Got” from the group’s 1988 Def Jam album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, hit the Internet Friday October 6th and quickly went into rotation on radio stations around the United States.
The single, which was produced by Just Blaze, gained immediate and repeated airplay on stations in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta.
“I played it six times in a row at 6:00 pm today,” Atlanta DJ Greg Street said. Street, who airs on Atlanta’s V103 Monday through Thursday in the 6-10pm slot, said the feedback has been tremendous.
“It was so crazy [Island/Def Jam Music Group CEO] LA Reid & [Def Jam A&R] Shakir Stewart called into V-103’s hotline,” Street said.
Jay-Z himself was told of the leak during a performance at the Accra International Conference Center in Ghana, Africa.
Unauthorized full length albums from The Roots, Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco have all found their way to the Internet prior to hitting stores.
Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor was pushed back several times, after the original version was leaked and bootlegged months before the album’s completion.
Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come will reportedly hits stores Nov. 21. The album features production by Just Blaze, Kanye West, Pharrell, Timberland and others.
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