Jay-Z Brings Roc Nation To Sony

Jay-Z has signed a new distribution deal for his Roc Nation label, with Sony.

Via AHH:

Superstar rapper/mogul Jay-Z has officially signed a new distribution deal with Sony for his new label Roc Nation.

According to Billboard, the rapper’s new solo album The Blueprint 3 will be distributed by Atlantic, although that deal is only for the third installment of the rapper’s Blueprint series of releases.

Jay-Z offered to have the Roc Nation imprint be distributed through his longtime home Def Jam over four years ago.

Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJ) also distributes Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella imprint, which has such superstar artists as Kanye West, Jadakiss, Beanie Sigel and others.

“You have to figure, this is like four years ago, and to them it was just like, ‘Are you crazy? No! Make a song,’ ” said the mogul, who bought his way out of his Def Jam contract for an estimated $5 million.

The rapper also revealed that executives at IDJ were not fully capitalizing on Jay-Z’s entrepreneurial abilities.

“To me it was like, I’ve sold companies for huge amounts of money. I’m an entrepreneur – that’s what I’ve been all my life,” Jay-Z told Billboard. “I can’t just sit here and make records and not do anything else. Why wouldn’t you want to do this with me? I felt under-utilized.”

On the management side, Roc Nation handles the careers of Wale, Melanie Fiona, Mickey Factz and others.

Mediaoutrage-  That’s one shrewd business man.

Published 7/2/09 by

Mediaoutrage 8 Mediaoutrage

DISCLAIMER: This posting was submitted by a user of the site not from The Insider editorial staff. All users have acknowledged and agreed that the submission of their story and its contents is in compliance with our Terms of Use.