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They just used the hospital like it was their own and nobody else mattered.
New father Neil Coulon • Speaking out against Beyonce and Jay-Z’s entourage, because it was preventing him from seeing his own prematurely-born twins. The famous couple, who welcomed Blue Ivy Carter into the family on Saturday night, asked for a strong amount of privacy from Lenox Hill Hospital, forcing the hospital to block off the neonatal intensive care unit and putting a number of other rooms on lockdown. This probably was not the best way for the hospital to handle this situation, to put it lightly. source

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Jay-z may not have that vitamin water money to his name like 50 Cent, but he does OK for himself. The rapper recently showed up on the cover of Forbes with Warren Buffett, and he’s managed to continue to bring in millions of dollars on his own brand by signing the right business deals and finding ways to creatively work with partners. One could argue that you could have a whole business strategy class on how Jay-Z works in business, because he knows how to time his moves very well, and has really only had a small handful of flops (that first collaboration he did with R. Kelly comes to mind). Some more details:

$150
million the size of Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s profit-sharing deal with Live Nation, which is profitable despite the lack of signed artists
$204
million the amount Jay-Z received for Rocawear in 2007 – but get this; he kept creative control of the line and heads day-to-day operations

45M the number of albums he’s sold so far; all of his albums have gone platinum in the U.S.
10 the number of Grammy awards he’s won in his two-decade career (show off)
11 the number of chart-topping albums in his career – nine solo and two collaborations source

» Other business ventures: Don’t think that he stops with clothes and songs. He also has a restaurant chain to his name, The 40-40 Club; a Greenwich Village bistro, the Spotted Pig; a co-ownership stake in the Carol’s Daughter beauty line; and best of all, an ownership stake in the New Jersey Nets, which will end up in Brooklyn in 2012 thanks partly to him.

» And he’s just getting started: The next thing on Hova’s agenda? He has a book coming out with a fairly interesting concept – basically, he took the lyrics to dozens of his hit songs and explained them in depth. “Decoded” also has Microsoft on board for the advertising campaign. Because that’s how Jay-Z rolls. He gets corporate sponsors to back his projects, and the corporations win because they can bank on Jay-Z’s name to give them cool points. And let’s face it, Microsoft can use as many of those as they can get.

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Here’s an anti-gang ad the Miami Police Department recently put on their Web site. Hey, that guy in the center sure looks familiar. So does that guy on the left! Wait a second! source

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Jigga says that Obama called him the closing days of the election and made a really funny joke: “He was calling me saying it was the fourth quarter and how we need to end this game Jordan-style. He was joking. He has a good sense of humor.” Now if only he can end the health-care debate Jordan-style. … source

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The thing I want to say to everyone – I hope this happens because it will push rap, it will push hip-hop to go even further – what the indie-rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring. It felt like us in the beginning.
Jay-Z • Regarding Grizzly Bear specifically (he was recently spotted at a show with Beyonce) and indie rock in general, and how what they’re doing inspires rap. He says that if they can break really big (well, Grizzly Bear did go top-ten on the Billboards earlier this year) “it will force hip-hop to fight to make better music.” • source

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09 Jan 2012 11:01