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December 08, 2004

Appointment With Mr. Z

Not long ago, I wondered aloud what happened to all the New Jacks. Among them are LA Reid and Babyface. It turns out that Reid has done adequately well for himself at Island Records, and now he has Jay-Z working for him. It looks to me like a private kingdom in the public world and a clear triumph for (ahem) uppity negroes.

Proving yet again that he is the hardest-working retiree in the music industry, the rap star Jay-Z has agreed to become the president of Universal Music Group's Def Jam Recordings label.

The appointment, announced yesterday, puts Def Jam, the hip-hop label, in the hands of one of rap's biggest-selling artists. Universal, part of Vivendi Universal, will give Jay-Z, who has little corporate experience, the vacant top job at one of its biggest divisions, granting him authority over everything from album production to marketing strategies, and an artist roster that includes stars like LL Cool J and Ludacris.

Yay.

Posted by mbowen at December 8, 2004 02:18 PM

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