New York rap veteran JAY-Z is switching things up. The hip-hop icon is reportedly dropping a new type of collaboration album sooner rather than later – or possibly not?
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JAY-Z Reveals Tracklist For New Album
JAY-Z has revealed an African-themed album dubbed The Ascension. It will be released exclusively through TIDAL and features a handful of artists from Africa, among others. A release date hasn’t been made public yet though.
The 16 songs project features guest appearances from te liks of Olamide, Sarkodie, Femi Kuti, Nasty C, Beyoncé, Rick Ross, H.E.R and the duo of Lighthouse family. “I’ve always wanted to get in touch with my roots and connect to the motherland. You know, Africa is blessed with so much talent and I felt like it was time to tap into that resource. The Ascension is not just talking or focusing on Africa but it’s also about me giving back to the people, familiarizing with the culture and connecting more with the motherland.” (8o8wave)
Despite the massive news, buzz has also generated on this massive news being an April Fools joke.
Jay-Z’s name has been making the rounds on Twitter today, April 1, because of a track list and cover artwork circulating around his “new album” Ascension. The “rumors” show a track list that includes features from African stars like Sarkodie, Nasty C, Femi Kuti and Olamide, promoting it as a new African-themed album from Jay-Z. Of course, neither Jay-Z, Roc Nation nor any official associates of the rap mogul have confirmed or mentioned anything about a new album. The April Fools’ joke seems to have started on African blogs/accounts like Charts Africa and NotJustOk, who initially posted the track list image. (OkayAfrica)
JAY-Z Autographed Baseball Card Breaks Record
How much would you pay for the music mogul’s autograph? A recent auction has crushed records after a baseball card with Young Hov’s signature became the most expensive non-sport or trading card game card ever sold.
A 1/1 2005-2006 Topps Chrome ‘Signs of Stardoms’ card donning JAY-Z’s authentic autograph has officially sold for $105,780. The card is in mint condition and was given a 9 out of 10 by Beckett Grading Services.
It turns out even a 2-D Jay-Z is capable of drawing in six figures. A trading card featuring the billionaire multi-hyphenate has sold for more than $100,000 at auction, establishing a new record high in the process. The coveted card, which also features the hip-hop star’s signature, was offered at Goldin Auctions’ monthly card sale over the weekend. The lot had a minimum starting bid of just $500, though things quickly escalated with 49 bids ballooning that figure to a total of $105,780. According to the auction house, this is an all-time record price paid for any non-sports or non-trading-card-game card at auction. (Robb Report)
Explaining Why It Takes Major Moves To Succeed
Hov knows he’s got to keep up the hard work to keep his empire going. During a recent interview, Hov spoke on all the major moves he continues to make with the South China Morning Post as his net worth also made a massive increase. JAY-Z is now worth over $1.4 billion.
In just several weeks, his net worth has risen over 40% following the sale of TIDAL to Square and his absurd $300 million champagne deal. The Blueprint boss also says he can’t just do music and needs to keep business moves going if he wants to keep raking in the dough and it’s paying off, so perhaps his advice is worth heeding. Hov also highlighted the importance of keeping the right crew around.
“I look at the make-up of individuals or a group and say, ‘Hey, wow, that’d be a cool group to hang out with” … It’s a certain decorum that they have, a certain way that they carry themselves and their business, [with] high integrity and passion for what they do. I just want to be surrounded by great people.” (JAY-Z to SCMP)
JAY-Z Sells TIDAL To Square
The rap mogul is no longer head honcho over at streaming giant TIDAL. He’s inked a major deal for some major money with a business partner/friend to part ways with complete ownership of TIDAL.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and his company Square (a digital payment service) has bought TIDAL for $297 million. While Hov no longer owns the streaming service, he’ll move to Square’s board of directors. TIDAL’s artist owners will continue to co-own the platform, as the second largest group of shareholders.
Upon his well-publicized acquisition of the service in 2015, from the Norwegian company Aspiro, JAY-Z brought aboard artist owners including Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Lil Wayne, J. Cole, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, Rihanna, Jack White, Daft Punk, and others. Their stakes in the company—and their financial windfalls from the sale—were not made public. (Pitchfork)
