Why I Think Jay-Z Is A Model For Entrepreneurs

If you read this blog or follow me on Twitter you know I'm a big Jay-Z fan. His talent, music, swagger, outlook on life and art and most of all his story. Jay grew up in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, New York. A former drug dealer, he hustled his way to global stardom via hard work and genius level talent for lyrics and flow.

In 2008, Jay-Z was set to headline The Glastonbury Festival in the U.K. This is one of the biggest rock festivals the world has to offer each year. I say rock because no Hip Hop artist had ever headlined it.

Immediately, there was controversy. Ticket sales were rumored to have started off slowly and fingers pointed to Jay-Z. Noel Gallagher of Oasis was quoted as saying: 

"I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music and even when they throw the odd curve ball in on a Sunday night you go 'Kylie Minogue?' I don't know about it. But I'm not having hip hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong."

The press stirred it up. Everyone weighed in. Should Jay-Z bow out? Should he play? Does Hip Hop belong at Glastonbury?

At the time Jay-Z was already a star in the United States and beginning to be global, but not yet. Glastonbury has audiences from all over the world. The crowd fly flags representing just about every country you can think of.

Was it too risky for him to try and fail?

Entrepreneurs and artists create and risk. That's what they do. And with creation comes success or failure. Sometimes they deliver and sometimes not. 

There was no way Jay-Z was bowing out. In fact, I doubt he was worried about failing. There is no more confident artist out there. His skills are undeniable and he's grown into one of the best live performers around. Especially since he added a live band.

"I'm like fuck critics, you can kiss my whole asshole. If you don't like my lyrics, you can press fast forward" - Jay-Z, 99 Problems

So on June 27, 2008 Jay-Z told critics to kiss his ass. In front of 150,000 fans he was about to take the stage. But first, he played this video intro for the crowd:

 

And then he took the stage. In pure clever and "giving it right back" Hip Hop tradition he opened with his rendtion of OASIS' "Wonderwall" where the lyrics "I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now" took on a whole new "f*ck you" sort of meaning.

"You not feelin' me? Fine, it cost you nothing. Pay me no mind." - Jay-Z, Heart Of The City

The crowd went nuts. "Jay-Z. Jay-Z. Jay-Z". Nodding his head in agreement like a conquering Emperor.

And just as quickly as the video ended Jay-Z demands into the mic: "I just got one thing to say" and blasts into "99 Problems". That song, which ironically enough, was produced by Rick Rubin who has worked with some of the best rock bands around like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Cult. Not to mention Jay-Z's idols The Beastie Boys. To add insult to injury, half way through the song, his band includes the guitar riff from AC/DC's "Back in Black". As you'll see below before and after this song, Jay won over the crowd. An amazing moment for a musician facing that kind of public adversity. My friend, DJ Neil Armstrong, was the touring DJ at this show and he said it was a pretty incredible moment. He felt the crowd turn and the energy for the rest of the night was insane. Watch the performance below.

 

And that night, Jay-Z became a global superstar. The British press, notorious for take downs, was also impressed. The Guardian wrote here: "Glastonbury headliner turns tables on Noel Gallagher after Oasis frontman had lambasted choice of US rapper as top act".

"I'm not looking at you dudes, I'm looking past you" - Jay-Z, Heart of The City

And he did.

Jay-Z's recent commercial with Budweiser also expresses how he looks at art. All art is more similar than not in where it comes from. To him "everything is a remix". "We're all trading off each other's culture" he narrates. This spot is exactly what he was saying at Glastonbury.

 

My last two jobs were fun and tough.

At Sling Media the entire media ecosystem wanted to kill us. We thought we were right, they were wrong but we didn't hate them, we wanted to win them over or just move past them. But without changing our mission. It was a kiss and slap philososphy. We did it our way.

At MySpace we faced internal and external challenges and a brand and product that was on the outs. Everyone had an opinion. The death watch was on. We still believed we could turn it around. We tried, we created, we risked. But we failed. That's ok. That's how it is sometimes. But you can't sit back and not try. There's no fun in jumping off a bench. Even the creative and right lose.

At both companies I constantly re-told the story of Jay-Z at Glastonbury. Where he looked haters in the eye and slayed them with his product: his music. He won.

Jay-Z risked, confronted, delivered and grew. He's a model for entrepreneurs and artists everywhere and my favorite story. 

"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man." - Jay-Z, Diamonds From Sierra Leone

-JH

p.s. I encourage you to search YouTube and news sites for the coverage and video of Jay-Z at Glastonbury. There are interviews, full performances and pundit coverage. And read his book DECODED. It's awesome.

Comments

[Krutal]

Awesome post. Thanks for putting that together.

[0nyC]

Nice post. My only comment, as a Brit I'd say Jay-Z was a global superstar way before 2008. To say otherwise is a little misleading I think..

Cheers

[Jason Hirschhorn]

Clearly in the UK he had broken, but he was by no means a "global sell out anywhere" superstar yet.

[Bruce Houghton]

Great post. Jason - Would love to republish it on Hypebot.com qith credit and links. Is that possible?

[Account Deleted]

Great.

[Hustle411]

jason ,Its a brooklyn thing :-)

[Bethnal_Ian]

Hi there,

Good article and Jay-Z is indeed a great artist and business man, I just wanted to offer a different opinion on two points.

Firstly in regard to hip hop acts playing at Glastonbury Festival, while undoubtably Jay-Z was ground breaking in having the headline slot, Glastonbury has one of the most diverse and eclectic music policies of any festival. Hip hop (and trip-hop, grime) acts had been playing for years before (here's Cypress Hill playing the Pyramid (main) stage in 2000 http://tiny.cc/ydppkw ) as well other many different genres than rock (Glastonbury actually has a dedicated World Music stage where some truly niche acts have played).

As for Jay-Z having a big impact on ticket sales, this was a narrative invented by the British press to retro-fit Noel Gallagher's ridiculous comments. The truth, as if often the case, is much more mundane. The weather at the two previous Glastonbury Festivals had been atrocious and particularly miserable from start to finish in 2007. I can personally vouch for this and know that large numbers of my friends had vowed never again! This is obviously part conjecture on my behalf that this was the reason for the lacklustre ticket sales but the one thing that does support this is that the Glastonbury festival line up is never announced until a fair while after the tickets go on sale. In previous years the tickets would sell out in 24 hours flat without anyone knowing who would be playing but this year they didn't, the only sensible explanation can be the impact of the the previous year(s) weather.

Anyway enough of my Glasto-bore, one last thing though, if you haven't been I would highly recommend it, it's the daddy of festivals!

Cheers
Ian