...2001
Jay did a VIP listening party for his new CD "The Dynasty: Roc La Familia" on New York's Hot 97 radio station, when a fan asked him when he planned to retire, he smiled and said, "You tryin' to get rid of me?" Never that, baby, ya heard?!
04/13/01
Jay-Z was arrested for illegal gun possession early Friday morning outside a midtown Manhattan nightclub, according to the Associated Press.
Police said they saw a man holding a gun get into a 2001 Chevy Suburban outside the club around 3 a.m. They stopped the car shortly after and found a loaded Gloc-40.
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, and three other men � Hamzah Hewitt, Romero Chambers, and Tyran Smith � were arrested for criminal possession of a weapon and are currently awaiting arraignment at the Midtown North Precinct.
The rapper is due in court on Monday (April 16th) for a preliminary hearing on felony assault charges stemming from the December 1999 stabbing of music industry executive Lance "Un" Rivera.
04/11/01
Next Jay-Z LP In Works
Dash was not specific about exactly whom Jay was upset with. However, the streets have been buzzing about "Trued Up," a new cut by former Def Jam extended family member Jayo Felony. Appearing on Henchmen Entertainment's Bullet Proof Love Vol 1., Jayo indirectly disses Jay-Z, referencing among other things the Roc-A-Fella CEO's line "Is he a Blood, is he a Crip?" from "Streets Is Talking."
Mobb Deep's Prodigy also throws a barb at Jay-Z on "Mobb Niggas." Independently released on JCOR Entertainment's Game Over II compilation, Prodigy rhymes, "Niggas get bagged and tagged for comin' at my familia/ This ain't the Roc nigga/ We wet them faggot-ass niggas."
Before Jay-Z's next album arrives, Beanie Sigel's aforementioned The Reason hits stores on June 12. On the LP, which is nearly completed, Beans doles out his patented edgy, strife-filled street narratives.
"I Love You," which features Jay-Z (and, when finished, may also include vocals by Mary J. Blige), is a sequel of sorts to "Where Have You Been," which appeared on last year's The Dynasty - Roc La Familia (2000 - ). Once again, Sigel and Jay-Z are unapologetic in addressing their deep-rooted anger toward their absentee fathers while admitting they still have love in their hearts.
Sigel also remakes EPMD's 1989 classic "So Wat Cha Sayin'" on the LP as "So What U Sayin'," With Beans and Memphis Bleek going line-for-line with freestyles.
"I'm not going to try to change Beanie," Dash said. "I won't water my (Roc-A-Fella) logo. The album is not commercial. Hopefully it'll be commercial by it not being commercial."
Roc-A-Fella also plans to release "That's My Baby," the first single by crooner Rell, who's slated to drop in August as well.
"We're going to be doing R&B our way," Dash said. "No shiny suits or leather pants. No dancers. It's gonna be sort of on a Marvin Gaye vibe."
Dash also said that plans for the Jay-Z and R. Kelly tour are all but dead. "I doubt it will happen," he said. "I wasn't too excited about it anyway."
He went on to joke, "I don't have nothing against R. Kelly, but you can't go from doing the Hard Knock Life tour to doing R&B. It'll be all 'gators and Coogi sweaters."
In the works instead is a world tour featuring Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella family, with Dash citing Europe and Japan as possible stop-offs. No details on that outing have been finalized.
03/28/01
Roc-A-Fella Film Division Kicks Into High Gear.
��After bringing the highs and lows of cross-country touring to the big screen with last year's documentary "Backstage," Roc-A-Fella Films is set for a second round of Hollywood swinging.
The movie company headed by Roc-A-Fella Records co-CEO Damon Dash hopes to release "Paid in Full" (working title) � based on the lives of infamous '80s Harlem drug kingpins Rich Porter, Alberto "Alpo" Martinez and AZ � by early fall.
"The movie is about something I personally saw from a distance," Harlem native Dash said. "These guys were real ghetto celebs. As I look at what's going on today, I don't think some people understand how influential Harlem was in the '80s. How it's still influential."
Many current rappers can be heard referencing Porter, Alpo and AZ on their records, including Shyne, who often refers to himself as "Shyne-Po."
Filmed on location in Harlem and Toronto, the movie, which stars Mekhi Phifer, Wood Harris and rapper Cam'ron (Dash's longtime friend from Harlem, whom he also manages), started production late last summer and is on its last three days of re-shoots. While the picture � a joint venture with Dimension Films, as was "Backstage" � is semi-biographical, no real names will be used, Dash said.
In addition, Roc-A-Fella is gearing up to start production on the Lion's Gate drama "The Criminals," which stars Beanie Sigel and will feature his Dynasty family members Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek. Beans also appears a movie titled "Get Down or Lay Down," which is scheduled to come out this year. Dash has a film in development with Universal pictures called "Paper Soldiers."
There's more music in store from the Team Roc, of course, with Beanie Sigel's The Reason set to drop on June 12th and a release from newcomer Freeway following later in the year.
As for the possible tour headlined by Jay-Z and R. Kelly, Dash said it's still in the works, "but you know how these tour things go."
12/26/2000
Jay-Z is set to release a new single from his double platinum album, "The Dynasty- Roc La Familia", "Change The Game" f/Memphis Bleek.
12/09/2000
Jigga-man mentioned on the radio that he is trying to put together some sort of tour with R. Kelly to support his new album, "The Dynasty- Roc La Familia". Nothing is confirmed right now, but it's in the works says Jigga himself. Speaking of Jay, he recently launched another label, Carter Faculty. The label will be ran by Jay's cousin, Bryan "Bee High" Biggs and Tyran Smith and like Roc-A-Fella, music from the label will be released through Def Jam. The first act signed will be Da Ranjahz. While Jay-Z helped make the label, he nor Damon Dash will help with the labels daily operations.
Finally, in Jay-Z's cover story in Vibe magazine he talks about his expected baby he rapped about in "4 Da Fam" won't be born. They didn't give the grimy D's on the subject but we're left to believe that the baby died in a miscarriage of some sort. So let's leave it at that, ya heard?!
11/28/2000
NYC MC's success makes critics stress.
Jay-Z is doing his thing on the charts with his new album "The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000". He occasionally comes under fire from critics, but Jigga doesn't even figure them into his daily routine. "You can't let the way anybody else is going to feel stop you from what you're feeling. It's my expression. Everyone is not going to agree with it. I can't make music with the idea of what people might think, their preoccupations and hang-ups."
11/26/2000
Jay-Z Celebrates Life On Top
When you're on top, you've got to enjoy it, and that's precisely what Jay-Z did this week � he celebrated the #1 debut of his "The Dynasty � Roc La Familia 2000" with a party at a Los Angeles roller skating rink Tuesday night.
The Brooklyn, New York, rapper got together with Puff Daddy, Ja Rule, Redman, Memphis Bleek, Carmen Electra, Rachel Leigh Cook, Bill Bellamy, Rachel Hunter and others at Skateland in Northridge, California, near Los Angeles, to celebrate his accomplishment, as well as the high chart positions of other rappers.
"It's a good thing for hip-hop in general. Just to have two artists sell over half a million records in one week. It's just incredible for both of us to do the numbers that we're doing and come in and be #1 and #2 on the charts in the country." Jay-Z puffed what he called a "victory cigar" at the Tuesday night soiree as he savored his perch atop the Billboard album heap and spoke about the people who put him there.
"I want to thank all the fans out there, everybody out there for making me #1 in the country," Jay-Z said. "I really, really appreciate all the support over the years. This is my fifth album in four years, and they're still right there with me, like all the way, even stronger. My first album did 34,000 units the first week, maybe 40,000. ... It's a long way from half a million. It's a long, long way."