Official: Jay-Z Resigns From Def Jam

Published: Tuesday 25th Dec 2007 by Sam
As of January 1st, Def Jam will longer be presided over by Jay-Z; the rapper confirmed that he will be stepping down from his President role at the label. Check out the rapper’s statement below:

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have served as President of such a culturally-defining label as Def Jam over the last three years,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “During that time, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many of the world’s most dynamic artists and many of the most dedicated and talented executives in the music business today, including Antonio “L.A.” Reid. But now it’s time for me to take on new challenges.”

Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, took over as President of Def Jam in 2005. Under his guidance, the rapper signed his former rival Nas to Def Jam and oversaw the release of hit records by Kanye West, Rihanna and Ne-Yo.

Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid said that Jay-Z felt it was time to take on “different challenges in his life.”

Jay-Z will continue running and recording for his Roc-A-Fella imprint, which is distributed by the Island Def Jam Music Group. The mogul is rumored to be making a transition to the urban division of Sony Records with Rick Rubin. {Read full article}

Oh well. I can’t say any of this comes as a surprise. The stories of conflict between Jay and the upper management over at Def Jam have more or less proven true; IMO they just allowed him to save face by saying he ‘resigned’. It’ll be interesting to see how things pan out from here on out; there have been whispers that Jermaine Dupri will take on the now vacant role.
Your thoughts?

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  1. brit December 25, 2007

    That sucks, now Def Jam is gonna Be lame, Jay and Beyonce should create some super label, an dtake Ne-Yo, Rihanna, The Dream, and all the artist he signed, it would be huge

  2. Anonymous December 25, 2007

    He got FIRED!

    p.s. HE IS SO F****** UGLY!

  3. Anonymous December 25, 2007

    ^^^^^^^^^^^ LMFAO but it’s so true!!

  4. Anonymous December 25, 2007

    They are creating their own label. They are such a smart couple. Wait and watch. They gonna blow the f up.

  5. Anonymous December 26, 2007

    Jay and Bey are working with apple to create their own label-her contract with columbia is out soon

  6. Anonymous December 26, 2007

    Who the F would wanna be on their label? when your about to drop if both of them wanna release an album you’ll get pushed aside, like we’ve seen them do it before, stans be gone cos it’s true jump on me all you like you dumb cyber thugs please don’t type bads words against me LMFAO oh and it’s obvious his ass was fired they allowed him to save face the fact remains he didn’t do a good job

  7. Anonymous December 27, 2007

    If your contract is up and it was not renewed because both sides couldnt agree on terms means u got fired??

    And why do people keep talking about looks? HOW MUCH IS HE WORTH AGAIN… I’D RATHER BE A RICH UGLY MAN THAN A BROKE HANDSOME MAN.

    U people need to get your s*** straight about what’s important

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