L

et’s get the formalities out the way early on.  Jay-Z is the greatest rapper of all time.  He resembles Jordan and Ali because talent wise he wasn’t the best, but looking at his entire body of work he’s the greatest.  Jay-Z became the greatest not because of skill, but like Jordan because of the business of the business.  And moreover, Jay-Z was in the right place at the right time to receive the benefits.  Anyone who doubts that the globalization of hip hop and the Internet did not contribute to Jay-Z’s success is just not paying attention.

J

ay-Z has become much more than a businessman.  Jay-Z is a business, man.  Jay-Z has gotten to the point where his name, as ridiculous as Jay-Z sounds to a self-respecting individual garners a certain level of respect and reaction.  “These are the new shoes Jay-Z had on in his new music video.”  Now all of a sudden it’s okay to wear those Gucci flip flops.  So I’d have to say that Jay-Z is about his business.

Buppie or Not?

H

ere’s my issue, there’s a big difference between being a hustler and being a professional.  A hustler and a professional are both businessmen, and they both are about their business.  However, a hustler takes something that people never thought was a commodity or worth anything, packages it in a way to make you want it, regardless of whether it has any real worth, and people buy it… A LOT.  A professional choose more traditional paths of using goods and services to gain wealth, even if it be a creative twist.  To be perfectly honest, from my perspective, Jay-Z packaged stories about selling drugs and being a “gangster” to become wealthy.

F

urthermore, is Jay-Z’s largest fan base Black or White?  Ask 50 Cent this question and he’ll break it down for you.  Do you honestly think that “urban” America makes Jay-Z the type of money that puts him near the top of the Forbes list as one of the richest Americans?  No, it’s suburban America, white suburban America, that took Jay-Z from being mainstream Hip Hop, to being mainstream, period.  Jay-Z could have 25 straight #1 hits on the Rap/Hip-Hop 100, but if he never made the Billboard 100, it wouldn’t mean a thing.  So we can easily conclude that it wasn’t anything “urban” about Jay-Z’s wealth.

I

don’t think that Jay-Z is a Black Urban Professional because 1) his money isn’t coming from an urban fan base, it’s coming from suburban people, and 2) he’s not a professional, he’s a hustler.  I consider Russell Simmons a Black Urban Professional, but not Rev. Run.  I think L.A. Reid is a Buppie, but not Jermaine Dupri.  Sooner or later, will Jay-Z become a buppie?  He can, but it will be once he fully distances himself from all of the drugs and viole-

nce and people see him as a businessman who provides a good or services.  Take for example, Will Smith and to some extent Ice Cube.  People in college today, don’t have a clue that Will Smith used to be a rapper.  And if they would stop playing that “Put Your Back Into It” song by Ice Cube, no one would have a clue that Ice Cube isn’t just a filmmaker.

Le Sigh…