Rapper's 10th No. 1 matches Presley's second place status among most chart toppers.Jay-Z will find himself in the company of music royalty next week if his new album, "American Gangster," debuts at No. 1 as expected based on early estimates.
The Roc-A-Fella set, if all goes as planned, will mark Jigga's 10th No. 1 album – tying him with Elvis Presley for second place among artists with the most chart-toppers. Only the Beatles have more, with 19.
Estimates cited by Nielsen SoundScan's new Building Chart panel of reporters showed "American Gangster's" one-day sales of 179,000 to be the third largest out-the-gate mover since SoundScan began compiling such tallies. Jay-Z trails only the first-day numbers for Kanye West's "Graduation" (437,000) and 50 Cent's "Curtis" (310,000).
LOL. As the Rap Haters and "Global System of White Supremacy" Theologians bend over backwards to dismiss, castigate, reduce, and slander rap stars, these former drug dealers turned entrepreneurs, appear to be some of the most effective media savvy black businessmen on the planet.
As Civil Rights Negros fumble the ball with the likes of the Jena 6 fiasco, Hip Hop moguls traffic in images of empowered capable black men operating across industries on a global scale. When are the Plantation Negros going to stop hating and actually learn something?
3 comments:
This is a tribute to Jay-Z's not inconsiderable pluck, imagination, and skill. But his relevance to the grand scheme of things is quite puny. I'm sure that Michael and Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Whitnet Houston hold similar forms of distinction. But all of them despite their monetary successes pale in terms of historic significance to Jim Brown, Paul Robeson, and Muhammed Ali.
Money and celebrity hold weight only as they convey social and political strength. Currently, the richest man in Russia languishes in an old Soviet prison. If Jay commits a serious enough misstep he could easily be in an American jail. Now should he become a figure like David Geffen and bestow an endowed chair or school to a university or develop a whole city or industry like George Lucas or Steven Spielberg then that's saying something. But right now he is about as valuable a model for black underclass achievement as a Powerball winner from the hood.
The trick for Jay-Z and Fiddy is to incorporate themselves into something larger than themselves. Even if it's Cobb's vision of a self-sustaining conservative Black Republican elite or Michael Fisher's radical Black countercultural insurgency.
I was recently intrigued when Ludacris visited Obama in the Capitol and Timbaland hosted a fundraiser for Clinton. This is converting monetary and social capital into something politically substantive. Right now what Jay-Z does amounts to little more than relentless self-promotion. It's great for him and his kin but quite meaningless for the masses gazing wistfully upon him.
Sub..Well said!
I do agree at the overall perspective Sub communicated. When the Forbes 'Richest in Hip-Hop' list came out I ALWAYS pulled out the other list just to make sure folks really knew the deal. The one thing that I think makes this dude really special is that I believe he 'gets' everything you said and would agree for the most part.
From lyrics like this in the very begining:
"Whoever said illegal was the easy way out couldn't understand the
mechanics
And the workings of the underworld, granted
Nine to five is how to survive, I ain't trying to survive
I'm trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot
Life ills, poison my body
I used to say 'fuck mic skills,' and never prayed to God, I prayed to
Gotti
That's right it's wicked, that's life I live it
Ain't asking for forgiveness for my sins, endz
I break bread with the late heads, picking their brains for angles on
all the evils that the game'll do
It gets dangerous, money and power is changing us
And now we're lethal, infected with D'Evils..."
He showed a level of understanding his particular place and time better than most who get caught up in the glare with 'generational wealth' and real 'wealth' far, far from their minds.
Now I think Jay looks around and realized two other cats with a lot of money and urban (in the marketing sense) power are now gone and their fortunes may be too. These 2 dudes used to be sitting next to him at the 40/40 enjoying life and now they're gone, just another part of the PIC (prison-industrial-complex). Makes me think of that good, good UGK hook that brother Isley sung..."One day you're here, baby - But then you're gone". I'm speaking of course of T.I. and Vick. I think Jigga knows we're all one bad cop away.
I think he knows the world in which he operates. "I'm from the Murder Capitol, where we Murder for Capitol".
And I'd say he has some poignant works which unfortunately aren't being looked upon as important art yet...but I suspect it will and I suspect that down the road we won't be so quick to kick him out of Ali and Brown's category.
He likens himself to the Jordan of rap, but he started his own clothing line, he didn't make Phil Knight rich. He would never let Strom Thurmond run for anything in Brookly.
He made a song with anti-war sentiments knowing that the Dixie Chicks got bodied by the industry.
And this is where he's at now, about to tie Elvis, but still speaking on Imus:
"I missed the part where it stopped being about Imus
What do my lyrics got to do with this SHIT?
SCARFACE the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me
Still that ain't the blame for all the shit that's happened to me
Are you saying what I'm spitting,
Is worse than these celebutantes showin' they kitten, you kidding?
Lets stop the bullshittin'
Til' we all without sin, let's quit the pulpit-ing
SCARFACE the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me
Still that ain't the blame for all the shit that's happened to me
Lets stop the bullshittin'
Til' we all without sin, let's quit the pulpit-ing, c'mon!"
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